Too Busy For Baby?
Posted by Advocate Aaron on June 12, 2009 · Leave a Comment
I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am. The number of pregnant women who take birth education (Lamaze) classes continues to decline (http://www.wkowtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=10388432&nav=menu1362_2); despite the fact that an already-convoluted medical system continually becomes more perplexing. This puts the uneducated at a severe disadvantage and opens opportunities for hospitals to push unnecessary expensive procedures in the interest of convenience and profit, while leaving Moms in the Middle vulnerable to predatory medical billing practices. Uninsured pregnant women, who often have no one to audit their medical bills, are especially at risk and can be charged as much as 400% more than insured women for the exact same procedures.
Among the reasons given for the decline are busy schedules and a reliance on books and online searches for childbirth education. If you’re an avid reader, you know that online research is one of my all-time pet peeves: For every reliable source, there’s 100 unreliable sources spewing myths and misinformation that threaten the health of mothers and their babies. Unless you know where to look, or who to trust, birth “education” administered via Google searches and potentially-biased books is not in anyone’s best interest.
Think you know what sources are reliable? I’ll bet one of your first choices is the American Medical Association – and I’ll bet you didn’t know that the AMA has proposed legislation that could potentially criminalize mothers and their midwives for delivering at home – despite the fact that studies consistently find home birth to be just as safe (if not more safe) than hospital births.
Birth education has many benefits for mother and child, including:
Natural pain reduction
More comfortable labor
Natural birthing process
No medication side effects
Accurate childbirth expectations
Support partner training
Empowerment to choose delivery environment and pregnancy outcome
Cost savings through intelligent decision-making
Labor preparation through healthy diet and exercise
Birthing option education, including water birth, home birth, and birthing stools and balls
Baby care education, including early breastfeeding techniques
All of these things contribute toward a happy, healthy baby. The question is not whether you need birth education. The question is: Can you spare a little time to protect your baby’s life?
