in response to katrina

After reading Gawande and Goer discuss all of the things that could possibly go wrong while giving birth, I have to agree with Katrina that childbirth is something I am in no way looking forward to now. On top of reading about every single negative aspect of birthing a child, I happened to watch a recent episode of MTV's "Sixteen and Pregnant" that complimented our readings incredibly well. In the full episode that I have selected (around 20 minutes in), Samantha (16) is induced into labor and dilates very slowly. Her birthing process turns into one similar to that of Elizabeth Rourke explained by Gawande. However, on top of simply dilating slowly, Samantha also has to endure painful contractions and back labor that make her scream in pain. Around 23 minutes, Samantha’s doctor decides to do an emergency C-section and MTV actually shows the procedure. Seeing the infant pulled from her mother’s uterus (26 minutes) is especially vivid in my memory, and will probably stay that way for a while. Viewing this process in combination with reading all about the birthing process, especially the births that lasted 30, 40, 50 hours, really makes it hard for me to look forward to giving birth. It makes me respect mothers so much more for knowing more about the pain they had to go through to deliver their children. Last it makes me consider a scheduled C-section that more appealing. Although both Goer and Gawande have issues with the idea that a scheduled C-section, reading about the pain and watching Samantha scream in agony make me view the surgery in a much more positive light. Although Goer in particular seems opposed to scheduling c-sections, watching "Sixteen and Pregnant" makes it easier to overlook his points. While Gawande thinks, “We are losing our connection to yet another natural process of life” (10), I think I would personally allow myself to diverge from the natural process of life if it meant I could miss out on the birthing process Samantha and Rourke had to endure. Where I used to think of childbirth as a “miracle”, I almost flinch when I think about the process now.