Last night was Bradley class #3. I look forward to this class all day!! Mondays usually stink, but now they don’t.
Last night was introduction night for a lot of topics that Shannon encouraged parents to go home and start researching themselves. She briefly touched on “typical” practices, and then gave us resources for the contrasting viewpoints. We discussed:
Where to give birth—in Illinois we don’t have many legal options, unfortunately. Chicagoland has a few birth centers and doctors that will do home-births, but for the most part it’s all about hospitals here.
Who will be with you?—think about whether or not you want a lot of people in the room, or just one or two. Be prepared with someone who can offer you labor support.
Find out about interventions—do you want an IV? Do you want pitocin? Do you want an epidural? You don’t have to give consent for anything you don’t want to, no matter how much you are being pressured.
Cesarian sections—obviously when necessary they can save lives. But so many doctors are pushing them when they’re NOT medically necessary, and allowing women to just schedule one when they want. Do research and learn what risks there truly are during a c/s so that you’re prepared if the time comes.
Induction—do you want to be induced? Find out how often your doctor performs induction, and how long they will let you go past your “due date” before strongly encouraging it. Do you want pitocin to be induced? Or do you want your water broken? Find out about time limits to labor after being induced, as well. After having your water broken, you have 18 hours to get that baby out—are you comfortable with that?
Ultrasound—some women/parents are against ultrasounds because there really are no long-term studies done to show effects of them, as they are relatively new to the medical world. Do you want to have ultrasounds? Read about the risks and benefits of them.
Circumcision—It used to be very common practice to just do a circumcision. On the East coast now, the number is down to something like 10% of males being circumcised. In the Midwest it’s about 60%. It’s not just “something to do.” READ about circumcisions. Understand that according to the pediatric association, there is no medical indication for routine circumcision. And, I encourage you to find a video clip and watch what is actually done during a circumcision so you know what will be happening to your baby.
Vaccinations—this is a hot debate right now. Read about them from reputable sources. Read pros and cons. Decide for yourself whether or not you want to vaccinate, or do it on a delayed schedule.
I have a good list of sources for all of these topics that I’m not going to type all out. If you want a copy, let me know and I’ll get you the source info you want!
Bradley child birth class #3
4 comments:
While Dan and I adore Shannon's Bradley class and whole-heartedly recommend it to all our friends (yourself included!) we really felt put-off by the anti-circumcision bias of class number 3. Maybe it had everything to do with the fact that she was encouraging un-biased education but provided only one side of the story, and a nearly militant anti-circ bias at that. While we have many reasons for why we choose circumcision for our little guy, I almost feel like we were tipped over the edge in a defiant sort of way in reaction to the over bearing anti-circ tone. Just keeping it real.
Just one more thought.. Apparently my grandfather was circumcised as a grown man when he was in the military during WWII. I think it was common practice because nobody knew what sort of circumstances were awaitig these men in battle and perhaps if they were hostages, lost in the wilderness, etc etc it may have improved their chances of survival. This may also explain why circumcision was such a prevalent practice for men our dads' ages.. Their dads probably came home from war, had little boy babies, and thought they'd do their kids a favor now before they were old enough to remember being circ'ed.
That is an interesting point about the WWII thing! I have never even considered that!
You're right about the circ education being quite one-sided. She did make a disclaimer that she talks about the opposite side of typical decisions because that's what people hear about less, but you're right, it could definitely feel pushy if you had already made the decision to circumcise. I think circumcision and immunizations are the two hot buttons right now...it will be interesting to hear what people in the class decide!
It is definitely a hot button issue. And along with immunizations, you are completely right. :) Who even knows...!
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