My Views On How To Pop A Mini...

I just went to dinner with S and L. It was one of those tame girlie nights out, as S is about to pop with mini #2. Majority of the convo was focused on having minis. L was interested in my views about natural, non-intervention birthing. I promised to recommend some books for her to read on the subject. This is one subject that I have strong opinions on.
There is most definitely something wrong with the way childbirth is approached in this country. The C-section rate is through the roof (especially for those with health insurance), and doctors and hospitals are so scared that they are quick to push unnecessary interventions. Laboring mothers and expectant fathers are bullied into accepting what they are told because they view doctors/hospitals as the all knowing authority figures. Fear rules in this scenario.
Childbirth is a natural process. When your baby is ready, the process will begin. Why would a doctor determine that you need to be induced? It will happen. When you are induced, your contractions are likely to become too severe and you will need an epidural to handle the pain. Once you have the epidural, your ability to move around and labor in the way that your body tells you to is taken away from you. You are forced to remain flat on your back, which is a very unnatural position to labor in. You may or may not progress. Your chances of requiring emergency surgery are dramatically heightened.
Don't get me wrong, there are a number of situations that could require interventions for the health of the mother or baby, and I am all for those. I am against the unnecessary interventions that have become routine practice in this country. I am against doctors and hospitals that cater to insurance companies and malpractice premiums instead of listening to what is important to the mothers and fathers. Decisions should not be made to accomodate a doctor's appointment schedule, or to turn over a bed in a maternity ward. Birth should be embraced as a beautiful, miraculous, natural process as opposed to a sterile, emergency-ridden,terrifying fiasco.
I should have become a doula or a midwife.
Agree or disagree, whatever...these are my views.
Someday I hope to be blessed to have some minis of my own.