C-Birth: The Trendy New Term
By Danell Swim
April 23, 2008
Now that 31% of babies are born by caesarean section, more women are becoming increasingly defensive about their choice to have primary and repeat c-sections. And because so many women now make this choice, there is a massive movement to normalize caesareans.
When women who only give birth vaginally say “you didn’t give birth,” these caesarean activists come back with the outcry of their 9 months of pregnancy, their participation in the birth choices, and the long painful recovery that is worse than a vaginal birth. After all, how can you not call it birth when they have to suffer so much in order to have their babies taken from the womb?
I’ve talked to many other caesarean activists who say that they’d hate to have a vaginal birth. The “vajayjay” gets stretched out to impossible widths, the hours of agonizing labor, and the inconvenience of it all. They’d much rather have “intact bodies” and not have to worry about tearing during birth. They say that having a c-section is much easier on their bodies.
So which is it? Is it harder than a vaginal birth, or easier than a vaginal birth? Whatever suits the debate, or so it seems.
Because of their demand to recognize how like vaginal birthers they are, they’ve come up with a new term: C-Birth. See, it’s a cesarean, and a birth. Because they give birth just as much as any other woman.
But it’s not giving birth.
Yes, a baby is born. But that doesn’t mean that they give birth to it. They go through a surgical procedure to have their baby extracted from them, and that baby is born into the world.
So why get so upset about these semantics?
It seems that there is so much guilt over choosing a caesarean over a birth, that women become rabidly defensive about that decision. And for those that didn’t choose a caesarean, but were forced, coerced or medically required to undergo the surgery, the need for recognition of “birth” is even more dramatic.
On this website, one woman, Lori, responded to an article I wrote in which I refused to call a caesarean a “birth.”
“In a world where women are constantly marginalized and minimized, I think using language like “Cesarean section surgery (notice I do not call it birth)” is a very hurtful way to categorize our births. Some of us, like me, literally had no choice but a c section. Do I not deserve to tell my son of his BIRTH? I took immaculate care of my body and my pregnancy. I planned a joyful natural childbirth. Nature had other plans for me. I had an undiagnosed clotting disorder that led to HELLP syndrome.”
So women who have caesarean sections deserve to call it birth. In my estimation, you can deserve to be called a good mother, but you can’t just deserve to say you gave birth just because you had an ordeal. Deserving just doesn’t make it so. They can protest all they want, but cesarean is surgery, and birth is birth.
And when I say “they,” I also mean “me.” My first son was born via caesarean section, but I did not give birth to him. The doctor cut him from the womb, and there’s no amount of trendy terminology that will change that.
Always, these accusations and denouncements are met with the outcry that vaginal birth advocates are accusing caesarean mothers as being “less of a mother.” But that’s not it at all.
Natural birth advocates are saying that you didn’t give birth. That doesn’t take anything away from the 9 months that you carried your baby, kept it safe, or from the weeks, months, years and decades that you will continue to love and support your child. But being a good mother does not stem from giving birth to your children. And in the long run, how you gave birth just really don’t compare to how you raise those children.
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9 Responses to “C-Birth: The Trendy New Term”
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I completely agree about it NOT being called a birth. Those mothers who say a c-section is easier than vaginal birth really needs to be more educated. Let’s see, would I choose to have my baby vaginally with a possibility of minor tears or cuts or have my entire abdomen sliced open and stapled back together? Hmmm…I choose the first one. And vaginal birth is easier to recover from. God gave women vaginas to birth so why don’t we use them? I understand there are circumstances when women must have a c-section and thank heaven for the procedure, but come on! Choosing a c-section over vaginal delivery is just crazy.
I agree that it’s NOT birth. And to think that your VAGINA (not “vajayjay”- let’s be adults and call it what it is) will “Strectch to IMPOSSIBLE widths” shows how ignorant we have become about how AMAZING and Wonderful and Beautiful our bodies really are. Why would you WANT to be cut open, when there is a Perfectly Natural way for the baby to come out? There are SO few things in life that are unexpected, or unpredictable that we as a society have decided to take the mystery out of Pregnancy and Childbirth.
So, I’m sorry for all you mom’s that had a reason for having a c-section, and for all you that plan one and demand one you should be ashamed. You are robbing yourself of the one opportunity to see how TRULY strong you are. You are preventing that primal Warrior from comming out and showing your true colors of Woman. It’s not Birth- it’s a C-Section.
