The Inducing Nightmare
-by Erin
Donnelly Sigman, mummy to Nykki, 10 month
baby. Read Nykki's birth story here.
It was June in Las Vegas and it was hot. I was
swollen larger than I ever thought I could be.
My 10 month baby kicked and rolled, keeping me
up at night and, most annoying, people (family
mostly) called me daily asking, "When are
yougoing to have the baby?!" They weren't
used to a woman following the rhythms of her own
body. My own mother had been induced and my aunt
had two C sections, the second of which was scheduled
simply because of the first. Two weeks past my
due date the family got even more "serious"
saying amongst themselves that something "had
to be done".
At two weeks past due my midwife suggested an
ultrasound, just to make sure the placenta was
fine. I agreed, reluctantly, but in my heart I
knew that nothing was wrong. My body wouldn't
-not- have the baby. Two weeks after the ultrasound
my baby finally arrived. I took peace in the knowledge
that my son had been born when he needed to, not
when it was convenient for a doctor, my family
or even me.
Even with that extra month my son was still only
7lbs 13oz. He was long and thin. His feet flexed
back like a preemie. I shuddered to think what
would have happened to him had he been forced
to be born a month earlier. It was clear to me
when I saw him that he just hadn't been done until
now.
When people asked me when I was due and I would
say "two weeks ago." With a laugh, they
looked at me like I was insane. "Well certainly
your doctor will induce you," some of them
would say. "Nope, I'm seeing a midwife not
a doctor," I retorted. That would garner
even more, blank, blinking stares. Most of my
family couldn't understand why I didn't "get
induced.". After all EVERYONE did it. Upon
reflection that was true. Every single woman I
had known to give birth (outside of the group
I knew through my midwife) over the last five
years had all been induced.
In 1981 when my mother gave birth to my sister
she was induced. My sister was 2 weeks late and
they feared that my sister's head would get "too
big" for my mother to push it out. I had
been a forceps baby so my mother already didn't
trust her body. When the induction drugs didn't
work fast enough, two doctors stood at the top
of the bed and pushed down on my mother's bulging
pregnant belly. My sister still resisted and they
pushed harder and harder causing my mother great
pain. When my sister was finally born her face
was so squished together my father feared she
was a mental or physically disabled child.
When a relative of mine recently had her baby
induced, purely for scheduling reasons, her baby
was a thin 6 lbs-something and spent over a week
in the hospital. (Have you noticed how home born
babies range from 7 lbs through 10 or 11 lbs and
hospital babies are 6 lbs on average?) My relative
was unable to get a good breastfeeding relationship
started and gave up when the hospital situation
made it difficult. A few months before, another
relative of mine was also induced although for
"medical" reasons this time. Her baby
was sickly from the beginning and spent over a
month in the hospital. He was, of course, not
breastfed and the immaturity of his digestive
tract made it so that he spit up almost everything
he was fed. When my two- month-old son and I took
a vacation to meet this baby who was four months
older than my son we found him to be half the
size of my son.
Some months later, while spending the day with
my father and son, my father, a wise King-Arthur-type,
sage of a man, remarked, " I don't understand
why women keep getting induced. In the wild we
know that there is a wide variation of gestation
time for animals even of the same species. Why
would it be then that human women would follow
a pre-set clock exactly. It seems to me that doctors
should say 36-46 weeks, instead of NINE MONTHS."
When I studied at the Ancient Art Midwifery Institute
I learned about the dangers of induction. I learned
that Cytotec (the drug used for inducing) had
never been approved or reviewed for use by the
FDA yet doctors administered it like candy to
any woman. This wasn't restricted to women who
went over their due dates. If the doctor and the
mother had a scheduling conflict; induce. If the
father can only get off work on Fridays; induce.
The number of babies being born on weekends is
dropping dramatically as doctors try to free up
their Saturdays and Sundays. [For more about
Cytotec, go here.]
Most women trust the doctor. From the moment
they find out they are pregnant they give up all
their power. ALL of it. They plan their schedule
around the doctors and when the doctor says they
need, or should, or can induce for any reason
they trust the doctor. After all, the doctor is
just trying to help and he certainly wouldn't
put her and her baby at any risk, would s/he?
Maybe the doctor doesn't believe that s/he is
risking anything but s/he is!
There are two ways to see the issue. Number one,
God (or a Divine source) created humans and all
of nature. Therefore, why would the divine create
a woman's body in such a way that she cannot give
birth, herself, with no induction or interventions?
Number two, man has evolved over millions of years
of evolution. Why, if evolution can create a lizard
that can physically change colors to blend into
its environment to avoid predators, would evolution
leave women helpless when it comes to the most
important thing one can do for our species, give
birth!(?)
Women are not taught to trust their own bodies.
We are lied to or kept in the dark about the sexuality
of our own bodies for as long as possible. Then
when we are told about sex and human behavior
we are told to suppress it while men are encouraged
to flaunt it. When we begin bleeding we are told
we must use pain reliever to cure us of our "burden"
and that we must stuff up our tender sensitive
vulva so as not to get any of our "dirty"
blood anywhere. We must buy special soap to wash
it and powders to cover it up. We are made to
feel completely ashamed of that entire area of
our bodies. It is no wonder when we become pregnant
we are willing to hand over this event to a man
in white. Most women have probably never even
seen their own vagina!
It is wrong for our society to keep women powerless
when it comes to their own bodies. It is inexcusable
that doctors would take advantage of this ignorance
for their own convenience, putting mothers and
babies at risk in the process.
Induction is just another way to make women fear
birth and feel out of control. Soon women will
think that no woman's body ever gives birth correctly
and every woman will be induced on a date that
her and her doctor choose. Pulling women further
away from natural birth. So far that "natural
birth" will become a myth and a fairy tale
of the past.
A little talked about danger of induction is
setting the precedent that your child must adhere
to your schedule. When we don't allow our babies
to slowly ripen in their own time we overlook
their basic needs and favor our own needs. It
is wrong to pressure your baby into birth and
once you have done that it isn't much of a leap
to feeding on a schedule that's convenient to
you, forcing your baby to sleep when it's "time",
not when he's actually tired, etc. Soon your baby's
life is not his own, his birth certainly wasn't.
Which leads me to another point about induction,
a more spiritual one. I firmly believe that when
and where and at what time a baby is born is very
important. It is a pre-chosen date and time that
his/her soul selected. His/her personality and
direction will be aided by this chosen birth date
and time. What happens then when we force them
out too soon? We know the medical dangers, now
what about the spiritual ones?
Your baby's birth is the most important event
in the relationship the two of you will have.
It will set the precedent for your entire lives
together. Do you really want it to be one of fear,
both on your part and your baby's? Do you want
it to be a white, lab coat, drug induced nightmare
or a soft relaxing, low lit, waking dream? Do
you want to gaze into your baby's eyes and suckle
him or her at your breast, or do you want to lie
in a bed, your ankles in stirrups, drugged out
of you mind, while your equally drugged baby is
whisked off, isolated and treated for all the
medical issues inducement caused? Do you want
him or her to deal with those issues, those horrible
subconscious memories for the rest of his or her
life? Of course any mother would answer, "No!
I want a beautiful birth and a healthy child!"
So why aren't women being empowered? Why are babies
being harmed and even killed, why are women's
uterus' rupturing? Why, oh why on earth are we
inducing?
Erin Donnelly Sigman is a SAHM to her son
Nykki. She's a UNLV grad, vegan rawfoodist, EC-ing,
yoga lovin', eco-conscience, radical feminist.
She makes her happy home in Southern Nevada. Visit
her
website.
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