What we once were informs all that we have become

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Before I forget: Bean, waiting for a cake walk to begin - "Let's move it people!!"

(I don't know where she gets this stuff.)

So.

My c-section rant yesterday was kind of an all-encompassing rant for both my annoyance at the discussion surrounding the linked article and every other anti-c/s discussion I've seen/heard on that particular board. The discussion that tipped it off wasn't overtly offensive, but the subtext there bugs me. "... it definitely concerns me that by calling it "natural" it's a way to con women out of their right to VBAC." That kind of stuff. And the paternalistic (ironic word choice, no?) tone that 'only .00005% of c/s are truly necessary and therefore everyone else who had one is either conned by the establishment or a selfish person who just wanted the c/s'.

True, I've seen and been a part of much worse over at mothering.com(munism), but I've also seen what the local folks think of c/s in the past. So I extrapolated a little.

Who is anyone else to say what a mother's best choice was at the time? Why not give a mom who had a c/s as many flowery words and as much empowerment as possible? Why nitpick that a c/s isn't a 'natural' birth at all? I mean, duh. Baby comes out via a nice slice in the operating room, no-one really thinks that's truly natural, no matter how much incense ya burn or how soft the lighting is.

If we've reached the truly staggering 40% or greater rate for c/s in this country, then there are a lot of moms who need support, not judgment. Don't like that many c-sections? Target the medical establishment and the surgeon general for change, don't criticize the choices a mother makes. Yes, there are some 'questionable' reasons for c-sections, but who is anyone else to validate what's a "bad" reason versus a "good" one unless it's their womb, baby and heart in the mix?

Making mothers feel bad, deliberately or as a side effect, doesn't change the statistic. I doubt it budges the needle at all. All it does, IMO, is distance one group from another. And pushing people away is never a way to make them feel embraced and welcome within a community.

What's next? Vaginal-American and Caesarean-American?
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