Comments on: Going back in time : Twilight Sleep

By: elwood

elwood — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 19:32:06 +0000

There really is not a function for it, but many would do it because it was nicer to look at or actually more pleasant for the doctor.
But more information shows that with shaving, it is easier to get some kind of infection, along with waxing.

By: jenny morand

jenny morand — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 19:28:28 +0000

What is the function of the shaving?

By: RJ

RJ — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:28:45 +0000

It is interesting too, that in the cases of chloroform, twilight sleep, maternity x-rays, thalidomide, and even more modern meds like cytotec, it was only well after the fact, after so much damage had been done that these practices were stopped. What will we find out 20 years from now, about the effects of epidural anesthesia on 80+% of the population?

My father taught me when I was a kid to use “the right tool for the right job.” Some advances in modern medicine save lives and help experiences. Yet, unless we spare them for the times when we really need them, we are blindly using these tools today and hoping they’ll work most of the time, like using a screwdriver to hammer in a nail rather than to tighten a screw. Meanwhile, maternal and infant mortality rates continue to climb.

We know birth works, or else most of us wouldn’t be here. We need to realize that right now, it works *in spite of* all these modern-day conventions used on 90% of our women, rather than because of them.

By: CarolinaMomma

CarolinaMomma — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:10:08 +0000

I watched this episode with baited breathe. I felt so badly for Betty and what she was going through. I also felt badly for Don(he would have never let Betty be treated that way) and the other father-to-be. He was never told there was a problem with his wife and that a specialist was being called in for breech. He said it out right and truthfully. “what the hell is wrong with you people, that’s my wife in there.” I am paraphrasing of course but that is pretty darn close.

The sad reality is that while Twilight sleep is no longer the standard of care; Pushing of Epidurals, breaking of waters, shaving, and supine coached pushing are all still the standard of care in many hospitals. Women more times than not are made to feel like they have no choice because of hospital or doctor policy. You cannot eat or drink, You have to have Electronic Fetal Monitoring, you cannot move about freely. Women may have come around to the fact that the couldn’t remember the birth of their child, but now it has become something some wish to forget because of the way they were treated and the countless interventions. 1 step forward, 2 steps back.