The other day, Kremlin drew my attention to an article in the New York Times about rising insurance premiums (and denial of coverage) after C-sections. Then, not a day later, I found this article in the Los Angeles Times, discussing the rise of pre-term births, many of which are apparently occurring as a result of the rising C-section rate in the United States. I thought it was a funny bit of happenstance that these articles should dovetail so neatly, given that I find the whole process of pregnancy and birth really fascinating.

Home birth especially has always been a long interest of mine, as is natural birth in general. I am a firm believe in birth with a minimum of interference, as humans have, after all, been doing it for rather a long time. Yes, birth can be dangerous, and women in high-risk pregnancies should pursue every possible precaution, but it seems like we’re seeing a trend these days towards child-rearing and now apparently childbirth by convenience.

Look, I’m not a parent. But I do know that child rearing is not “convenient,” no matter when and how it happens. It’s hard work, and it’s work that deserves a lot more credit and respect than it gets. Raising kids that aren’t totally messed up is pretty darn hard to do.

We live in a society where people delay having children until later because it’s not convenient to have kids in youth, which seems kind of weird to me, and we also live in a society where people schedule their births, which just seems insane to me. But, apparently, it’s a very common practice to pick a date and schedule a C-section, rather than waiting to see if the baby makes its way out without assistance.

Are there cases in which a C-section is necessary? Absolutely, and I’m glad that safer C-sections are accessible to women today as an option for dealing with situations when complications emerge. But it seems a bit crazy to me to elect to undergo a surgical procedure on the scale of a C-section for convenience. And, quite frankly, I’m surprised that obstetricians are permitting it, because it seems like babies should be allowed to develop as long as they need to, and to come out when they are ready, not necessarily when it’s convenient for their parents.

After all, as the Los Angeles Times pointed out, even “late preterm” babies come with some serious risks of health problems associated, and these risks could be mitigated by, you know, letting them pop out on their own. And fetal development isn’t an exact science; it’s hard to predict when, precisely, a baby is due, although you can get pretty darn close. So why not, you know, let the bread bake all the way so you don’t end up with a loaf that’s raw in the middle? You can’t stick it back in the oven, and it just doesn’t taste the same when you toast it. I’m just sayin’.

I think that a lot of OBs are under serious pressure right now, thanks to the fact that this is a lawsuit happy culture, so many are choosing the C-section route because it’s perceived as less dangerous, and thereby it creates less potential for a lawsuit. They’re also opting to do C-sections for relatively minor or potentially controllable complications, out of a concern that those complications could turn more serious, and thereby bring on a lawsuit. In fact, a lot of young doctors are choosing not to go into obstetrics because it’s such a high risk profession, and that’s a real pity. By being so eager to sue for the slightest pregnancy-related complication, we are ironically making it harder to provide good care in the field by limiting the number of practicing OBs and severely restricting their practices. Go us.

Pregnancy is risky. Maybe not all the time, and maybe not as risky as some rabidly anti-home birth advocates would have us believe, but there are some inherent risks involved, especially for older women, a growing demographic in the pregnant community. Refusing to accept those risks, and steamrollering over thousands of years of evolution, just seems silly to me. Taking steps to reduce those risks is a sensible tack, but manic fear seems a bit counterproductive, yeah?

30% of births in the United States are via C-section, which just seems crazy to me. It would appear that our American mania for convenience and our intense fear of lawsuits has spilled over into some surprising arenas, and I wonder what it’s going to take to see some major reforms in the American birth industry.