Why on Earth would someone volunteer to be cut open when you can have a natural childbirth? The way society has turned is very depressing to me. It is not a birth, it is a surgical procedure to remove a baby from a uterus. A birth happens from a baby passing through a vagina. Today, women can tell gender of a baby before it is born (I chose NOT to) and NOW they can even have their baby removed without breaking a sweat. How lazy, uneducated, uninformed and just plain wrong! Why would not want to experience birth? It is the most magical, powerful, beautiful and memorable moment in any family’s life! Such a shame. C-sections should be reserved for emergencies only!
I know that the media has been full of stories lately of “maternal choice” cesareans. I’ll give you my personal take on the situation. The cesarean rate is approaching 35% and is actually higher than this in some areas (including in the Georgia town where I practice as a hospital-based CNM). I really, really, really believe that OBs (when criticized about this as they have been by the World Health Organization as well as the CDC) are responding that the cesarean rate is so high only because women want cesareans. The OB journals have been full of editorials about maternal choice cesareans during the past two years. The authors of these editorials often resort to the analogy of a woman choosing cosmetic surgery. Something along the lines of “I believe that if a woman can choose to have cosmetic surgery with all of the inherent risks involved that she ought to be able to choose a cesarean as well”…What’s the difference right? They fail to mention in these editorials that the maternal mortality rate in the U.S. is at it’s highest rate in decades. I will never believe that a woman who is comfortable with her body and who has respectful, sensitive prenatal care will choose voluntarily to have her baby cut out of her body for no reason (sorry to be offensive here). I do think that there is a concerted effort among many OBs to scare women to death about vaginal birth. As a matter of fact one obstetrician in our town makes his patients sign a consent form for a vaginal delivery!!!!!! Unbelievable but true. Listed on the consent form are all the “risks” associated with a vaginal birth including death or brain damage to the infant, hemorrhage ( necessitating hysterectomy if the bleeding can’t be stopped), vaginal tears including tears into the rectal sphincter, urinary and fecal incontinence, maternal death, etc.
There is a not so subtle, concerted effort on the part of some OBs to undermine a woman’s confidence in her body from the very first visit. For example during the pelvic exam an OB may make comments to the effect of ” Well, your pelvis is pretty narrow, but we’ll just hope for the best” or during the ultrasound “Well, the cord appears to be wrapped around the neck, that can be a sometimes be a serious problem during labor”. or “This might be a big baby, we’ll have to make sure that your labor progresses or you will be a risk for a shoulder dystocia, etc. and on and on ad infinitum. I know this is true because we have had many, many women transfer into our practice when they have heard these comments because the women were strong enough and educated enough to know that they were being hoodwinked. Many women call us at 37-39 weeks when they see the writing on the wall and ask if it is too late to transfer to midwifery care.
Unfortunately though the majority of women probably buy the bullshit scare tactics pushed at them about stretched out vaginas and the “horrors” of normal childbirth and meekly submit to cesarean like lambs taken to slaughter. I think Henci Goer articulated this scenario best in her book The Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth…
“A study of interactions between women and obstetricians offers an explanation. It described three levels of increasing power imbalance: In the first, you fight and lose; in the second you don’t fight because you know you can’t win. However, in the highest level of power differential, your preferences are so manipulated that you act against your own interests, but you are content. Elective repeat cesarean exemplifies that highest level.”
Henci Goer, Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth
I am the Lori you referenced above. I don’t need anybody to “recognize” me for the birth of my son. Just because you choose not to call it giving birth does not mean that your terminology is accepted by everybody.
I find it sad that you need to carry your agenda so far as to write hurtful things about other women.
Oh, and to call the birth of my son an “ordeal” is one of the biggest understatements I have ever read. Did you even take the time to read my story? If you did and you can still think the way that you do, I fear you do not have a heart.
I had a cesarean. It was after a “failed” induction. I hated it. I was ugly, and no, I wouldn’t call it a “birth”–I actually cringe when I think about it.
I will admit, maybe it’s easier for women who have had “unnecesareans” to refuse to call their c/s a “birth”, than it would be for mothers who really had no choice in the matter. If a woman had a condition that would require a cesarean, maybe it hurts to have to admit you really “couldn’t do it”.–you didn’t even have the chance. Whereas, I know I could have. I had no condition that required a cesarean, I had an induction for going “post dates” by a whopping 6 freaking days. My body wasn’t ready, I was given only a few hrs. to make it past 4 cm, was given the typical bullshit “diagnosis” of CPD, and was wheeled off to the OR. It was not an emergency, but “failure to wait”. My cesarean was most definitely unnecessary.
