Table of contents:
A natural, uncomplicated birth is considered the ideal. When a caesarean section is necessary, many mothers suffer and feel guilty. Why is this complete nonsense.
Most women want at least some kind of control when giving birth and hope for a natural birth. Many women therefore feel one thing above all after a (medically necessary) caesarean section: shame and guilt. Actress Kate Winslet even covered up her emergency caesarean section for years and lied about her birth.
Why all this guilt? These can be triggered by studies suggesting a cesarean section could affect a child's long-term health. A caesarean section is said to be associated with a higher risk of developing diabetes or obesity. Researchers believe that this has to do with the increased stress a baby is exposed to during a caesarean section. In the new book by gynecologist Amy Tuteur, however, she says that hundreds of thousands of mothers and babies are saved every year with emergency caesarean sections.
Caesarean mothers should be proud of themselves
"A caesarean section shifts the risk. A vaginal birth means a much higher risk for the baby than for the mother. With a caesarean section, the risk for the mother is marginally higher," writes the gynecologist, but she also admits that it is nowadays to be considered give many caesarean sections. In Austria, too, around 30 percent of all babies are born with a cut in the stomach. Some of these operations are planned. But a significant number of them are emergency caesarean sections because of complications during delivery. According to Tuteur, for example, many babies could also be born vaginally in the breech position - without any complications. But you couldn't know which babies that would be:
“When a woman agrees to have a caesarean, she's basically saying, 'I don't know if my baby is really lacking in oxygen, but I don't want to risk anything. Do the caesarean section and help the baby. If I'm wrong, that's a price I'll be happy to pay. "«
Tuteur writes in her book and sums it up: "I think that cesarean mothers should be particularly proud of themselves. At this point, they decide between a risk for their unborn baby and a health risk for themselves. If that is not the essence of motherhood, I don't know either!"
