Book #40: The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth by Henci Goer

In the introduction to this book, the author says this:

"I also hope to give you the knowledge to make informed choices for yourself and your unborn baby. Unless you have medical background and a lot of free time, this knowledge is hard to come by. As we have just seen, what your caregivers tell you may be biased. And it is only human for caregivers to tell you only as much as will get you to do what they think best. . . . Like Consumer Reports, I will present the data you need to choose wisely and to practice 'informed refusal' as well as 'informed consent.'"

This paragraph pretty much summed up the whole tone of this book for me. It really irritated me how Goer claims that she's so objective and impartial and she's presenting us with "data" that will help us to overcome the evil obstetricians trying to stand in the way of me and my baby! (To be fair: she does later acknowledge that "obviously" she has her own biases and explains what they are--like it wasn't already obvious.) I hate when people pretend to hide behind a veil of objectivity when they're really and very clearly being influenced by their own opinions and ideas. Goer is 100% all-natural, no-intervention, and kind of portrays doctors as being evil and lazy. And yes, I do understand and appreciate that there definitely are doctors that must do all the things she talks about, and that there are women who have had serious problems and difficulties with giving birth and feeling good about their child's birth because of their doctor's care. This is all definitely true. But I really think that there must be a logical fallacy in there for her to make such universal statements. As usual, I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle between her views and the medical world's views.

I did get some good information out of the book, though. I already knew that I don't want a C-section (does anyone?) but I also learned a lot about what other types of inventions are normal or common at hospitals. I do think that I want to avoid a lot of interventions if possible, but I'm still planning on getting whatever pain medication (epidural) that I want at the time (just wait for the next post). I need to learn more about what is "normal" at Duke Hospital before I make any big decisions about anything yet.