The United States has a C-section rate of 31.8%. Yep, a third of babies born in the States are born through the belly.
But don’t worry. Because according to Dick Morris, if we somehow manage to pass a comprehensive health care reform bill, the government will force you to give birth naturally.
MORRIS: What controlling costs means is —
O’REILLY: — is competition.
MORRIS: No. It means denial of services…. And that’s what — just as right now the government is telling people, cut back on cesarean sections. Go through natural childbirth; it’s a lower cost.
Wait, the government is currently telling women they can’t have C-sections? Just where does Dick Morris live?
Check out the video:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/7OkVYYBHjz8&hl=en&fs=1&]
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Notice how he slides that “forced natural childbirth” reference in right at the end? Break out the tinfoil hat, folks!
May I remind Dick Morris of a few facts?
- 2007 marked the 11th straight year for an increase in C-sections.
- The C-section rate has climbed 50 percent in the last decade.
- Half of all C-sections are elective.
- The number of vaginal births after C-section (VBAC) are on the decline, further increasing the C-section rate.
- Having a second C-section is riskier to the baby. (A VBAC is safer.)
- The World Health Organization wants a C-section rate of no higher than 15 percent anywhere in the world.
As Louise Marie Roth points out on Huffington Post,
But it’s especially interesting that Morris made his false claims about childbirth, since American maternity care is unnecessarily expensive and has very poor results. The U.S. pays twice as much per birth as other developed nations. The American infant mortality rate is the second-worst in the developed world and ranks 37th in the world, behind South Korea and Cuba. Maternal mortality rates have been rising since 1982 in the U.S., which currently ranks 41st among 171 countries. In August 2007, the CDC reported that the number of women dying in childbirth in the United States increased in 2004 for the first time in decades.
Dick Morris, if you’re going to use scare tactics about health care reform, might you pick a more reasonable example? Let’s not go patting ourselves on the back for a job well done until we get it right, m’kay?
The United States is failing women and families when it comes to childbirth. Giving birth naturally is empowering and makes for a healthy, happy family. Of course it should not be the only option.
Good care providers look at a person’s whole health: mental, physical, and emotional. My holistic pediatrician does this for my sons and my family.
Might we treat pregnant women not as a being with a condition, but as part of the picture in the whole family’s health?
Repeat after me: Birth is natural. It is not a medical condition. Our bodies are made to give birth. And we can do it!
Further reading: Jill at Unnecesarean.
Actually, not everyone’s body CAN give birth naturally. I have had 3 c-sections. I tried natural birth for the first one. This was back when they were trying to “force” a lowering of c-section rates in the early 90s. They let me go THREE days in labor (no pain meds, my choice), before admitting I was stalled because my hips refused to widen enough for a 9 pound baby (I am just shy of five foot tall). I elected for a VBAC with our 2nd child. Alas, she, too, was weighing in at around 9 pounds and doc gave only a 10% chance of a successful VBAC.
Prognosis: My body is not made to have 9 pound babies – which all three were 8.5-9 pounds. If a natural birth were to be completely forced on me and other like me, we and our babies would likely die in the process.
I think it’s important for women to hear that necessary cesareans will not be denied. It’s scare rhetoric and it’s silly, as I wrote here yesterday.
Obama Says Women Must Have a Natural Childbirth to Save Money?
I think that the little “FOX” logo in the corner should have given everyone the first clue to the validity of the statements issued on the program. Unfortunately not everyone is so educated.
Bravo to my wife for electing to have both our children naturally. For the second birth we used a midwifery center and she gave birth in a hot tub. The labor lasted about 2 hours and we were home the next day. Women don’t understand how powerful and strong they are, and doctors don’t help the situation–they have a monetary interest in steering women toward more invasive methods of birth. No need to shame the women who have C-sections for legitimate medical reason, but I hope more women will realize that they are capable of doing this without the all the crazy hospital rigamarole.
@Earth_Mommy,
My (also very natural) oldest sister had two C-sections. Her boys were 11+ and 10+ pounds, respectively. I sometimes think I should mention that in my C-section/natural birth blogs, but that’s kind of private, and as you know, no two birthers or births are the same.
I give that mantra, “Birth is natural…” a lot, because I feel like many, many women are given a legacy of fear of birth. And I’d rather perpetuate the idea that we CAN do it!
@BC Wilson How cool for your wife! I hope your wife shares her birth story…often!
@Sharon. I liked your comment on my other blog on this topic: “I HATE the term c-section, I am not a wing in a building.” It also sounds reminiscent of how you might quarter a side of beef?
(http://blog.thenatureschild.com/2009/07/heath-care-reform-refusal-of-c-sections.html)
And yes, all, I live in rural VA. I know people who very obviously believe this! I’m sure it happens everywhere, though.
As someone who lives with, has given birth with and works in a “social” health system administered on a province wide level (ie government health care) NOONE is FORCING women to have “natural” births or otherwise.
Canada has a nearly 30% c-section rate and there are no administrators running around making cost saving decisions behind the docs and midwives trying to get cheaper services enforced.
