Yesterday Mr. Pete and I took five or our kids on a 2 1/2 hour car ride down to Columbus to see our reading specialist and portfolio evaluator who gave the okay to their last year’s work and suggestions for this year! So we left at noon and didnt’ get back home until around 9 p.m. – it was a full day!
I got to hear ALL of the talk show coverage from Glen Beck and Rush Limbaugh to Sean Hannity to get their antidote for the anti-Palin venom that was spewed around the internet over the weekend. Let me just say that I know if Obama gets the white house he is going to push for the Fairness Doctrine, which I think is a joke. Those programs WERE the balance to all the negativity over the weekend and it would be a grave disservice and I think unAmerican to silence those voices.
One of the issues surrounding Sarah Palin that I have read include the delivery of her son Trig. Apparently the governor thought her water had broken in Texas, but she stayed to deliver a speech before boarding a plane back to Alaska and then driving a distance to deliver in the hospital of her choice.
A couple of things strike me. First of all, as a Catholic, conservative I have gotten soundly pelted on liberal and moderate blogs for opining about other women’s childbirth choices with screams of “You weren’t there, you can’t have an opinion.” Apparently for VP candidates there is a different standard and being there or not, tons of women had opinions about what they deemed to be a “bad choice” and the “you weren’t there” mantra got shot down.
Nonetheless, here’s my opinion based on some of my experiences.
My first birth experience was very traumatic and in retrospect I think I suffered from a bit of post partum depression and post traumatic stress as a result. When I discovered the International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN) I discovered that I was not alone. Many women at those meetings shared the mistreatment they had received in state of the art hospitals at the hands of doctors, nurses and even support staff.
I remember the story of one couple in particular where the wife felt that she had been so abused at her local hospital that she became physically nauseous every time she came near the place. For a subsequent birth she had made plans to deliver at a different hospital some distance away with nurse midwives that she had come to know and trust. Unfortunately this lady went into labor during a big and dangerous snow storm. What should have been a couple hour car trip turned into an all day ordeal, but the persevered and she had her baby where she wanted with the midwives she wanted.
I’m not saying she made the best or safest decision, but I do know that childbirth is a very vulnerable time for a women and for some moms, who felt hurt or betrayed but the standard childbirth system in this country, just signing into the local hospital for the epidural and routine C-section is not an option. After my son’s birth at the local hospital literally 5 minutes away, I ended up traveling an hour away for my second son’s prenatal care and birth, and even longer for prenatal care for subsequent pregnancies. I understand that quest for a safe birth place and a trusted birth attendant.
And perhaps that’s Sarah Palin’s story. Perhaps she felt so safe and secure giving birth with the caregiver she had chosen that she would do everything in her power to make sure she was able to birth her baby there.
Frankly after reading her birth story a couple of times, I’m wondering what was the big deal? Did her water really break or was she leaking urine? When you’re at the end of a pregnancy sometimes it’s hard to know the difference. It’s clear that she wasn’t in labor as she as able to deliver a speech before heading back to Alaska! In fact she ended up having labor induced. The biggest gripe I’ve been reading on women’s boards is that she risked having a big infection for going so long with a bag of broken waters. What most women don’t know (because their docs don’t tell them) is that the biggest risk of having a bag of broken water is subjecting yourself to multiple vaginal exams introducing and pushing bacteria up the birth canal towards the uterus! A mom who is monitoring her temperature, and practicing good hygiene WITHOUT vaginal exams can avoid a big infection. A good friend of mine did just that waiting for her baby to be born. She followed this common sensical approach for over 24 hours before naturally delivering her son.
Palin talks at the convention tonight. I’m hoping that finally we can read and hear the pundits talking about the issues and her abilities instead of striking out at her abilities as a mother – particularly from other women who should know better.
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