What would you do for a Klondike Bar?

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Answers to Questions about Birth

1. What is the cost of an Epidural?
The price of an Epidural can range anywhere from $700 to $1,200. This includes all the other required fees for the procedure and for the anesthesiologist. [Link]

2. What are the percentages of intervention usage?

"Without any anesthesia :51% (Yes, over half!)
With an epidural: 36%
Inductions: 17%
Augmentations (use of pitocin after admitted for labor): 34%
Assisted vaginal deliveries (i.e. vacuum or forceps): 8%
C-sections: 33% (includes elective repeats)"[Link]

3. What is the cost of a home birth?
Home births cost around $1,500-$3,000. This includes the cost of a midwife (1500-3000), lab test (100), Ultra Sound (100-200), birth supplies and water tub rental. [Link]

4. What are the risks of using Epidural?

- Effects on mothers: inadequate pain relief, increase in oral/vaginal temperature, drop in blood pressure, long/short term backache, risk of spinal block, shivering, itching, "Mother feels detached from the process and becomes an observer."
- Effects on the Labor: slows down the process, increase the chances of cesarean delivery.
- Effects on the fetus: irregular heart rate patterns.
- Effects on the newborn: may not be as responsive in the short term
[Link]

5. What is the most effective birth control?
Abstinence is the most effective and the most common (obviously because people are not having sex 24/7) [Link]

6. What are the costs of an abortion?
On average, each abortion costs $600. [Link]

7. What % of abortions is a result of rape?

1% [Link]

8. What is the % of adoption in America?

2-4% of American families have adopted a child. [Link]

9. What is the amount of children adopted in America?
In 2002, there were 120,000 children that were adopted. However since then, the number of children adopted has decreased. Perhaps it is due to the economical crisis. [Link]

10. What percentage of women have c-sections?

In 2005, 30% of the women who gave birth had a cesarean section. [Link]

11. Why do women have c-sections?

There are certain circumstances where a women would NEED a c-section, which are:
- has had a previous c-section
- breech
- multiple babies
- baby is expected to be very large
- has had a previous surgery (invasive uterine surgery)
- placenta previa
- baby has an illness
- mother is HIV positive [Link]

It has been apparent in our class and within myself, that many people view birth as a very troubling process, rather than "holy experience." And after answering these questions and looking at many different websites, that point has just been reinforced. While researching these questions about birth, the presence of joy was lacking. I wasn't thinking about a newborn child or a new form of life. Instead, the only thought that occupied my thought I had was about how troublesome this is. Everything I read was just numbers, statistics, outcomes, costs, procedures, alternative procedures, cost of alternative procedures, side-effects, etc. Out of all the websites I visited, there was never one website that took a positive attitude on birth. All of these things kind of degraded the whole idea of birth and its meaning. When there is no stress involved, everyone says birth is something very beautiful and is bringing in another soul into this world. However, when the labor and troubles are the main focus, a completely negative tone takes place. Everyone view it as the worst experience any person can ever have. And in some cases, females use that to their advantage in a discussion about which gender has it worse. This possibly explains the cartoonist view of how babies are made ------------>

We often want the child but without all the strain that comes with having one. And other times, we fear the strains so much we don't even want the child at all.

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