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High US C-section rate symptom of capitalist “healthcare” - Liberation News (liberationnews.org)

submitted 7 months ago by Confidant6198@lemmy.ml to c/usa@lemmy.ml

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[–] Madzielle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 23 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (3 children)

I read most of this, while some of this might be true, some of it is wacky.

I gave birth. If you want to shorten the stay of the mother for profit, natural birth is cheaper and is a shorter stay. I don't understand why this article says the opposite.

Agree they do trap us on our back.

My kid had trouble coming out my birth canal, I was in labor far too long, they said C-section around the 22 hour mark. I refused and they ended up using a vacuum on his little head to help pull him out. He has cognitive/reasononing issues. After years, I sometimes really wonder if I should have let them do the c section, and if he would have been better cognitivly thus. But also, would have been nice to use gravity, as my urge to squat was so strong, but I couldn't.

Giving birth is fucking terrifying. I don't like the tone of this article.

[–] Keld@hexbear.net 13 points 7 months ago (1 children)

The fact that there is a profit motive behind the overuse of c-sections is a settled issue. There is. There are investigations, there are studies, and there are metaanalyses of those studies. C-sections are a relatively easy procedure with predictable results that minimise litigation risk. It is frankly absurd how high the incentive is for a hospital to perform one.
I can't comment on your baby in particular. I don't know the relevant facts and it would be wildly unethical to comment on it as a result. But with regards to whether there is a financial motive to perform c-sections in general the science is in.

[–] Madzielle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

It is also a profit-driven practice that is intended to save money for hospitals by shortening mothers’ stays and relying on medication instead of care staff.

There's no source listed for this statement. I don't understand why it says C-sections shorten the mothers' stay is all I'm saying. The recovery time for cesarean is longer than natural birth. Maybe it's changed over the last decade, but it is invasive surgery that takes more time, and yeah, thus more money/profit, but I don't see how it shortens stay. That's all I was commenting on.

Note, Just noticed too, the quote uses the funny ’ apostrophe, and not the Usian ' standard on our keyboards. Someone was talking about that on a different thread I read earlier, as an indicator of AI or possibly non-Usian user. But that's irrelevant here, I just noticed it. I don't trust like, anything.

Edit edit,

Women and their babies deserve personal care that is not dependent on cost-cutting technology or a hospital’s bottom line.

And yeah this is basically summing up the issue here in the last statement. I was hella grumpy this morning, I'm still hella grumpy, but finished the last two paragraphs of the article now. It's not wrong overall.

[–] Keld@hexbear.net 5 points 7 months ago (1 children)

That sentence is wrong. Women stay longer in the hospital after a c-section. You are right to question the article if that is what it says.

[–] Madzielle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

The whole paragraph reads:

This was a massive blow to women’s ability to receive a form of personalized maternity care that many understaffed hospitals cannot provide due to the sheer volume of patients coming in for other ailments. Still, doctors have opposed the practice of midwifery on the grounds that a more Western, “scientific” approach is preferable. In practice this means relying on hospitals for birth and prioritizing quick pain relief over holistic care. It is also a profit-driven practice that is intended to save money for hospitals by shortening mothers’ stays and relying on medication instead of care staff.

Upon reread, I think they meant the use of medications over individualized holistic care is what shortens the stay. Not C-section.

I was allowed to refuse meds, I did refuse meds. Idk. I think that's what they meant in the article though, and I misunderstood what "It" was referring to in the paragraph.

But also, the obgyn isn't the same doctor working the ER. I can't speak to rural places, at all, so I don't know how it is, but it was my doctor who delivered my baby, the same doctor I had been seeing for years of obgyn stuff. It's not just some rando who's available in the hospital. I feel like this comes from an honest place, but the author might have exaggerated for slight effect. But I don't know how it is in other places. Hell, maybe they're popping babies out so fast in the mid-west with not enough doctors available, wouldn't shock me, I know hospitals are shutting down out there with cuts to medicare. Maybe it is like that out there.

[–] Keld@hexbear.net 5 points 7 months ago (1 children)

No they're talking about general reduction of bed rest after birth, not that c sections have shorter hospital stays. It is also describing a process that originated in the 19th century, not a recent phenomenon.

[–] Madzielle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 7 months ago

Yeah, I read that now. "Holistic" is a bit vauge for me to understand wholly, it can mean a few different things. I had three days rest at the hospital, but was expected to take it easyfor 6 weeks post. I wonder how much rest was recommended 100 years ago to what is recommended today.

[–] CookieOfFortune@lemmy.world 7 points 7 months ago

We were worried about things like this, which is why we got a doula. Ended up needing a c-section anyways (it was absolutely medically necessary).

[–] undeffeined@lemmy.ml 7 points 7 months ago

Really sorry that has happened to you. Insisting that women should lie down when giving birth is moronic, there are several positions that are much better suited, or better yet, in a birthing tub.