What does not surviving a plane crash have to do with the “medicalisation” of\u00a0childbirth? I would argue that they are both examples of how we are losing our ability to take\u00a0our fate into our own hands.<\/p>\n
When a plane crashes, some passengers die because they are waiting to be\u00a0saved while those that act to save themselves are more likely to survive [1].\u00a0<\/p>\n
Why? Because when people hand control over of others, they find\u00a0it hard to take it back again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So it is as you queue on the phone to buy plane tickets, you queue to check\u00a0in, you queue through security, you walk down long corridors, you queue\u00a0again.<\/p>\n
To some real extent, this process is a bit like being brainwashed – it is a\u00a0series of mental triggers that you are in a system, you are a subject, you\u00a0are not in control. You have become a sheep.<\/p>\n
This in itself is not a bad thing. It helps the systems to work if the\u00a0people can be controlled, and certainly nothing sinister is intended;\u00a0however it does mean that if the plane crashes we will be more inclined to\u00a0wait for instructions than fight our way to the door.<\/p>\n
A similar effect can play out during childbirth.\u00a0 Mothers who undergo\u00a0cesarean subjugate themselves to the system and in handing over\u00a0responsibility, may well find taking the child back after it is cleaned-up\u00a0more psychologically challenging, and are thus more likely to turn to\u00a0authority (nurses, midwives etc) for help with routine things like\u00a0breastfeeding and washing the baby, rather than assume responsibility;\u00a0their confidence is thus eroded by the process of subjugation.<\/p>\n
I propose therefore that both on air flights and in the maternity ward, we\u00a0should do what we can to keep people in control – or at least thinking they\u00a0are…<\/p>\n
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