As I watch the bellies of our pregnant Crossroads’ Moms grow and hear details of their multitude of OB appointments, I have begun to wonder, Are we over monitoring a normal process? And in doing so, are we making things worse off than if we just let nature do its thing? After all, Innate is on the job. The baby’s innate intelligence knows to how replicate cells, create a heart and lungs ultimately send signals to trigger labor when its time to be born. Mom’s innate intelligence knows how to supply nutrition, oxygen and love to the growing baby. And when the time has arrived, the mom’s innate intelligence co-ordinates the layers of muscles within the uterus to effectively birth the baby. Amazing it happens so perfectly without any conscious thought to the process.
In monitoring pregnancy so closely, we risk making a decision with our educated mind, rather than using common sense. All test results are interpreted based on what is “normal” for the average woman. For example, 40 weeks is considered a normal gestation period (a.k.a. baby cooking time) for humans. BUT some women will have a slightly longer (or shorter) gestation time than others. One awesome Mom I know cooked each baby just a little longer than her previous. By the time she was having her fourth baby she carried 4 weeks past due! Even her holistic midwife began to worry that it had been “too long.” But sure enough, no baby stays in there forever. A beautiful baby girl arrived healthy and happy when she was ready… without inducing. While this is an extreme case, I use it as a real life example to illustrate how silly it is to think that we know better than baby when it is time to deliver. Who decided that a first time mom who is a few days past her due date should be induced or scheduled for a c-section? Who decided that due dates are accurate and should be enforced? Who decided that we should use ultra sound to measure when a baby is “too big” and then induce early or schedule a c-section? Who decided their golf tee time was more important than letting a slow labor progress naturally?
While surfing the net I came upon a recent Consumer Reports article. You might find this interesting too. Although Americans spend the most money on healthcare, we rank 41st in infant mortality. That means you have a better chance of surviving as in infant in 40 other countries. Canadians have a 25% lower infant mortality rate than the United States. The Japanese have a whopping 60% lower infant mortality rate than the United States! What are we doing wrong?
Consumer Reports writes that our higher infant mortality (death) rate is due in part to our unhealthy American lifestyles but also because our health care system “has developed into a highly profitable labor-and-delivery-machine, operating according to its own timetable rather than the less predicable schedule of mothers and babies.” Consumer Reports goes on to say “Childbirth is the leading cause of hospital admission, and the system is set up to make the most of the opportunity.” Take a minute to follow our link to read the full Consumer Reports article, “The Top 10 Pregnancy Procedures to Reject.” It could save your baby’s life.