Summary: Historical Perspectives On Birth

Historical Perspectives on Birth: Part Two

There were two contrasting views presented in the book The Birth House. In spite of the fact that many of women, in the small community located in Nova Scotia, had experienced safe, natural-deliveries with assistance from the towns’ midwife, Miss Babineau, it appeared that a great deal of them quickly adopted Dr. Thomas’s views regarding childbirth. Sadly, practices they once considered safe, were challenged and dramatically portrayed as dangerous and less sophisticated. Dr. Thomas manipulated women’s thinking and judgement, through statements such as “most homes, even the nicest, cleanest of homes, do not meet today's medical standards for childbirth, and as caring as Miss Babineau is, there’s proper

training to be considered” and “your children are being neglected in the womb and born in the poorest of conditions” (McKay, 2009, p. 102). Despite past experiences which were positive, as well as noted to be “comfortable”, the social status associated with the care delivered at the Canning Medical Home as well as the fear which Dr. Thomas instilled in women resulted in a profound disrespect of traditional methods and time-honored views (McKay, 2009, p. 103).
Tina Cassidy (2007), described the divide that took place between obstetricians and midwives, such as Dr.

Thomas and Miss Babineau in The Birth House, well when she noted that it was “split along gender and philosophical lines” (p. 132). The dishonest practices implemented by early obstetricians, such as Smellie’s fraudulent dressing to preserve his identity in the event of a poor outcome (Cassidy, 2007, p. 134) and Dr. Thomas’s insinuation that midwives could not offer “reasonable assistance during childbirth” (McKay, 2009, p. 36), indicated the change in culture that took place during the inception of obstetric practices. Although certain advancements improved maternal and infant mortality and wellbeing, such as Semmelweis’s discovery regarding hand hygiene (Dick-Read, 2013, p. 5) and Dick-Read’s findings regarding the relationship between the sympathetic nervous response and birth progression (Cassidy, 2007, p. 145), following my exploration of the evolution of women’s healthcare through the Dawn of Doctors and The Birth House, it was clear that women have endured men’s unethical practices and have suffered from corrupted perceptions regarding

childbirth.
Although it was clear that women’s desires to belong to an esteemed social class played a role in luring women into abandoning the traditions they once participated in, I was still taken back by their trust in physician’s new methods.

However, it was evident that the impetuous confidence women had in male physicians was also the result of the influential power and superior role the male gender had. Sadly, transitioning care from homes to medical centers and allowing the transfer of care from wise women who had gained their knowledge through experience and the sharing of information from previous generations to obstetricians who were merely book trained (Cassidy, 2007, p.132), ultimately suppressed women’s power, strength, and freedom by not allowing them to direct their own care. Unlike the midwives, who encouraged women to remain in their homes and preform traditions such as making groaning cakes as Mabel wished (McKay, 2009, p. 55), physician’s striped woman from their ability to be in control. In fact, anesthesia, referred to as “twilight sleep” in The Birth House, was even noted to be administered to cause laboring women to have no memories regarding the birthing process which often included dangerous interventions and the use of new surgical instruments such as forceps (McKay, 2009, p. 103). The lack of liberty women had to voice their own wishes and make their own decisions is disheartening and almost surprising due to the freedom I have experienced throughout my

lifetime.
References

Cassidy, T. (2007). Birth: The surprising history of how we are born. Grove Press.

Dick-Read, G. (2013). Childbirth without fear: the principles and practice of natural childbirth. Pinter & Martin Ltd.

McKay, A. (2009). The birth house. Seal Books.