Maternity hospital
Last night I was channel flicking with two small ones on my lap while Brendon fixed the mouse. I came across Maternity Hospital, a reality tv programme on Discovery channel. I usually avoid it, but kept it on at the request of the children who were very interested in the baby angle.
It was reasonably educational for them - we talked about how babies came out, umbilical cords and the like.
The things that really strike me about this programme are firstly how very medical it is. I know it is in a hospital and all, but it just goes against the grain somehow. Every woman seems to labour and give birth flat on her back so as to give the attending doctor a convenient view and a comfortable seated position. All attendants (and there always seems to be heaps) are fully robed, gowned, masked, gloved, hatted as though they are going in for a c-section. There are heaps of people in the room (however, I assume that if someone is quite happy being filmed for a tv programme, they are probably quite happy for 15 of their extended family to be present too!). Often the mothers are young - 19 and 23 last night.
Problem is, I just don't know how normal all this is, having not had "normal" births. But I suspect that it is different in New Zealand. If all had gone fine, I would have had Isabelle with just Brendon and the midwife in the room. I believe the midwife was robed to some extent as I remember Brendon telling me that she was getting togged up to give me encouragement. (I was too focused on other matters to be worried about her outfit, and besides, I had my back to her - she could have been wearing Mickey Mouse ears for all I knew). I definitely, definitely was encouraged to move around and use gravity to help get the babies out.
Another thing is the remarkable lack of noise the women make. I remember saying to Brendon the first time I watched it "Oh, she's obviously in early first stage with an epidural in". Oh no, no, no, this woman was calmly and quietly on the cusp of actually giving birth. Making lots of howls in labour seems to be my thing, and anyone who has spent any time at Wellington Hospital delivery suite could attest to that being common to many women!
But the first time I watched it, most of all I remember a woman flat on her back in bed attempting a VBAC. After a short examination, the doctor told her (not unkindly) that she had failed to progress sufficiently and that she would be having another section. She turned her head from the camera, closed her eyes and a terrible pain contorted her face. A tear ran down her cheek.
Her grief was too raw for me. I turned the tv off.
It was reasonably educational for them - we talked about how babies came out, umbilical cords and the like.
The things that really strike me about this programme are firstly how very medical it is. I know it is in a hospital and all, but it just goes against the grain somehow. Every woman seems to labour and give birth flat on her back so as to give the attending doctor a convenient view and a comfortable seated position. All attendants (and there always seems to be heaps) are fully robed, gowned, masked, gloved, hatted as though they are going in for a c-section. There are heaps of people in the room (however, I assume that if someone is quite happy being filmed for a tv programme, they are probably quite happy for 15 of their extended family to be present too!). Often the mothers are young - 19 and 23 last night.
Problem is, I just don't know how normal all this is, having not had "normal" births. But I suspect that it is different in New Zealand. If all had gone fine, I would have had Isabelle with just Brendon and the midwife in the room. I believe the midwife was robed to some extent as I remember Brendon telling me that she was getting togged up to give me encouragement. (I was too focused on other matters to be worried about her outfit, and besides, I had my back to her - she could have been wearing Mickey Mouse ears for all I knew). I definitely, definitely was encouraged to move around and use gravity to help get the babies out.
Another thing is the remarkable lack of noise the women make. I remember saying to Brendon the first time I watched it "Oh, she's obviously in early first stage with an epidural in". Oh no, no, no, this woman was calmly and quietly on the cusp of actually giving birth. Making lots of howls in labour seems to be my thing, and anyone who has spent any time at Wellington Hospital delivery suite could attest to that being common to many women!
But the first time I watched it, most of all I remember a woman flat on her back in bed attempting a VBAC. After a short examination, the doctor told her (not unkindly) that she had failed to progress sufficiently and that she would be having another section. She turned her head from the camera, closed her eyes and a terrible pain contorted her face. A tear ran down her cheek.
Her grief was too raw for me. I turned the tv off.
posted by Mary at 4:09 pm
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