Consider Avoiding: Consumer Reports
The Consumer Reports article entitled, “What to Reject When You Are Expecting”, acknowledges that “medical expediency often takes priority over the best outcomes and evidence-based treatments”. The U.S. birth assembly line is often influenced by convenience even when it is ethically questionable. Nine procedures are listed to be cautious about because they can interfere with the primal process of birth. Consumer Reports thinks this “expediency” is one reason our birth statistics are so bad in our country and maternal and mortality rates are worse than many other developed nations. They also acknowledge that birth in the U.S. has become a birth machine that can interfere with the primal process of birth.
The 9 procedures to avoid whenever possible are:
A C-Section with a Low-Risk First Birth
An Automatic Second C-Section
An Elective Early Delivery
Inducing Labor Without a Medical Reason before 41 weeks
Ultrasounds After 24 Weeks Without a Medical Reason
Continuous Electronic Fetal Monitoring
Early Epidurals
Routine Episiotomies (vaginal incision just before or during delivery)
Keeping Newborn in Nursery without a good reason.
References
Haelle, T. (2017, May). Childbirth: What to Reject When You’re Expecting.
Nine procedures to think twice about during your pregnancy. Retrieved from https://www.consumerreports.org/pregnancy-childbirth/childbirth-what-to-reject-when-youre-expecting/