IMHO, I think lots of cesarean moms get defensive because, let’s face it, giving birth is something only women can do. To miss out on a healthy vaginal birth sucks, many won’t admit it, but it sucks. To admit someone else could do it and we couldn’t, is a blow to the ego. We have to rationalize it. Of course we LOVE our babies, kept them warm and safe for 9 months, but when it came down to it–we didn’t get the finale–the climax. We “couldn’t do it”. Of course some will try to make themselves feel better. It’s only natural. It’s hard to hear stories, or see videos of mothers, not drugged-out, have the baby placed on their chest, warm and wet, the father cuts the umbilical cord, mother is alert, baby is alert, everyone cries with joy, the mother is MOBILE. During my c/s, I was so out of it, I missed out on my son’s first moments, and didn’t see him until hours later. Cesareans are sub-par to vaginal birth, I think everyone knows that deep down, beneath all that garbage society clogs women’s minds with–”oh, a healthy baby is all that matters,” and all that nonsense.
Cesareans are not wonderful. It doesn’t matter if it was really needed or not, having your belly sliced open and your baby extracted from you isn’t pretty. Some women like to dress it up with phrases like “C-birth”, well, I just prefer not to sugarcoat it.
Michele
http://www.birthcut.com
I refuse to call my c/s a birth. It was NOT. I did not give birth. My child was TAKEN from my body after a failed induction and being the victim of every totally unnecessary intervention they could throw at me. My baby was in “distress” I was told…. yet he came into this world with Apgars of 9 and 9 - and is the healthiest kid around.
I’m due with #2 in 5 days and trying to have a successful VBAC now, but my DR is already trying to tell me he won’t “let” me go past 41 weeks. Yeah, whatever doc… you’ll have to find me first!
I realized too late (according to my insurance company) that I should have changed providers. My Dr. pretended to support VBAC until I walked in with my birth plan.. then it was “Well, we’re not gonna be all granola about this… VBAC is dangerous, etc, etc.” By the time I realized what was happening, Blue Cross told me it was too late to switch providers and I was stuck with him.
So, I hired a doula… and continue to stress 24/7 about what will happen when I’m at the mercy of that Dr/Hospital.
I hope I have a successful VBAC story in the next few weeks. I really NEED to give birth this time. I can’t imagine going my whole life without ever experiencing birth. Seems so very sad to me, like a part of me will always be missing.
This story is incredible hurtful. It sounds and reads down right hateful. I read every natural birth book there was and I went to La Maze and Hypnobirthing and did everything I was supposed to spending lots of money to prepare myself for my drug free birth. As a first time mom I wanted to cover all my bases and I soaked up all the information and spent hundreds of hours practicing my relaxation techniques. I created an amazing birth plan and had the full support of my doctor and my family.
But I cant control everything. My son had his cord wrapped three times around his neck. It was so tight he had a bruise. Some babies can be born with their cord around their neck just fine..but not my son. I labored hard with him for 12 hours and made it to 6cm by myself which I am very proud of. But at some point I had to let go of my dream birth and help my son be born safe and healthy into this world. Perhaps you dont know what its like to watch your sons heart rate slow to 100, 92,84,76, 68..But I do. I looked over and I couldnt believe what it was. I thought it was 100 but that was my heart rate..the little one at 68 and dropping was my sons. My doula helping me understand and supporting me all the way. Maybe you dont know what its like to have 10medical personell crammed into your little room while your doctor is helping you get into 20 different positions and you have an oxygen mask on your face..doing anything to try and get his heart rate to come up and all it does is go down.
You dont know me and you dont know my situation and everything that happened in that room. But I know that the statistics speak for themselves and around the world today in less fortunate countries women and babies still die in childbirth. It is a wonderful and magical thing when it goes right. But I thank God I live in this country and had the ceserian birth as an option. But you must not know how to read a dictionary. Because when you look up birth it reads the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring. Well I did that. And I would have cut him out myself if it meant he would live even if I had to die bringing him into this world. I gave birth to my son and I dont care what anyone says. I hope to have another uncomplicated pregnancy with my secod child when we decide to conceive it. But I know the risks being pregnant and delivering with a scar. I will try my best for a VBAC and I have decided to keep my same birth plan. I wish people were not so ignorant and condescending in this world.
First off I am not saying having a section is BAD, thank god for them otherwise I would not have been born (my mom went into distress while laboring) what I find appalling is the fact women don’t even TRY to give birth vaginally. Obviously women posted above tried to give birth and could not do it unfortunately. It is those women who are too posh to push or worried about ruining themselves vaginally who are just annoying and not giving nature a chance. I am sorry to those mamas who could not deliver vaginally. I wish you all the best of luck with your VBACs! Good luck mamas!