Someone posted this link in a forum & I cried a bit & became enraged because it's a whole other facet I haven't yet come to terms with.
The Other Side of the Glass
I can just imagine how difficult it is for a man to come to terms with the notion that he cannot protect a woman from the pains of childbirth, then add the powers he does have--of supporting her, defending her wishes, caring for the infant--are stripped from him, tragic. How does he recover from that?
Before all that there's the years of entrenched fears to deal with. Mis-education is nearly impossible to penetrate when it's foundation is fear. Across the board. Here is what that mis-education & fear is achieving locally:
The numbers below show the Maternity Care Statistics for North Carolina for 2007:
| Category | Number | Percentage of Total Births |
| Total Births | 130,886 | |
| Cesarean Births | ||
| Primary Cesareans | 24,221 | 18.5% |
| Repeat Cesareans | 16,579 | 12.7% |
| Overall Cesarean Rate | 40,800 | 31.2% |
| Vaginal Births | ||
| Vaginal Births | 88,794 | 67.8% |
| VBAC Births | 1,253 | 1.0% |
| Other Births | 39 | 0.0% |
| Interventions | ||
| Labor Inductions | 26,346 | 20.1% |
| Labor Augmentations | 21,480 | 16.4% |
| Non-Induced or Augmented Births | 83,060 | 63.5% |
The World Health Organization recommends cesarean rates for any region not exceed 10 to 15 percent and induction rates not to exceed 10 percent. It is the expectation that when the 2008 numbers are released later this year that the cesarean and intervention rates will both increase in North Carolina hospitals.
this information is from the current NC Friends of Midwives newsletter. To read more, or join, go here.
I just had to post this. It is very important to me & I don't want families to not make educated decisions. I don't know a mother who doesn't remember the day her child was born--no matter how old. It's one of those things worth the research since no one wants to be upfront about it.
