Busy times, as usual. Classes are hectic, the holidays brought guests and much-enjoyed socialization and much-appreciated camaraderie and closeness, and traveling is on the horizon. Little time right now for the essays, my book. Now and again only can I check in with the listservs or email groups. Here is something of interest you may have already seen, though I see the blog is still getting comments even today. Columnist Tara Parker-Pope reports on her Well blog that pregnant women “cutting childbirth class.” Before going to the content, I must say how grateful I am to see her use of the word “women” rather than the usual “ladies” (yes, truly!) that I am seeing all the time on certain email groups. Ladies! Parker-Pope says:
Although women are more obsessed than ever with health during their pregnancies, they seem to have lost interest in learning about the end of pregnancy, also known as childbirth, reports the November issue of Fit Pregnancy magazine.
“Fewer women are taking classes,’’ said Jeannette Crenshaw, president of Lamaze International. Ms. Crenshaw told the magazine that she believes several issues explain why women aren’t as interested in learning about childbirth. Many women, she says, are convinced they can’t deliver a baby without epidural pain relief. Television shows often depict birth as a dangerous event, even though serious problems are exceedingly rare among women delivering in the United States. And because many women work until nearly the last day of pregnancy, busy schedules often prevent them from scheduling a birthing class.
Marjie Hathaway, co-director of the American Academy of Husband-Coached Childbirth, which teaches what’s known as the Bradley Method of natural childbirth, also told the magazine that interest in childbirth classes has waned. “Today, women are more focused on prenatal testing and monitoring the pregnancy than in learning how to give birth,’’ she said.
Research shows that there’s no real difference in pain, labor interventions or birth outcomes among women who take childbirth classes and those who don’t, the magazine reports. The classes appear to attract women who are the most vigilant about their health during pregnancy. Women who enroll in a childbirth class are more likely to have quit smoking, keep prenatal appointments and to breastfeed after birth, the magazine notes.
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But today hospital-based classes tend to focus more on a tour of hospital facilities rather than techniques to cope with labor pain. The magazine argues that women’s declining interest in childbirth classes is worrisome because it’s happening even as childbirth has become more “medicalized’’ than ever. During childbirth, a number of variables can arise and women have to make informed decisions about procedures like epidurals, episiotomies, induction and C-sections. “That’s where you reap the dividends of having had a teacher who explained each possible intervention and showed you how to be your advocate,’’ the magazine reports.
What is most instructive and interesting, however, as is often the case, is to be found in reading the comments.
