C-sections are up, and back in the news. Today one in four babies in the US is delivered by Caesarian section. In the 1960s, it was only one in twenty. In the time of “Our Bodies Ourselves”, giving birth at home with a midwife was highly regarded. Medical intervention in the labor process was viewed with suspicion.
But times are changing. Women getting into the baby business are older. They are busy. They are stressed. and an increasing number of them are foregoing natural methods and choosing instead to have a C-section…sometimes because it’s more convenient, or less painful, or because it’s a way to avoid those uncomfortable nasties like incontinence and vaginal tears.
The push and the pull, over health, birth and babies.
Guests:
Susan Reverby, professor of Women’s Studies at Wellesley College, and her specialty is the history of women and medicine
Dr. Bruce Flamm, with the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Riverside, California
Dr. David Walters, practices at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, and author of “Just Take It Out! The Ethics & Economics of Caesarean Section & Hysterectomy.”.