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This sounds exactly like the process my wife and I are going through in the US right now. I’ve never heard of pregnancy being treated like an “illness” (??).

• dieortin 5y ago
  Except for the bills part
• pasquinelli 5y ago
  My first kid in 2008 in Chicago wasn't like this, my second in 2012 in Portland was. I'd say America is adopting the approach; maybe it fully has by now.
• throwkeep 5y ago
  Not unique to Arizona. It's rather common throughout the country now.
• in_cahoots 5y ago
  The country’s c-section rate is somewhere near 33% when most estimates say it should be around 15%. That’s a pretty good indicator of systematic over-medicalization.
  • whall6 5y ago
    Lots of women I know elect to have C-sections.
    • GloriousKoji 5y ago
      I would not call it a "good amount" but I know women who elected for C-sections because they attribute too much value and significance to the date of birth.
    • deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    • lolinder 5y ago
      My understanding is that that is often because doctors fail to educate them sufficiently on the cons. The recovery from a C-section is worse, the outcomes are worse for both mother and child, future children are likely to be more difficult. There's not much reason to recommend an elect C-section in most cases (certainly not 33% of cases) except that the doctors get to bill for it.
      • ghufran_syed 5y ago
        The case linked below started off with an attempt at a normal vaginal delivery. Based on your comment, you might think it admirable that the doctors didn't consider doing a c-section and continued to try vaginal deliver for around 60 hours - but then had to do a c-section and the baby had severe brain injury. "Specifically, the family alleged the hospital did not properly estimate the weight of the fetus, even though the ultrasound estimate was more than the average weight. The family also asserted that the hospital failed in assessing the safety of vaginal delivery, which constituted malpractice. Finally, the family claimed the hospital did not recognize the deteriorating fetal heart rate pattern, which showed decelerations and a rising baseline. The family stated that if the hospital and its staff adhered to the appropriate standard of care, the infant’s injuries could have been prevented. Through careful monitoring, the physicians would have noted that delivery via cesarean section was viable — and, in fact, the most appropriate option. This is reinforced because despite the administration of labor-inducing drugs, delivery had not occurred after 60 hours. This timing should have concerned the physicians and care providers, and they should have re-evaluated their initial course of treatment. Absent any evidence indicating otherwise, the abnormal 60-hour labor period could easily have injured the fetus. Whether the physicians acted negligently while monitoring the fetus’ heart rate would likely have been a significant material issue in this case. However, the family presented strong evidence that the care providers were negligent based on the totality of the circumstances and obvious disregard of cause for concern." It's easy to have opinions when you don't have responsibility for people's lives. https://www.reliasmedia.com/articles/145690-birth-injury-litigation-results-in-75-million-settlement https://www.reliasmedia.com/articles/145690-birth-injury-lit...
        • lolinder 5y ago
    • missedthecue 5y ago
      This is true. My aunt chose to have all of her children by C-section, and this was over 30 years ago.
• jacobolus 5y ago
  > I know much of HN lives in SF SF has more options for different types of prenatal/delivery medical experiences than most regions of the US, and has been ahead of the trend for years. My 2 kids were delivered by midwives in a hospital focused on respecting parents’ choices to the extent possible.
• ACS_Solver 5y ago
  I know that in Russian culture, pregnancy is often treated somewhat like an illness. Not in the sense that it's bad, but it's commonly believed the pregnant woman needs a lot of bed rest, should avoid any physical activity more strenuous than walking, etc. In the last trimester, the woman is treated similarly to someone recovering from a major surgery. Medical supervision is handled by a doctor throughout the pregnancy. This is in complete contrast to the thread starter's Danish approach, or the approach where I am in Sweden. Women are encouraged to remain physically active, to only abstain from very major activities (think skydiving or marathon running), and to generally keep doing things as long as they're physically comfortable. Midwives handle everything from the first checkup until labor, a doctor only gets involved if there's something that requires a doctor's skills in particular.