Today I was sitting in a public place (researching midwifery, oddly enough) and happened to overhear a somewhat saddening conversation between two women, one of whom was pregnant. I'm going to try to piece it together here for you, with details obscured... I'm not guaranteeing accuracy, as this is from memory, but you'll get the gist.
Woman (not pg): So, when's your due date?
Pregnant Mother: {mentions date}
Woman: Well, my last couple of babies were cesareans. We had my last one two weeks early so his birthday wouldn't be too close to Christmas.
Pregnant Mother: Oh, that's cool!
Woman: Yeah, I mean, when their birthdays are on Christmas, they don't get the special treatment that everyone else gets. My {mentions relative} has two kids who were born just before Thanksgiving and just after Christmas, and they never get real birthday parties. And I'm thinking, "Gee, couldn't you have planned better than that?" Those poor kids!
Pregnant Mother: That's a good idea. I'll keep it in mind.
My goodness! Scheduled prematurity so your child can have "real birthday parties"???? Is this what we're coming to? What ever happened to letting a baby come when he is ready?
As much as we vilify ACOG (and they definitely deserve some vilification), we must, as women, take responsibility for the birth situation as well. Unethical birth practices only exist because we submit to them and sometimes actively encourage them by willing participation and willing ignorance. If we refused to participate, hospitals and doctors would follow suit.
Food for thought!
A local doctor had her 2nd child induced because her 1st child was born just after the cut-off date for school admittance. It made her "a year late" in her schooling, and the mother was determined that her other child wouldn't suffer the same fate. Sigh...
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