"When many cures are offered for a disease, it means the disease is not curable" -Anton Chekhov
''Once you tell people there's a cure for something, the more likely they are to pressure doctors to prescribe it.'' -Robert Ehrlich, drug advertising executive.
"Opinions are like sphincters, everyone has one." - Chris Rangel
C-Section Boomlet: I have always been taught that vaginal birth is superior to Caesarean birth, and that the latter should be avoided at all costs. Vaginal births require less medical intervention and supposedly have fewer complications for both infant and mother. They are certainly less expensive. Women recover more rapidly from vaginal deliveries than Caesarean sections. The supremacy of vaginal deliveries has become the dogma of hospitals, medical societies, and insurance companies. For years hospital review boards have scrutinized obstetrician's rates of C-sections. Too many, and they were reprimanded. Yet, despite all of the scrutiny, C-section rates are rising. The story says that it is largely due to the number of women who are opting for second C-sections instead of trying for a vaginal delivery the second time around. Vaginal deliveries after a previous C-section are just a little bit riskier than the average natural birth, but they're still considered safe. I can understand why women would chose the C-section route. It certainly saves them a lot of pain and suffering. It's ironic, though. The initial condemnation of C-sections had its genesis in activist women's groups who saw the procedure as unnecessarily invasive and an attempt by male doctors to control their bodies. They waged a campaign against the procedure and the medical establishment listened. Now, a significant proportion of doctors are women and the C-section rate is climbing again by popular request. Hmmm, could it be that those activists from twenty or thirty years ago were biased against men? posted by Sydney on
6/08/2002 07:04:00 AM
0 comments
