Birth Crisis

by Kitzinger; Sheila

• ISBN13: 9780415372664
• ISBN10: 0415372666
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2006-07-27
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

When a woman is denied all choice - feels as if she has been swallowed up by a vast machine and spat out at the other end with a baby - how can she come to terms with that ordeal? One new mother in twenty is diagnosed with traumatic stress after childbirth. In Birth Crisis Sheila Kitzinger explores the disempowerment and anxiety experienced by these women. Topics include: increasing intervention in pregnancy the shift in emphasis from relationships to technology in childbirth how family, friends and professional caregivers can reach out to traumatized mothers how women can work through stress to understand themselves more deeply and grow in emotional maturity how care and the medical system needs to be changed Birth Crisisdraws on mothers' voices and real-life experiences to explore the suffering after childbirth which has, until now, been brushed under the carpet. It is a fascinating and useful resource for student and practicingmidwives, all health professionals, and women and their families who want to learn how to overcome a traumatic birth.

Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS	ix
ABBREVIATIONS	xi
1 BIRTH SHOCK	1	(8)
How is birth turned into an ordeal?	4	(5)
2 BIRTH CONTRASTS	9	(8)
Birth experiences	11	(1)
What does it mean to be in control of birth?	12	(2)
Making an informed choice	14	(3)
3 INSTITUTIONAL POWER IN A HIGH-TECH BIRTH CULTURE: HOW AN ANTHROPOLOGIST SEES BIRTH	17	(16)
Birth plans	19	(2)
Fragmented care	21	(1)
The language of obstetrics	21	(2)
Becoming a patient	23	(1)
Conformity and passivity	24	(1)
Joking behaviour	25	(1)
Reality is in the case notes	25	(1)
Harpooned to a fetal monitor	26	(1)
Ceremonial dress	27	(1)
The cut	27	(2)
Cleaning up	29	(4)
4 MANAGING THE REPRODUCTIVE MACHINE	33	(20)
Clock-watched birth	34	(1)
A race to the finishing post	35	(1)
Induction	36	(4)
Misoprostol	40	(3)
Suggestions to avoid unnecessary induction	41	(2)
Amniotomy	43	(1)
Episiotomy	44	(5)
How to avoid an episiotomy	46	(1)
How a midwife can help	47	(1)
The partner	48	(1)
The doula	48	(1)
Why mess about? The 'no indicated risk' Caesarean	49	(1)
Side effects of Caesarean section	50	(3)
Action a pregnant woman can take	51	(2)
5 SEXUAL ABUSE AND BIRTH	53	(18)
Loss of control	55	(3)
Preparing for birth after sexual abuse	58	(3)
Pregnant again	61	(1)
Ways of preparing for birth	62	(1)
Some listening skills	63	(1)
Non-helpful responses	63	(1)
Helpful responses	64	(2)
The childbirth educator	66	(2)
The partner	67	(1)
The doula	67	(1)
How a midwife can help a woman who has been sexually abused	68	(1)
In pregnancy	68	(1)
In childbirth	69	(2)
6 FLASHBACKS, PANIC ATTACKS AND NIGHTMARES	71	(10)
Flashbacks	72	(1)
Panic attacks	73	(1)
Nightmares	74	(3)
The symptoms of PTSD	77	(4)
7 PAIN	81	(12)
Killing pain with drugs	83	(1)
A good birth	84	(1)
Entonox and opiates	85	(2)
The epidural	87	(6)
8 OTHER WAYS OF HANDLING PAIN	93	(28)
A birth companion	94	(1)
Cutaneous injection of sterile water	94	(1)
Transcutaneous Electronic Nerve Stimulation (TENS)	95	(1)
Acupuncture, acupressure, shiatsu and reflexology	95	(1)
Hypnotherapy	96	(1)
Touch relaxation and massage	97	(3)
Practising touch relaxation	98	(2)
Ways a woman can handle pain herself	100	(5)
Relaxation	100	(1)
Breathing	100	(1)
Visualisation	101	(1)
Vocalisation	101	(1)
Position change	101	(1)
Movement	102	(1)
Water	102	(1)
Warmth	102	(3)
9 'IF ONLY I HADN'T'	105	(16)
Choices	106	(2)
Maternal-fetal conflict	108	(1)
Who's to blame?	109	(4)
How to listen	113	(9)
Feelings of guilt	118	(3)
10 THE BABY	121	(8)
Trying to be a good mother	122	(3)
Bonding	125	(4)
11 THE PARTNER	129	(14)
Sex	132	(5)
Reclaiming your genitals	137	(2)
Sexual difficulties	139	(4)
Sex after a traumatic birth	140	(3)
12 MOVING FORWARD	143	(14)
Put your birth story into words	143	(1)
Get hold of your records	144	(1)
How to crack the code	145	(1)
A self-help group	145	(4)
Demanding twilight sleep: control or subservience?	148	(1)
Face up to fear	149	(1)
Tell the story	150	(1)
The listening experience	150	(8)
On the phone	151	(6)
13 PREGNANT AGAIN	157	(12)
A planned Caesarean	158	(1)
VBAC (vaginal birth after Caesarean)	159	(1)
A doula	160	(1)
Birth at home	160	(1)
Labour at home as long as you can	161	(1)
A birth centre	162	(1)
Using a birth pool	162	(2)
Continuity of care	164	(1)
What about a private obstetrician?	165	(1)
An independent midwife?	165	(1)
Labour and give birth in any position you choose	166	(1)
Research a birth plan and explore it with your midwife	167	(2)
USEFUL ADDRESSES	169	(6)
NOTES	175	(12)
INDEX	187