AWOB feelings

During our first actual in class discussion on the critique of the American way of birth, there was a lot that I didn’t really agree with. It seemed like, from what was being said that the doctors who aid in AWOB are “evil” and just want to take control over the entire situation. I, however, strongly disagree with this statement. The doctors (and all doctors in general) were all taught to do things in a certain way. The way they deal with childbirth is tradition in terms of practice. The methods used in the process of delivering of a child have been modified to keep up with the times and the changing technology and to try and help the women with their fear of pain. I do agree with the fact that fear of pain causes women to want an AWOB, but I don’t think a woman can be considered a coward at all because she is bringing a human life into the world in an extremely painful way. So no matter what she asks for (drugs, c-section, natural birth etc.) she still intends to bring a child into the world with some amount of “difficulty.”
Doctors put mothers in uncomfortable positions and tell them to push and all because they know that the mother is relying on the doctor to help her through labor. This (I highly doubt) makes the mother nervous and clench up because all that the mother really wants is the baby out of her so I really don’t think she cares whom she is exposed to or what is going on around her. The doctors put the mother in the “uncomfortable” position of lying down, not so the doctors can have total control, but because should the mother be standing and squatting or however, it would be hard to hold herself up and push at the same time while keeping herself stable. Another point that was brought up was that the word “rushes” would be preferred over “contractions” because “contracting,” means that the tube where the baby is exiting is getting smaller. It was mentioned that this made the mother feel uncomfortable because she imagines the space for the baby becoming smaller. I disagree that this would maker her uncomfortable. Contractions help push the baby out by creating a momentum in which the force will help the baby’s delivery. This (although painful) could only make a women feel ok that everything should be going well and that the contractions will help her push the baby out “easier.”