06 February 2008

Too posh to push? More like too scared

A new Swedish study reveals that the increasing rate of elective caesareans in the developed world is not necessarily a result of Victoria Beckham wanna-bes who are beyond the whole birth thing. According to the research published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, many women requesting elective caesars are actually just too scared to give birth vaginally as a result of traumatic previous experiences and from being regaled with horror birth stories from friends and family.

Dr Ingela Wiklund, from the division of obstetrics and gynaecology at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, led the study. She said "Women suffering from significant childbirth fear indicate that they are less self-confident, unhappy, afraid that the child will be injured and don't long for the child. This clearly emphasises the need for pre- and post-natal support."

In my own study, whilst I did not have any women who elected to have caesars simply out of fear, I was surprised to find that so many of my informants not only talked about the 'damage' being done to their body as a result of pregnancy but also their intense fears of pain and their babies dying during the actual birth.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtmlxml=/news/2008/02/06/nposh106.xml

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