The Medicalization of Childbirth

By:  Craig Stellpflug  (2012)
Source:  NaturalNews.com

Our overzealous medical community has taken the blessed event of childbirth and turned it into a medical procedure with a whole different set of risks and side effects. This medicalization of childbirth turns our newborns into medical experiments and permanently hooks them into a life of medical dependency.

Where it begins

The assault on the infant begins with the invasive ultrasound. The FDA warned in 2004, “ultrasound is a form of energy, and even at low levels, laboratory studies have shown it can produce physical effect in tissue, such as jarring vibrations and a rise in temperature.” These temperature increases can cause birth defects and result in central nervous system damage. A large randomized trial conducted by the RADIUS Study Group found the use of ultrasound did not result in improved outcome in pregnancies.

In the labor and delivery room

Epidurals are used for over half of all birthing events in hospitals. Epidurals interfere with normal bio-feedback between the pelvic muscles and the mother’s brain during labor. One of the most common side effects of epidurals is a drop in the mother’s blood pressure leading to less oxygen for the baby. An epidural slows labor, making the mother three times likelier to be given an oxytocin drip, three times likelier for forceps delivery, doubles the chance for a caesarean delivery and gives a 50 percent less chance of a normal delivery. After epidurals, babies have difficulties with breastfeeding along with definite behavioral abnormalities for at least six weeks. Epidural mothers describe their babies as more difficult to care for.

Immediately after birth

Immediately after the baby is born, the nurse sweeps the baby to a warming table where they clean, weigh and measure the baby- and, whether you ask for them or not, they administer eye drops of silver nitrate or erythromycin. Eye drops at birth are given to help prevent any possible infection in your baby’s eyes from gonorrhea or chlamydia. Eye drops makes the baby’s vision blurry and silver Nitrate causes discomfort to the eyes. Eye drops come with their own “side effects” and also impedes the bonding process with the parents.

The jabs

The newborn vitamin K jab doubles the chances of childhood cancer. In a study of two hospitals, researchers found a two-fold risk of leukemia for children who had received intramuscular vitamin K given at one hospital compared to the other hospital that did not promote the jab. Side effects of the synthetic vitamin K3 include: cytotoxicity in liver cells, formation of radicals from enzymes of leucocytes, weakens the immune system, mutagenic effects, damage to the natural vitamin K cycle, hemolytic anemia and hyperbilirubinemia, disturbs levels of calcium ions, vomiting and others.

The National Vaccine Information Center shows that the number of hepatitis B vaccine-associated serious adverse event and death reports in American children far outnumbers the reported cases of hepatitis B disease in children. The NVIC is calling government-mandated hepatitis B vaccination of all children a “dangerous and scientifically unsubstantiated policy.” A new study shows that giving Hepatitis B vaccine to newborn baby boys can triple the risk of an autism spectrum disorder compared to later- or unvaccinated boys.

Bottom line, childbirth is not a medical procedure unless you let it become one. A well written birth plan will take all the questions and worries out of the medical decisions facing the newborn’s parents during this blessed event. Write your decision into a birth plan and have the attending nurse and the doctor both sign it. Then keep an eye on them because many a baby have been medicated, vaccinated and even bottle-fed against the mother’s wishes. Always make an informed decision. Your infant’s well-being depends on you.