This week in our Biopsychology of Birth class, we discussed the tools used in labor and some of the birth fads that have come and gone (or stuck around). One of the topics we discussed was induction of labor. We have discussed the issue multiple times since the class began and the more I learn about it, the more the idea frustrates me. Women are induced for various different reasons; unfortunately, these reasons are not always medically necessary.
Convenient induction is one something that just seems unnatural to me. Choosing to be induced just because you are tired of being pregnant, cannot wait any longer to meet your baby, or simply because labor would fit best in your schedule that week should not, in my opinion, be reasons to have an induction, but in our culture many timesthis kind of reasoning results in an induction. I have never been pregnant so I cannot say that I if I was I would not be tempted with the idea of induction at the end of my pregnancy, if that means being able to meet my baby sooner, but I truly hope that I would be able to wait and allow the baby to come on its own time. Giving birth is a natural process and therefore we should remember that babies will almost always come when they are good and ready.
We need to move away from this idea that if the baby doesn’t arrive on its predetermined due date than it’s late and must need some assistance entering the world. On the first day of our Biopsych of Birth class, we all shared the stories of our own birth and not a single one of us was born on our “due date.” I have now come to realize that due dates are more vague suggestions than hardcore fact.
There are cases where babies are in trouble and need medical induction in order to get out safely. However, I think too many women are quick to assume that if the baby is a few days late then they must be in danger, when they really may just have a late bloomer on their hands. I support taking the right precautions and getting late term ultrasounds to ensure the baby is in good health but if they check out that everything is fine – the only thing left to do is wait. Nobody likes to feel that they are being rushed and forced into a situation; your new baby is not any different. It is like the old saying goes “Good things come to those who wait.”