Pregnant Woman In, Postpartum Woman + Newborn Infant Out
I toured the Baby Factory today. That is, I toured the Women's Center at Northside Hospital, which is one of two or three contenders each year for the highest number of babies born at the facility. Some years it is the busiest, other years it's the runner-up. On average, they do about 15,000 births a year. This grand scale has earned it the nickname in the area amongst almost everyone (so not just natural birth hippies like me) of the Baby Factory.
For anyone who hasn't been there, I doubt they realise just how apropos the nickname is. First of all, they have thirty-six LDR rooms, and 'processes in place' for the 'really busy times' - i.e. when they have more than thirty-six women in either first, second, or third stage labor, or the immediate aftermath. This does not include all of the scheduled Caesarean sections, mind.
Once the baby is born, the motherbaby pair proceeds upwards from the ground floor to either the first, second, or third levels, all of which have multiple 'pods' of postpartum rooms, nurses' desks, and a nursery. Don't even get me started on the whole thing where the baby has to go to the nursery for weighing and for the pediatrician exam, no exceptions, but yet the mother and/or the partner aren't allowed to enter the nursery. I'm sorry, that's just WRONG. >:
This was an introduction to the American Way of Birth at its' most stereotypical. The Caesarean rate is right in line with the national average, there was an assumption of epidural or other medication use, the Caesarean was presented as 'no big deal,' et cetera et cetera.
After I toured North Fulton, I said that you couldn't get me to give birth there for a million dollars. You couldn't get me to give birth at Northside if I were being paid enough to make me the richest person in the world. Arrogant and judgmental? Maybe. But I see it as not wanting to be scared, not wanting to turn authority over to some other, not wanting to be treated like a number on an assembly line. Not wanting to give into the ritual.
For anyone who hasn't been there, I doubt they realise just how apropos the nickname is. First of all, they have thirty-six LDR rooms, and 'processes in place' for the 'really busy times' - i.e. when they have more than thirty-six women in either first, second, or third stage labor, or the immediate aftermath. This does not include all of the scheduled Caesarean sections, mind.
Once the baby is born, the motherbaby pair proceeds upwards from the ground floor to either the first, second, or third levels, all of which have multiple 'pods' of postpartum rooms, nurses' desks, and a nursery. Don't even get me started on the whole thing where the baby has to go to the nursery for weighing and for the pediatrician exam, no exceptions, but yet the mother and/or the partner aren't allowed to enter the nursery. I'm sorry, that's just WRONG. >:
This was an introduction to the American Way of Birth at its' most stereotypical. The Caesarean rate is right in line with the national average, there was an assumption of epidural or other medication use, the Caesarean was presented as 'no big deal,' et cetera et cetera.
After I toured North Fulton, I said that you couldn't get me to give birth there for a million dollars. You couldn't get me to give birth at Northside if I were being paid enough to make me the richest person in the world. Arrogant and judgmental? Maybe. But I see it as not wanting to be scared, not wanting to turn authority over to some other, not wanting to be treated like a number on an assembly line. Not wanting to give into the ritual.