Reflecting on my experience

My experience ended on June 30th, so it’s close to having been a month since my experience ended.

During the program, the cohort watched a movie titled “Aftershock,” which detailed two cases of preventable deaths during childbirth, and near the end discussed solutions. One solution suggested was opening up birthing centers; the C-section rate is significantly lower than it is at a hospital in the United States— women who give birth at a hospital have a roughly 30% chance of getting a C-section, whilst for birthing centers it is about 5%, the latter being much more in line with rates in most countries— but they cannot handle pregnancies which have high risk of complication, resulting in a transfer to the hospital. However, the caretakers allow you to walk and eat in the middle of labor as one pleases, which can lead to a more relaxing environment and birth than being hooked to a hospital bed.

I’m certain my project will discuss either causes of the unusually high C-section rates in the United States or the utilization of birth centers when compared to hospital birth. My final decision will wager on which topic I feel has more information so I can make a compelling project. I d never thought about how normalized major surgery during pregnancy has become in the United States before my experience. It’s definitely generated a mild, personal interest in the topic. One could say it is a result of the US’ for-profit healthcare models; C-sections get the patient out the hospital faster, whilst simultaneously making the hospital more money, accompanied by hospitals generally following risk-averse behavior. Given high rates of maternal mortality in the country, which has increased throughout the past 50 years directly in relation to the increase in C-sections, I wonder the historical basis behind this behavior beyond profits.