American attitudes to childbirth - different to UK?

Question

I'm 37 weeks pregnant with my first baby and live in Wales UK.

I often feel surprised when I watch American TV programmes on childbirth at how different things are over there.

Here in the UK all babies are delivered by midwives (obstetricians only attend high risk deliveries), midwives also provide all your ante natal care unless you have problems which make your pregnancy high risk.

Women are often encouraged to have water births, use milder painkillers like Gas and Air etc. C sections and epidurals tend to be reserved more for problems and prolonged labours etc.

In America it seems everyone automatically has an epidural, a drip in their arm, a bed-bound delivery and "vaginal birth" is considered something that you're lucky to achieve! And all babies seem to be delivered by doctors in a highly medicalised enviroment.

Is it really like this or is this just how the TV shows portray it?

BTW I have to say your hospitals are much nicer than ours!!

charlotte j

- yeah I always notice how calm and relaxed the American women look with their epidurals! I try not to watch American births because I know mine won't be anything like that - I'm going to a midwife-led bithing centre where they use TENS, gas and air, pethidine and birthing pool for pain releif (as well as relaxation etc) and I know I'll be going through all the pain and screaming etc.

Trouble is I hate hospitals (especially over crowded NHS ones, yuck!) and I know I'll feel better at the birthing centre. The midwives are lovely and I know them all really well as they've done all my ante natal care. So I'll have to see how it goes - if things don't go to plan I'll have to be transferred to the hospital which I'm not looking forward to!

NHS (National Health Service) Hospitals are nowhere near as nice as the private ones you have in America - which is why many UK women choose midwife units or homebirths instead. Midwife units are usually small clean and homely and more like American hospitals (individual rooms etc) but there are no doctors or epidurals or high tech facilities there. Any problems arise and they have to whisk you off to the nearest major hospital.

I'm not a supporter of private healthcare (its hard on the poor) and am glad we have the NHS - its just that NHS hospitals are usually under funded and not at all luxurious - some are shabby and dirty, you get no privacy (wards are the order of the day) and you are shunted about like a piece of meat! Everyone I know who's had a hospital birth says "never again!"

Although I have heard some posiotive stories too.

Answer 1

Yep that pretty much sums it up! I think the reason American women have epidurals, c-sections, etc. is because we're pampered. If we don't have to go through the pain, we don't. If we don't have to push the kid out, we don't. Now I'm not against the way we do it here in America, but I just think the reason we have those things is because we're pampered.

Answer 2

hi great question I think what you've seen seems to be quite accurate.I am also in wales and had my 2 girls in hospital here ,it was a very different experience for my sister-in -law ,who also owned a pregnancy website, in California.
Wales:
my last baby was born with only gas and air.I had only got to the hospital 6 hours before i had my baby and left 4 hours after. my husband and I were left to birth alone for much of the time,and i o had a asistance for last 90 mins. i squatted and knealed up almost the whole time.No stitches, had pain but I felt in control and laughed a lot of the time. I knew that I wasnt going to die of the pain.It was fantastic, we watched the sun rise as she was born and it was a powerful and personal experience.
America
My sister-inlaw was hooked up to machines and her births were attended by many people ,she looked like part of a machine. ( saw the video ,filmed by her dad )She was lying flat on her back and could not feel when to push, she had many stitches after the birth and she felt that she hadnt really experienced it.The difference, she believed was due to the litigation issues. However, historically american births attended by males not midwives, involved a high degree of control and some women were actually strapped to the bed to keep them still.. not very relaxing!!Its apparently the way its always been done.

When we talked about our experiences she said that at the time there was not such a thing as a midwife but she could get a doula. A birthing partner , a woman who would be there to support her and her husband when the time came. She wanted a home birth but couldnt on her 4th.she didnt describe her experiences as good or personal or fantastic rather controlled and safe though.
Ps the hospitals may be nicer but you shouldnt need to be in one for very long ,and the best place to be should be at home asap.
Good luck, stay positive , the birth is only the beginning!!!

Answer 3

As far as the medical environment , yes, but I had all 3 of my babies naturally, and I am pregnant with my 4th and will also have her naturally. I honestly dont understand everyone getting epidurals, or ever opting for a C section. Every Tv show I watch on this also makes me think...am I the only one that has natural child birth??..lol Makes me wonder. But our hospital rooms are very nice and we deliver and stay in the same room, so we dont have to be moved around and the suites are pretty comfortable for a hospital. And Im not bed bound afterwards either, I get up and do as much as possible.

Answer 4

I believe that our hospitals are like that a little. I think that here in the US they try to make the mother as comfortable as possible even if it means drugs such as a epidurals. And also here alto of woman are scheduling there births weather it a c-section or a vaginal delivery. I can say that I had a epidural with my first two pregnancy and I did it natural with the last two and I would say that I would per fer it natural and no I was not bed bound with the last two I was the first two because of the epidurals. But that is just my experience and I hope that this helps.

Answer 5

Alot of that stuff is optional... the epidural, the water birth, using an OB or a midwife. Most people DO use OB though. Voluntary C sections are not as popular as it would seem, usually they are reserved for babies that are to big, positioned wrong or when something bad happens. TV blows much of that out of proportion, I am sure that happens over there too. As far as hospitals go, many are very nice but there certainly are some crappy ones out there!

Answer 6

Yes, I'm afraid it is like that over here. If you want a natural childbirth, you have to really search for a doctor that will do it. That is why the infant mortality rate in the U.S. is so poor. I had all four of mine naturally at a birth center. (The hospitals around here will not allow it.) I don't consider the hospitals nice, if you cannot get the type of care you want. A pretty building does not save lives, the procedures used inside the building make all the difference.

Answer 7

you pretty much sumed that up. I'm in the USA however i have always been high risk i do have a sizure disorder. My children were both hospital birth with a very trained OB doctor bed ridden epidural delivery I TOTALLY AGREE that is not the best way to give birth. I think it's awsome when women can do it as natural as possible it seems totally stupid to me to be expected to push a baby out while being FLAT ON YOUR BACK that works against nature in every way.

Answer 8

I have to agree with you! I have quite a few friends all over the UK, and I really wish that our women here were treated like you are! For some reason the medical establishment has the idea that pregancy is a "disease" to be watched, controlled, and taken care of, rather than a very natural thing. Women choose drugs and surgeries because its easier for them, or for their doctors (my last OB asked if I'd like to schedule a C-section since he didn't work on the weekends!)

Homebirths and midwives are seen as dangerous.....ugh, I could rant on and on! Of course, we don't have a national health care system.......so maybe thats part of it? I know how excited some of my mates were, talking about their wives having babies in their living rooms! I wish we could be more like that.

Answer 9

Well I live in Canada and here obstetricians deliver all the babies unless you require a midwife instead! Water birth's I dont think are that popular over here, at least I know I dont hear about many of them. Epidural is a great thing for any woman no matter where they are!!! Without one I probably would've died from the pain, lol! I encourage people to not get it but majority of the people do so anyways! Great for you and the people of UK that dont need it! We are very lucky here in Canada and the US for having such great doctors and wonderful medical procedures!!

Answer 10

Both my girls where born at home with my hubby's help {no Problem there] My son was born in a hospital and I almost died. They had me hooked up to IVs and a monitor on me {I still don't know why } and they gave me pain medication I was not suppose to have ( I was allergic to it ). I should have had him at home he would have been normal. He ended up with brain damage.
Everyone has their own way of having their babies.
Some of the stuff they show on TV should not be there. Continue to do it with a midwife you are better off.

Good Luck!