[Sca-cooks] Maternal Mortality

[Suey]

Suey wrote:
> John le Burguillun wrote:
>
>>> maternal mortality is on the increase in the
>>> US for the 1st
>>> time in years, possibly due to a combination of increased maternal 
>>> obesity
>>> and older women becoming mothers.
>>>
>>> Laura C. Minnick answered him saying: The high rate of Cesarean 
>>> sections
>>> come into play here too- we don't think of it as such, but a section is
>>> major abdominal surgery, with all of the attendant risks. More risk,
>>> perhaps, because the insurance companies push for early discharge 
>>> for the
>>> mothers, who then get to go home and cope with post-op while caring 
>>> for a
>>> newborn (and
>>> sometimes other children). Last study I read indicated that the post-op
>>> infection rate has done up, as well as blood loss issues.
>>>
>>>
>>>     
 > Cristina Alonso, Founder and Director of Luna Maya Birth Center, 
Chiapas, Mexico asked me to send you her comments on this matter as follows:
 >
 >     "Maternal mortality has not decreased in the US for the past 10 
years and
 > infant mortality has slowly increased in the last 10 years. As you 
say, the
 > obscene use of unnecessary interventions is leading to maternal 
deaths. In
 > addition to the extremely high use of major abdominal surgery with single
 > stitching is also the use of misoprostol for induction of labor. Ina May
 > Gasking is working on a quilt to document these maternal deaths by use of
 > misoprostol which is NOT recommended for induction of childbirth.
 >     "In medieval times women died of post partum fever mostly, as well as
 > obstructed labor- which is now resolved by cesarean. Its ironic that 
a life
 > saving surgery has now turned into life threatening ritual of modern
 > society.
 >     "It seems therefore that throughout time childbirth has 
represented a space
 > where womens lives are endangered, not necessarily by the inherent 
risk of
 > homo sapiens but due to the inherent risk of absurd rituals that cultures
 > adhere to masking our fear of women's power and life transforming 
processes."
 >
 > Suey
 >