The story of CS rates is really worrying. The fear that a vaginal birth will
somehow damage a women beyond repair, and a CS is the safest option available is
the manifestation of this fear and ignorance.Once again women are the losers,
and it looks like in this case it is women who for what ever reason take out
private health insurance believing that this is protective, or that they will
have access to better care. I think of 'insurance' as a way of dealing with the
probability of risk - it is taken out in the belief that one will be afforded
security from the notion of risk. The catch is, that risk is never removed, it
is transferred or redistributed by people taking out insurance and 'trading in'
risk. In fact it gets bigger as the amount of insurance depending on it
grows....after all it is tied up with uncertainty and probability. The trading
of risk is part of the way capitalism works, so of course private health
insurance is BIG business and the trading of risks keeps the wealthy in
business. Risk is NOT the same as 'hazard' or 'danger' ...it is an imagination
or a projection in to the future of the probability of what could
happen......the more risks perceived...... the more insurance needed to cover
them.........the more security is expected.......the more intervention to
protect from the perceived risk ........of giving birth!!!....clear as mud i
hear you say!
It is possible that in Australia there is a strong economic imperative towards
operative delivery. And it is a feature of the capitalist world. See the recent
papers by Shorten and Shorten (1998, 1999), old work in Birthing in Victoria
(1990), Carey (1990), King (1993), AIHW (1998); the UK - Macfarlane (1988): the
US - Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (1999)
On the subject about how women are better off with CS look at the recent paper
by Steer (1998).........a discussion about the evolution of the species and
where CS fits. Then think of what sort of information women are given regarding
operative delivery......and then feel depressed.........about how much work is
to be done!
Sally Tracy
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