HW 40

JM-Hey, Tina Cassidy thanks for writing Birth. Your reflection on the history of birth with unique connections really got me to rethink my ideas on birth and the common practice surrounding it.

 

 TC-Really, which parts were most effective or important for you?"

 

JM-Well, in the last third of the book where you focused on the aftermath of birth and the postpartum effects, but what I really identified with was the part about the father's role, which was good juxtaposition to the first 2/3rds of the book where it was heavily based on the woman. But let me be more specific.

1. The studies that showed the father's prescence made mothers relax (pg198)

2. The couvade syndrome and a fathers need to feel what the mother is feeling(210)

3. The negative affects of not breast-feeding (236)

TC- But what could I have done to make this a better book - that would more effectively fulfill its mission?"

 

JM-Well, let's be clear - your text sought to provide historical analysis from the perspective of a mother for the book-reading-public to better understand pregnancy & birth in our culture. Given that aim, and your book, the best advice I would give for a 2nd edition of the text would be, instead of basing the book so heavily on historical facts, get people's opinion. But I don't want you to feel like I'm criticizing. I appreciate the immense amount of labor you dedicated to this important issue and particularly for making me think about how the history of birth and the dominant practices in other cultures contrast with our own & whether or not we are doing it right, how we might figure that out, and what we would do from there. In fact, I'm likely to seriously weigh my options when I have a child as a result of your book.

 

TC-Thanks! Talking to you gives me hope about our future as a society!

HW 39

Cassidy, Tina. Birth. NY,NY: Grove Press,
      2006. Print.

1. Birth by Tina Cassidy dives into the history of birth and the standard practices and procedures surrounding it. She has far more examples and evidence to match, then Business of Being Born does. Cassidy shows us the history in much more depth, whereas Business of Being Born makes simple connections to highlight atrocities. Cassidy also explores different cultures and BoBB only examines American culture with some insight from foreign doctors.

2. The insight in the second part of the book is the same as the first, a general history of birth and the atrocities associated with it.
3. - The history of baby formula
    - The advancement of birthing technologies
    - The increasing cesarean section rates
    - The changes in labor positions throughout history
4. The author pointed out famous celebrities opting for cesareans, that was weird to me because celebrities tend to go for the all natural/healthiest option. After researching I've found the author's statements to be valid.

HW 38

1. The book is organized interestingly, it's a compilation of key events and people in the history of birth, that relate to the chapter they're in.

2. a. How do the dominant views about birth in the western world relate/contrast with the rest of the world? How have we got to where we are in terms of child birth? 

    b. It seems that midwifery is still pretty popular the world round, except for America, of course, because, you know we're progressive.

3. a. Birth is very different in different cultures. Heres the story of how we got here. 

    b. We often entertain the idea that everything is always better in other cultures, and that America is too industrialized and lacks the more personal experience. I honestly think the birth of a child should be carried out by someone with respectable credentials. But I find it odd that most midwives are female and most OB/GYNs are male.

4. 1. We need to be observant of other dominant practices in other cultures, but also need to understand that our own dominant practices didn't just become dominant overnight, they're there for a reason.

    2. It's important to understand the history of something that some of us plan to experience.

    3. Honestly, I've got nothing else. What else is there to agree with? You can't really tell me to agree with the author.

 

5. Her evidence is pretty balanced, based on textual facts, anecdotes, personal experience, and first-hand views of birth. With well-balanced research it's easier to be assured that for the most part, this woman knows what she's doing/writing about.

HW 37 Comments on Birth & Pregnancy Stories.

Comments I Made


Rossi
Your post was very detailed and actually interested me, when you actually do your posts they're really good. Quality work, Medium. A part i liked was; "Generally women, especially pregnant women, tend to be moody. Had her husband not been there to satisfy her needs when possible, then she would have likely been more angry and more often." While comedic, this was also interesting it brings up questions about the reliability that the mother has on the father and who single mothers have to lean on.
Max
I thought your post was very personal and was well thought out, I liked the structure of it. Putting the questions in between each paragraph as opposed to the end was a good idea. The insight I thought to be the best was; "In these types of situations i think that sometimes it might not be worth it if you go through that whole process and in the process your most prized thing in life dies. It is not worth going through all the painful memories." It was interesting that you thought this, and I think this brings up questions of the willingness of mothers to do what they have to do to protect their children, especially during birth.
Larche
Your post was well written and well structured. The part that I found insightful was "She spoke about needing a lot of help after having the c-section since she couldn't hold the baby for the first week, which didn't make her feel 'self sufficient'." It draws on our conversation in class about how we might demean women by helping them too much, this shows that maybe women don't want ALL of the help that they get. This would be an interesting thing to look into.
________________________________________________________________________


Comments I Received

Rich (Protoge)
i thought it was a very strong piece you included a interresting amount of detail in each of your interviews. I can tell you spent a large amount of time in your interviews.

Gavin (Mentor)
I think the post was very to-the-point and direct regarding the focus of your interviews and how thoughts can be scattered and varied on the topic of pregnancy. It's true that the feeling of having a living being inside the womb is mind-boggling. Women must agree even more.
As for some constructive criticism, coming from an English major, always double check your writing for grammar error and do a spell-check. Doing drafts before publishing the full piece is always helpful- it lets you get a chance to make sure that you're saying exactly what you want to say, and gives you the chance to review it for yourself and see where you feel you need to focus your strengths.
All in all, not a bad post. You should read some transcribed interviews to get a sense of how these things are done professionally.


