Ch. 5 Beginning Life Passages

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Ch. 5Beginning Life Passages

• Chapter outline
• Intro- communication about beginning life
  passages can be
• Life-affirming
• Life-challenging
• Life-adjusting

2

• Both men and women face issues and challenges
  surrounding pregnancy and birth
• Communication changes even after a child is born
• Between family members
• And health care providers

3

• Personal, political and cultural complexities
  exist
• (remember the culturally-sensitive model?)
• These arise due to
• Needs
• Feelings of joy or disappointment
• And others issues surrounding the birth of a child

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Life affirming passages communicating pregnancy
and birth

• Communication and the stages of pregnancy
• Issues of genetic testing
• Prenatal care
• Alternative birthing
• Adoption (before the child is born)
• Reflect personal, cultural, political realities

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Concerns of a mother-to-be

• What if she worries about miscarriage?
• What if she is a teen?
• What if she will be a single parent?
• What if she has no health insurance?

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What are some of the symbols we use

• To describe pregnancy and birth?
• The language we use?
• The metaphors?
• What is the rhetoric of birth and pregnancy?

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The Rhetoric of Birthing 3 layers

• 1- metanarratives cultural expectations
• 2- public narratives defined medically,
  professionally, politically)
• 3- individual narratives personal, informal
• Factors of history influence how women
  communicate about their pregnancy and birth

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The history of birthing has changed dramatically
over the last few centuries.

•      In the 18th century, pregnancy and
  childbirth were not considered a medical
  phenomenon by neither health care providers nor
  women.
•      Labor was usually a short experience with
  small amounts of pain beyond acute discomfort.
•       The traditional evils of fear, pain and
  tension imposed by cultural influences are
  resisted through interaction between the birthing
  woman and her attendants or family.
•        Over the last century, there has been a
  dramatic shift in the number of women giving
  birth at home versus in a hospital, and more
  women now do the latter.

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•    Natural childbirth, typically defined as a
  nontechnological, supportive, and affirming
  birth, became the preferred method of delivery.
•        Husband-coached childbirth became a common
  practice in the 1970s that provided for more
  support and encouragement by the husband during
  the birthing process.
•        Today, a natural birthing experience is
  becoming more accepted as a more holistic
  approach to labor and delivery and as a challenge
  to the medical model of birthing.
•       Even with a more accepted view of natural
  childbirth, women are still faces with choices
  about their pregnancy, such as whether or not to
  use technology.

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A.      Women are more often finding ways to
enhance the life-affirming experience of birthing
and make choices to retain control over their
bodies.

•      Women are seeking more answers to the many
  questions that surround pregnancy and childbirth,
  such as drug-use, birthing preparation classes,
  and making informed choices about post-birth
  options for both mother and child.
•       Choices regarding routine hospital
  procedures -- preparing the mother, fetal
  heartbeat monitoring, inducing labor, and
  circumcision -- are all rooted in the
  communication between the woman and her family.

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•       Breastfeeding, though supported and highly
  recommended by the American Public Health
  Association, is one issue in which women may be
  significantly influenced by social and cultural
  pressure.
•       Decisions about breastfeeding are subject
  to personal, cultural, and political belief
  systems, but parents must choose the option that
  works best for them.

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     A key aspect of bringing communication into
the birthing process is education.

•      Many birthing options are available to both
  women and men, such as developing a birthing plan
  well in advance of the actual birth.
•        Women may learn about the alternatives to
  medicalized pregnancy and birthing through
  childbirth classes, but women may also find out
  inappropriate or inaccurate information through
  the media and public health campaigns.
•       Many scholars support the need to develop a
  more systematic approach to communicating
  life-affirming information with a mother and her
  child.