More right wing b.s. Can the general population really be stupid enough to buy this line? Aren’t they insulted that their pundits think they are that stupid?
My natural childbirth cost less … until it resulted in severe stress urinary incontinence which required lots of Drs, visits, tests etc to properly diagnose and a costly surgery to repair. Situations like this are always more complex than they appear and the economics are never as straightforward as one might think.
My DH spent 5 years in the Army and I had the “pleasure” of experiencing the U.S. version of socialized medicine aka Tricare.
I still was able to get an epidural and plenty of my friends delivered via cesarean. The main difference between the epidural I had with my 1st in an Army hospital and the one I had with my 2nd in a civilian hospital was who administered it (a N.P. vs. a M.D.) And FWIW, the epidural that caused a scary drop in my blood pressure was the latter.
Here are the *REAL* cons of government-run healthcare:
#1. The patient has *NO* choice in which provider to see. You have to see whomever you’re assigned and typically you’ll see a different one for each prenatal visit.
#2. The quality of providers are really hit-or-miss. They tended to fall into two camps: inexperienced but good (these virtually always left as soon as their service obligation was up) and completely incompetent.
#3. Procedures that are considered routine by civilian doctors like a 2nd trimester ultrasound are simply not done. I had to drive to town and pay out of my own pocket to see a civilian doctor for one.
#4. Getting a referral to a specialist is a nightmare.
#5. Wait times to get an appointment are long.
#6. Only certain medications are covered so often you have to choose between something that does not work as well for you or paying out of pocket for the one you really want.
#7. You can’t sue for malpractice no matter how incompetent the provider is.
As much as I grumble about how expensive my current civilian PPO is, there is *NO WAY* I would ever want to go back to using socialized medicine.
I think everyone who is calling for government to be in charge of healthcare should have to spend several years using the military system and then see how many still favor socializing medicine…
Crimson Wife, while your experience is certainly legitimate, don’t make the mistake of assuming that those negative elements you found are typical of ALL socialized health care.
We have “socialized” health care here in Canada, of course. And while it certainly is not perfect, hardly any of your points are valid here.
#1. We have complete choice of who to see — provided they have openings of course. The limitations are due to an overloaded system, not due to us being “assigned” to particular providers (which we are not). Besides, US patients under HMO’s also have no choice of providers — it is hardly an issue caused solely by socialization.
#2. Quality of providers is hit-or-miss in all healthcare systems, both public (“socialized”) and private. There are some truly awful doctors out there that you still have to pay an arm and a leg for (hopefully not literally…)
#3. Those procedures are routine here. Again, it’s not a problem of the system being public, it’s just a problem of that PARTICULAR system you experienced.
#4. Specialist referrals can be tricky wherever you are. I’ve never had a problem, myself.
#5. Wait times are indeed long. This is the one issue I will agree with you about. Our system is certainly over-burdened and wait times are (occasionally dangerously) too long. Still, IMO it’s still preferable to not getting an appointment at all simply because you’re not lucky enough to be able to afford it.
#6. Medication/prescription coverage is treated seperately from healthcare, at least here. Most Canadians have drug coverage, as well as “optional” medical expenses (such as private rooms, chiropractic, dental, eye care, etc) through private (or work-based) insurance plans. All *essential* medical costs are covered publicly.
#7. We most certainly can sue for malpractice here, even under our “socialized” system. There are some high-profile cases ongoing right now, in fact… hundreds of women with incorrect breast cancer screening results, for instance.
The point is, don’t just assume that the one implementation of socialized health care that the US military exemplifies, is representative of what socialized health care MUST be like. It could be a rational argument to say that a US government-led model would be SIMILAR to this model since it’s what they’ve already done, but it’s still not a done deal. None of the problems you experienced are *directly* a consequence of socialized medicine, socialization can most definitely happen without those particular problems.
Phew… well stated Heather. The point to REFORM is to create a system that works – the private system is a joke and I am sure the US would not follow a protocol that they have already tried (in reference to Crimson Wife’s military experience). As an American, living in Australia, I would like to offer a perspective on the Australian system. We have a wonderful socialized health system.
In the public system we:
1. Have the choice to see any doctor that we desire and I have never waited more than 15 minutes (and in extreme cases even without an appointment).
2. Ditto to Heather. Once you find someone you like you stick with them or move on if you are not happy. Just like in the private system in the States.
3. Care here, seen as necessary, is followed up. My friend just had a 3-D ultrasound, for free, as part of the routine pregnancy care. My neighbour just had her last appointment, with a specialist, for pregnancy-induced RSI and she had the baby one year ago. They finally gave her the a-ok (even though her symptoms stopped months ago).
4. I have never had a hard time getting a referral to a specialist. And neither have my children. Even when I didn’t personally find it necessary. My son developed a blood disorder this week and we were in the public hospital on Tuesday. He will have weekly blood tests and specialist visits each week – all through the public system. Luckily it is not chronic and should correct itself in a few months. But my GP sent us straight to the emergency room after he saw my son. They knew we were coming because he called to ensure we would be seen right away.
