the stats are in... and they're not pretty

The National Center for Health Statistics released a new report on January 7. Here are some facts highlighted in a New York Times article:

More babies were born in 2006 than in any year since 1961.

3 percent more Cesarean deliveries in 2006, a record high of 31.1 percent of all births.

Labor was induced in 22.5 percent of births, a slight increase over 2005 and double the rate of 1990.

The percentage of babies born at low weight rose to 8.3 percent, the highest in 40 years

This is ridiculous. Women's bodies were designed to give birth vaginally and in their own time. Although in a small percentage of cases Cesareans are necessary, for the most part they just 'cause unnecessary complications and pain for mama and are an outcome of a hospital system that is untrained to effectively help women give birth. And induction makes labor more painful, often slows down labor and leads to more medical interventions... This stuff makes me angry.

For more information on natural child birth, midwives and analysis of hospital labor/delivery practices here are a few resources:
Spiritual Midwifery -- a book by Ina May Gaskin, a well-known American midwife, with basic information for those interested in become a midwife and tons of "psychedelic" birth stories
The Business of Being Born -- a amazing documentary by Ricky Lake that is an introduction to the injustices of hospital labor/delivery practices and profiles a number of women choosing to give birth at home
Mothering Magazine -- a great magazine focused on natural family living with lots of articles and resources on pregnancy
Baby Catcher: Chronicles of A Modern Midwife -- a book of Peggy Vincent's experiences as a mid-wife in the Bay Area (a great read that helped relax me and Ben before giving birth to Soluna)

I believe that it is of great importance that women find the strength and courage to take control of the birth of their children and their birth as a mother, to not lay idle in this amazing rite of passage. Just this small act can transform our world. It all begins with babies.

mama praxis

Having been an ethnic studies student and immersed in some community organizing, I have always been surrounded by folks trying to get out of the Matrix. Good intentioned people, deconstructing the world, questioning capitalism/imperialism/neo-colonialism/colonialism/etc., trying to live their lives in congruency with their politics and values.

This goes along with Paulo Freire or bell hooks' idea of praxis. Praxis in its most simple sense is "action and reflection upon the world in order to change it." In essence folks are, for the most part, committed to thinking/challenging the world around them and living a life that aligns with the world they want to see.

What amazes me, and what we've talked about in my doula class, is how that praxis and reflection often gets lost when (some, not all) mama activists decide to have their babies. No longer do they question the system, the hospitals, the medications they choose to give birth with. Instead, they (we) handover something precious, their (our) voice and vision of how their (our) baby should come into the world. I think that there is a disconnect that needs bridging, especially for mamas of color.

Some statistics on birth:

• Childbirth accounts for one fifth of all health care expenditures in the U.S.

• More than one out of every five babies (22%) is born by cesarean section. This number has not decreased substantially in 10 years, despite the benchmark of 15% set by the Centers for Disease Control in 1990.

• Well over half of all American births involve some kind of surgical or operative procedurecesarean section, episiotomy, vacuum extraction, or forceps.

• Between 1989 and 1997 the use of drugs to start labor (induce) or increase the strength or frequency of contractions (augment) doubled. Induction of labor is associated with an increase in cesarean sections.

• As a matter of course, almost all women under obstetrical care are required to fast during labor, although the data suggest that this practice is unnecessary and can actually make laboring and birth more difficult.

• The average prenatal appointment with an obstetrician lasts less than 10 minutes. With a home-birth midwife, the average prenatal appointment lasts 45-60 minutes.

• In 1999, midwives attended approximately 320,000 births (8% of all births) in hospitals, out-of-hospital birth centers, and private residences.

* Statistics from the movie Born in the USA.

Learning. Growing. Healing.