Are Caesarean Sections Just An Alternative Birth Plan?

The World Health Organization has withdrawn its recommendation that no more than 10 to 15 per cent of babies be born by Caesarean section.

Is this a silent acknowledgment that c-sections are a legitimate alternative to a natural birth?

I certainly hope not.

The number of Caesarean sections in the world is climbing, and in China it accounts for almost half of all births. Although opinions in the medical community are divided about when it should be used, most doctors agree that a vaginal, or natural birth, is best.

Complications include serious antibiotic-resistant infections, blood clots, prematurity, respiratory problems with the infant, and more complications with subsequent pregnancies. Having an unnecessary c-sections means that mothers are “more likely to die or be admitted into intensive care units, require blood transfusions or encounter complications that lead to hysterectomies,” according to a WHO study.

So why are the numbers going up?

One often cited reason is that mothers are getting heavier and older, both of which increase the likelihood of complications at birth.

Another possible reason is that babies are getting bigger. Food shortages in the past meant that often mothers wouldn’t get quite enough to eat, and some doctors used to recommend smoking to reduce the size of the baby to make the birth easier.

Also complicating the issues is the c-sections cost more than natural births, both with the procedure itself and the increased hospital stay.

But the main reason is that women have forgotten the power of our own bodies.

In the country where I live, many women consider birth to be something that the doctor does to them, not something that they do themselves. As a result, many women prefer c-sections because it seems easier; the expert is in charge and they are unconscious.

This uncertainty about birth has spread around the whole world.

At a recent midwifery conference, the main complaint was unnecessary medical interventions. Several speakers touched on the cascade effect, where one medical intervention led to another, which led to another which resulted in a Caesarean section. As the birth becomes more medicalised, the mother is forced to rely more and more on the hospital staff and is less able to trust her own instincts.

A recent op-ed in The Boston Globe suggested that the answer is to change hospital policy to try to reduce the number of unnecessary interventions. This is definitely a move in the right direction.

But the most important step is for women to reclaim birth.

We need to remember that this is what our bodies were designed to do. Women have been giving birth — in stables and snowstorms — since the beginning of time (or of people, anyway). It is only in the last 150 years that the process left the home and travelled to the hospital.

It is wonderful that doctors can intervene when there are complications and millions of mother’s lives have been saved by procedures like the Caesarean section. But most births aren’t complicated.

“A woman’s body is amazing and it knows how to give birth,” said Mary Hollingworth, who gave birth completely unassisted on her bathroom floor.

“In years gone by they just let women do that and listen to their body. But now medical intervention has come into it. The process has been taken away from the woman, and they begin to doubt that they can do it themselves.”

The real answer to reducing c-sections isn’t going to be found in the boardroom of a hospital — it’ll be found in the hearts and minds of pregnant women around the world who decide…