A new world record, Nikki?  While I hate to win this competition, you are
not even close.  I remember one Friday walking into the private hospital
where I worked and finding the FIRST natural, pardon me, vaginal birth of
the week.  The regretful woman had gone into labour early and not reached
hospital in time.   I understand other South African hospitals regularly
have monthly rates of 100% c-section births.

I saw other signs of disempowerment - allowing babies to be whisked off for
procedures without asking questions, and great reliance on technology rather
than simple mothering.   I found private hospital work the most dispiriting
job I have ever had.   Those babies entered the world with no one knowing
how to be their advocate and protector - even amongst the trained staff.

My daughter related her discussion last week with her university friends.
One said it was a shame that all the women in her family "had to" have
Caesarean births, because she rather liked the idea of bonding with her baby
at once and having an easy time breastfeeding when her time comes.  Another
girl expressed a similar regret that she "would not" be able to have a
natural birth either.  A third girl spoke up in amazement:  "But Caesareans
are so common these days they ARE natural!"

In this country of cheap labour, many women are not obliged to look after
their own children and certainly not to breastfeed them for long, and now
they are relieved of the burden of birthing them.....  The women hired to
nanny these babies are forced by circumstances to leave their own children
with relatives in other towns.  (I've just recently been contacted by a
woman who asked if it was right/safe for her to breastfeed her baby only at
weekends when she goes home.  Since we have such a high HIV prevalence, I
had to the difficult task of asking her to consider all her circumstances
and her HIV tests before considering mixed feeding, while applauding her
need to reconnect with her baby as best she can... and luckily she appeared
not to take offence).

I see society getting more and more fractured, and yes, I place a large part
of the blame at the door of the childbirth industry.

Jacquie Nutt IBCLC
South Africa


> Dear Friends:
> At a local LC hospital group meeting, a member reported that recently the
> census was 42 mothers on the postpartum unit; 33 of them had had cesarean
> sections. That's about a 75% cesarean section rate.

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome