After the two weeks of the virtual component of the Summer Professionals Education Program, I begun the in-person component at the University of Florida on May 30th.
This week, we focused on maternal health, specifically surrounding C sections and childbirth as a whole. Interestingly, although most countries only have a C-section rate of 5-10%, close to one third of women in the United States have a C section when giving birth in a hospital. The documentary I watched with my cohort in this program, titled Aftershock, summarizes the reasoning for this; C sections are quicker than vaginal birth, make the hospital more money (the money usually goes to the hospital, not the physicians!), and ties to the risk-averse behavior of hospitals in which they’d rather perform major surgery to avoid serious incident over seeing a C section as a last resort. Simultaneously, the maternal mortality rate of mothers in the United States has risen alongside the rise of C sections in hospitals.
Also, I visited an anatomy lab at the University of Florida School of Medicine, which preserves bodies of those who decided to donate their bodies for scientific research. The lab keeps records of the interests and careers of the now-deceased persons as a way to treat them with respect for their contribution. My supervisor during this time, a medical students, let us touch the hearts, livers, and other parts of the body. I saw a pacemaker inside someone who had to get a heart surgery. It was very interesting!
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