Picturing Health

Women who had c-section and wanted to give birth through the birth canal had a surgical team immediately.

“She told women to starve during pregnancy to prevent the pooch, otherwise called a pregnant belly. She told women to smoke, drink high balls, and minimize the calcium so the baby’s bones would be soft and slide out of the birth canal with ease. *She recommended boned corsets, or a she put it, ‘BONED, B-O-N-E-D…. This will really stop the little rascal.’ ”(177)

I found this advice really bad because the baby’s get their nutrients from what their mother consumes. So if the mom starves and dies the baby will die with her. Smoking is already bad but when you are pregnant it is worse because it would be like second hand smoking for the baby and have some chances for the baby to have lung cancer or it would affect their lungs. The boned corsets will suffocate the baby and shift organs around and the baby will have a higher chance to get tangled with its umbilical cord and have more chances of having complications during birth.

“She believes that when all species of females are in labor, they are hyper alert for dangers an evolutionary survival tactic to prevent enemies from eating the new baby. This basic instinct,the same drive that fought off predators, triggers an adrenaline rush when a laboring woman enters the hospital and gets a whiff of a strange odor or hears a sudden noise.” (179)

I think that in a way it makes sense because the woman gets very anxious when they are about to give birth at the hospital and it can be pretty scary and nerve racking but it is also a place where you get treated for your injuries and help you when you are sick so I think it is a place you can trust.

“The ultrasound images in the 1980’s were on static television screen to the strained eye expectant parents squinted, trying to see something human like when their doctor punted to a kicking leg, a wriggling hand, or the face”(194)

I think that it was good to have these resources for mothers because they were able to see if their baby was developing well. It was a great opportunity for mothers and fathers to also see the gender of the child because before this they only knew what the gender of the child was once it was born.