Get Me To The End- Sierra

As I finished reading the last sections of Get Me Out by Randi Hutter Epstein, I found myself thinking long and hard about certain topics that were discussed in the book. The section that I found most interesting was section 4. Section 4 was a very short section but very, very informative. This section consisted of 3 chapters; “From Kitchen-Table Surgery to the Art of C-Section”, “Freebirthers”, and “Womb with a View”.

The first chapter had me really intrigued. When cesarean sections (commonly refered to as “C-Sections”) first started getting popular, they were not seen as a good way to deliver a baby. In the beginning, c-sections were only done if the woman was dead. “…cesarean sections were necessary when the patient ‘does not respond to penetrating odors, is ice-cold, without pulse, looks collapsed and pale as death, and if her breath leaves no traces on a mirror.'”(pg.157). This part of the chapter was very interesting because I imagined if all babies that were delivered through a  c-section had deceased mothers. That would be a lot of babies without mothers. Nowadays woman have c-sections just because they want to but back then having a c-section was like a death sentence for you and/or your baby.

In the second chapter of section 4, I was in complete awe about freebirthers. Freebirthers are women who give birth without any midwives or doctors. In other words, it is a “do-it-yourself” delivery. I had never heard of somebody giving birth all by themselves until reading about it. “They say it’s healthier physically and psychologically for the baby to enter the the outside world in a soothing, loving place without the glare of hospital lights, noisy nurses, intrusive doctors, and meddlesome midwives poking about” (pg.170). Why isn’t freebirthing a more popular way to give birth? At first, I was starting to think that freebirthing is the best way to give birth, but after I continued to read the chapter, I found out that maybe it isn’t. Yes giving birth in a hospital with people who you just met can cause you to be stressed and have you go into labor for a longer time than freebirthers, but doctors do help with complications with the babies. Personally, I would rather not take the chance of my baby being born without any professionals around because there is always a slight possibility that the baby could be born with complications. Why risk it?

I have really enjoyed reading Get Me Out. I am really surprised on how interesting I found the book to be. I got this book thinking that it would really be boring and that I already knew all there is to childbirth. I was completely wrong. I knew only a small sliver of all there is to know about childbirth. I am so glad that I gave this book a chance.

I hope you all enjoyed reading my blog post and my previous ones because I certainly enjoyed making them and spreading my opinions and thoughts on the history of childbirth from the garden of eden to the sperm bank. Thank you.