Clive Thompson (the Giant Squid Overlord) has just put up a very interesting post: Why C-section births might cause eczema in babies
Now, in the midst of making some very important choices about how our boya is going to be born, this type of information is key in confirming our choice in a natural birth, if at all possible. We know that the C-section is a valuable tool, indeed a life-saving one as proven time and time again, but the reasons we have heard for having one out of want instead of need recently really cause some concern.
Some women who have had them (numerous times in some cases) claim that it’s the only way to go, because it’s relatively painless and easy. Holy crap, does that reasoning worry me. Some women have advised Nam to have one because of vaginally expansive reasons, which I will not get into in detail, but suffice to say that said women are afraid I will leave my wife if she has a natural childbirth… And some have just been brainwashed by a booming medical business that states that Caesarians are safer and less stressful on the infant and mother – never mind that that stress might be the entire point of natural childbirth.
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On a flip note, if you read the article linked from Clive’s post you probably came across the reference to Lund University in Sweden. I’ve been there, and it’s the only place in the world where my eczema acted up besides Japan, for the exact same reason it acted up in Japan – the extremely dry winter conditions.
Raising a family in Thailand // Documenting Issan food, culture, music, and people
You have a huge advantage that North American women do not have…the forcept delivery. This technique (using what amounts to giant salad tongs) is not taught in most western medical schools anymore as a C section is more lucrative (and some would argue less dangerous). My son was born using just such a technique in Canada by a doctor trained in the Phillipines as she was being prepped for an emergency C section. This technique is still taught in “developing” (and I am not slagging Thailand medicine here)nations where a C section may not be an available option all the time. It saved my wife from a potentially life altering operation, delivered my son alive and in good health and everyone went home happy.