Rossi
Your post was very well written. I like the way you began with the first person, summing up her feelings right away. This was a vague yet elegant introduction into the rest of the blog. The most insightful part to me was "
A father's place in birth is often undermined and their emotions aren't often taken into consideration. It may be possible that the father is more scared than the mother, because he thinks more solidly because he doesn't have the physicality of the birth to affect his feelings." I feel like this is a very true statement because all of the attention is on the mother. While this is appropriate, it seems as if fathers are not always given enough credit for there roles in the entire process from dealing with the mother and their mood swings and "cravings" to holding their hand in the delivery room in most cases. Mothers tend to be very dependent on their husbands and their role is significant to both the mother and the child, therefor i think they deserve more credit.
I think one way that you can improve your posts would be to try to make the later summaries of the interviewees as interesting as the first.

Larche
I enjoyed reading your interviews from three different points of view of the pregnancy and birth process. I liked the line "Pregnancy is like no other aspect of our lives, because there is a living thing inside of the women which is such a mind boggling experience." It shows that pregnancy and birth is an experience that is handled differently by mothers and fathers as they experience a variety of emotions ,knowing that they are bringing a life into this world.

Max

I really thought that you post was very thought provoking. As opposed to in my post when i gave the names of my people i interviewed your people wanted to be kept private. And i undertand why their story's are very personal and really show how they feel about this topic. I felt like your most insightful line was, "The mother I interviewed said birth was very traumatic, scary, and exhilarating. "

HW 36

I interviewed three people about their experiences with pregnancy/birth. One was a mother of three, the other an expecting mother, and the third was a father who had witnessed birth.

first interview

The mother I interviewed said birth was very traumatic, scary, and exhilarating. Especially the first child, because at first she thought she was ready, but when it actually came to the day her emotions were flaring. Her husband and her were very scared but in the end they had a healthy child via cesarean section. Their second child was the easiest and most painless. He was also a c-section and was born without complication. The third was more of a roller coaster, being born when her mother was 35, the last child was more in danger of complication and this proved to be true. The last child had to be hooked up to oxygen/incubators for reasons I didnt find out.

I feel that the general consensus is that your feelings during birth are happiness over most. Birth is beautiful and we underestimate the day of delivery.

Second

The father  says birth is scary but worth it, because when you get to hold your child and realize that it's  yours and that you helped to make it the feelings are unmatched and it's one of the happiest feelings ever. He said that no book or class can truly prepare you for that hospital room when your feelings are never stationary or certain.

A father's place in birth is often undermined and their emotions aren't often taken into consideration. It may be possible that the father is more scared than the mother, because he thinks more solidly because he doesn't have the physicality of the birth to affect his feelings.

Third

I interviewed a pregnant woman. She said that pregnancy has been weird and  different and that the emotional ups and downs are unmatched. She goes to classes and has been reading a lot of literature regarding birth. She feels prepared but knows that  while all of her preparation may help in the delivery room, she still doesn't know what to expect and is very scared but excited.

Birth is a huge deal, as is the ninth month period where the baby is in the womb. The women's emotions are crazy without hormones, so the addition of them can only make it even crazier. Pregnancy is like no other aspect of our lives, because there is a living thing inside of the women which is such a mind boggling experience.

The affect of pregnancy classes and pregnancy literature on the actual birth.

HW 35

When interviewing my peers, I chose the topic of age and  birth and at what age it was acceptable to have a child. The general consensus was that we have the right to have a child and people are too judgmental in our society. Also, out of curiosity I posed the pro-life, pro-choice question. And as expected, the vast majority were pro-choice. When I asked one girl about if society puts age restraints on birth she responded, "I think our society thrives on judgment and that we judge these people a certain way because others judge them that way." When I asked another person about the same topic he thought that there is a set age bracket and it should be that way, "I think babies should be had between the age of 25 and 35. Otherwise the child's upbringing will be affected." While it was an interesting point, he was about the only one who said that age restrictions were important and needed.


When I asked another girl if she was for abortion, she responded, "No, only because I'm adopted and every child deserves a chance at living.. and there's so many choices.. like adoption" Most of the people I interviewed were pro-choice, one was even "ridiculously pro-choice" and all used the argument that it is the women's choice what to do with her body. But talking to my friend who is adopted got me thinking that there are so many different options when considering your circumstances and the best decision. The majority of answers I got were liberal, as expected, but it was refreshing that not all of them were the same.

HW 34

Birth is an interesting topic. What I find odd about it is that we hold it up on such a high pedestal, we consider birth to be such an amazing thing, yet it happens everyday and is pretty common. The sun rises every day without fail, we take that for granted. I think birth is so miraculous because it is the act of having something that is the combination of you and your loved one. You realize that you made this thing. And you are going to raise it according to your own values. Your child becomes a part of you. The idea of a living thing living within you or your spouse is many emotions at once. You want this thing to have the best life possible and you want to educate it so that you can be proud that you’ve produced a functioning successful seed.
There are over 4000 known birth defects. But we still have this idea of a perfectly healthy baby, nothing else enters our mind. Why can’t people envision themselves as having the same all-american lifestyle with a child that is ill. When people are having a child you often hear them saying, “I don’t care what gender it is as long as it’s healthy” I believe that parents with children who have medical problems are much closer to them, and their connection is far stronger. Health is a prime concern when it comes to our children.We want this perfect lifestyle, the american dream, it involves a perfectly healthy child or two. And we have left no room for compromise.