(I'm sharing what I submitted on the Obama website.)
Michelle, as a mother of two, I'm sure you'd say your births were very significant events in your life. Unfortunately for many US women, birth is traumatic and terrifying because of a health care system that does not honor women.
Women are often not given choices in birth; they are not allowed to participate in their own process. Instead, doctors control women's bodies in labor. For example, most hospitals will force a women to undergo major abdominal surgery because "once a c-section, always a c-section." This policy goes completely counter to the scientific research which shows that VBAC is safe--safer than a series of repeat surgeries.
Women's bodies are treated like objects that need "management" by a dysfunctional system. Women are routinely strapped to the bed with monitors, IVs, oxygen masks, stirrups, and other medical devices. I've heard countless stories from women who feel like they were raped during the birth because someone else had control over their bodies.
Yes, it's easy to dismiss these events as emotional over-reactions to what our medical community considers "normal process." However, the statistics cannot be denied.
Is the US the safest place to give birth? NO. Various groups rank the US somewhere in the 40s, meaning it's safer to birth in any other major country.
Is the US the best place for babies? NO. The US infant mortality rate is a shame on our country.
Is the US the best place for minority women to birth? NO! Minority women rarely receive proper prenatal care.
As one mother to another, I implore you to contact the World Health Organization or UNICEF or other agency that researches world birth practices. Get the facts on birth in the US. Ask yourself what are the business and profit models that the AMA and ACOG are using when they send their lobbyists to DC.
I hope you'll take your findings to your husband and convince him that birth in America needs CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN!
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Neither candidate is talking about this. I could cite some stats on just how bad the system is, but I'd rather hear comments about your births. What happened to you?