5. I can get an appointment, to see my Doctor, the same day. Otherwise there are “drop-in” clinics if it is after hours or urgent. There are also travelling doctors that come to your house (especially if you are in a rural location). If you have a medical issue, which has a long wait time in the public system, you can choose to go private (if you pay for private health cover). We have public and private hospitals. I had my daughter in the private hospital because I had complications with my first natural child birth. And because of this, I “opted” for a c-section. That does not mean that the public system would not have granted my wish (in fact their recommendations would have probably had the same result). I just wanted that extra reassurance.
6. Our prescription costs are capped at $37.50 AUD. The government eats the cost if it costs more. If we want specialist visits, without a referral, we can use our private health coverage (my family of 4 is $100 a month). Some people opt out of this and pay, out of pocket, for acupuncture, dental, physical therapy, etc.
7. We can sue for malpractice.
Socialized medicine works for most developed countries around the world. We need to look at these examples and use what works. In fact, France, with some of the best social care, has the best health care in the world – according to the World Health Organization (http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html). The US ranks #37. That’s why we need reform. I have lived in Denmark, England, New Zealand, and now Australia and have very very happy with the public medial care in each place. We need to be compassionate to one another (that’s what makes us human) and learn to “love thy neighbour”.
How fitting. Guess what one of the headlines is today on MSN? “Harvard researchers say 62% of all personal bankruptcies in the US in 2007 were caused by health problems — and 78% of those filers had insurance”.
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Insurance/InsureYourHealth/whats-most-likely-to-bankrupt-you.aspx
This article is so confusing. The beginning comes off as anti-natural childbirth (“oh no, those filthy democrats are making you deliver naturally”) but wraps up anti-cesarean.
Either pick a side or claim neutrality (stating the pros and cons of both), but try not to portray hating both.
About wait times, it took me almost two months to get an appointment with the GYN in my paid medical plan through work (I work for the same hospital) for an IUD, which I no longer needed by the day of the appointment and I had to find an OB 🙂 When I was in the military, I never had to wait that long for birth control or for my yearly pap appointment, a couple weeks, maybe.
On the quality and consistency of care that keeps being brought up, when I went in for my prenatal care I was assigned a different resident each time until I asked to have the same one, which I saw until my last month when he was done with his residency at which point I saw a third resident for my last prenatal exam. I saw a fourth resident when my water broke, 3 weeks early, and with in the first hour of being checked out (before even being admitted to the hospital) she was already pushing the “vitamin P” (Pitocin) and I fought with her for the next 8 hours and asked her to let me birth naturally for a while, she finally broke me, I took the “vitamin P” which didn’t work and within two hours of her shift being over and getting a new resident (count ’em, I’m on resident number 5) I had a healthy baby boy. It would have been nice to not have to pay for this superior healthcare 😉
In my experiences as a member of the military and a civilian there isn’t much difference. The care is hit or miss and it’d be nice not to pay $400 a month for the misses.
Yeah natural birth is fine and dandy if the baby will fit through the birth canal!
As a fellow military wife I dont 100% agree with you Crimsonwife. Though your experience is legitimate and I dont discount your grievances the way Tricare works really matters more on the clinic/hospital you are dealing with rather then Tricare itself.
#1. Though it wasnt necessarily easy to schedule with the same provider because of schedule constraints and the fact that I had to request her every time I was able to see the same provider throughout my pregnancy upon request. Also, at our hospital if you went through the family practice you had no problems with consistency of care.
#2. You’ll have this problem in the civilian world too. With tricare you are allowed to change your provider if you have grievances. Though they try to limit this which only makes since to help them defray costs. They dont want people changing doctors a dozen times a year for frivolous reasons.
#3. I had two u/s during my pregnancy with Tricare. One early on to check gestational age and one at 20 weeks. No other u/s is really necessary medically unless the provider sees a reason during regular exams (i.e. growth, low heartrate, etc.). In the past more then 2 u/s was not the norm, now many civilian doctors only provide this care to appease their patients but the downside of this is that it is just making yours and others insurance premiums higher. A big reason the healthcare system is so costly in America is because of unnecessary procedures.
#4. I havent experience this myself but it really matters all on who you talk to IMO.
#5. Not in my experience. Again it really matters on what clinic/hospital you are going to. Plus the military is having a shortage of providers too, esp. nurses just like the civilian world is.
#6. Havent experienced this. It may be the case with some medications – I think Tricare prefers to give generics. I even asked for a compound medication that I had received through a civilian provider with my 1st pregnancy and they said they had it (it is an uncommon medication).
#7. This has been true for the past 60 years but it is in the works to change this. It is called the Carmelo Rodriguez Military Medical Accountability Act. It started its long way through Congress early last year.
I have no clue what you are trying to say- do you hate c sections or natural childbirth or Obama?
Anyway, you should double check your facts- the WHO has admitted that the 15% c section guideline was never based on exhaustive research and that countries can now either go by the 15% guideline or form their own target in accordance with their demographics.
Yes, c sections are risky but so is vaginal birth(even though the risks aren’t talked about as much). I believe that just as every woman should have the right to ask for an epidural, every woman should have the right to ask for a c section, as long as she is making an informed decision.