The Caesarean

by Michel Odent

Overview

How did a magnificent rescue operation become such a common way of giving birth? And how safe is it really? Why do some countries have 10 percent caesarean births, and some more than 50 percent? Why have risky procedures, such as forceps deliveries, not been eliminated by the C-section? What are the very first microbes met by a caesarean-born baby? Is it easy to breastfeed after a caesarean? What do mother and baby miss out on by not sharing a vaginal birth? What do we know about the long-term consequences of being born by caesarean and of giving birth by caesarean? What is the future of a civilization born by caesarean? Having been involved in half a century of the history of the caesarean, Dr. Michel Odent is uniquely and authoritatively equipped to deal with these vital and urgent questions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781853437182
Publisher:	Free Association Books Limited
Publication date:	03/23/2004
Pages:	162
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.70(d)

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgements	vii
1	A Magnificent Rescue Operation	1
	My comments as an observer	1
	My comments as an actor	2
2	One Route or the Other	5
	A global phenomenon	5
	The right to choose	6
3	Safer and Safer	9
	The indirect versus the direct route	9
	Pfannenstiel and the bikini revolution	10
	The age of epidurals	11
	Scalpel or fingers?	13
	Can we measure the safety of the caesarean?	14
4	Breaking a Vicious Circle	17
	Forgotten needs	17
	A rediscovery	18
	What if?	21
	A rule of thumb	24
5	When Our Dreams Come True	25
	From Asclepius to the Barbie doll	25
	From Icarus to the cross-Channel glider	28
6	Towards a Super-Brainy Homo Sapiens?	30
	Inextensible limits	30
	Pulverized limits	32
7	Twenty-First-Century Criteria	35
	Two answers	35
	Three questions	36
8	Long-Term Thinking	42
	A tool for reprogramming ourselves	42
	Being caesarean born	43
	Impaired capacity to love	46
	From a cul-de-sac to an avenue	49
	A complementary lesson	51
9	Towards an Unprecedented Cultural Diversity?	52
	Thinking in terms of civilization	52
	Broadening our horizon	52
	Towards different 'native' cultures?	54
10	Entering the World of Microbes	58
	Two doorways towards the world of microbes	58
	Gut flora and health	60
11	Entering the World of Odours	62
	Starting from anecdotes	62
	In the current scientific context	63
12	Nursing the Caesarean Born	66
	Lactation starts before the baby is born	66
	Looking for confirmation	68
	From a practical point of view	70
13	A Thousand and One Reasons to be Offered a Caesarean	73
	Absolute indications	73
	Debatable indications	76
14	Once a Caesarean Always a Caesarean?	82
	After 1950	82
	A frequently asked question	83
	A frequent response	85
	Another frequently asked question	87
	In practice	87
15	If Caesarean Becomes Necessary for You	89
	From consent form to abdomen painting	89
	When the surgeon appears	91
16	What Mothers Say	93
	Limitless diversity	93
	Superlatives	94
17	The Perineal Preoccupation	96
	Published facts	96
	Interpretations	98
	The foetus ejection reflex	98
18	Either ... or ...	102
	Futuristic strategies	102
	The birthing pool test	103
	Interpretations	106
	Simple recommendations	107
	Pam England Birth from Within	108
19	Antenatal Scare	111
	In an ideal world	112
	Towards the end of routine medicalized care?	113
	The content of antenatal visits reconsidered	114
	The future	117
20	Received Ideas	120
	You need energy!	120
	You must walk!	124
	You need support!	125
	The fruits on the tree	127
21	The Future of the Midwifery-Obstetrics Relationship	131
	An inevitable long-term objective	131
	Smashing political correctness	132
22	Too Rational to Survive	136
	Is humanity threatened by an excess of rationality?	137
	Notes and References	139
	Index	159