The Dream: S2 E5: Birthing a Bad Dream
January 23, 2020 10:05 AM - Subscribe

Welcome to one of the cutest cults of wellness.
posted by eotvos (4 comments total)
 
This one was ROUGH. When people decide they want their birth to go a certain way, and it doesn't quite go that way in the end, the discussion of how one starts dissecting every little detail to find the fault. When there was no fault!
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 3:59 PM on February 10, 2020


Did anyone else find the doctor's response to the patient saying that she didn't feel like her pain was taken seriously kind of unsatisfying? Which highlights something I'm finding frustrating about this season so far-people often don't turn to bullshit wellness practices in a vacuum, and aren't necessarily wrong that doctors don't listen to them or provide them with what they need. (See the experiences of anyone with any kind of marginalized identity trying to access needed pain medication or diagnoses, for just one example.)

The wellness industry is a huge nebulous concept and I think this season is already a bit floundering and unfocused because of that, but the lack of analysis of why people turn to it is really sticking out to me.
posted by LadyNibbler at 9:43 AM on February 11, 2020


That stuck out to me as well.

I remember reading a statistic that doctors talk more about themselves during a visit than listen to their patients and I have totally seen that in action. Between that and the overwhelming cost of healthcare, it's not hard to see why people go for an alternative.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 10:10 AM on February 11, 2020 [1 favorite]


I was a bit surprised at how unsatisfying I found the doctor's answers in this one. I'm a big fan of medical science. But, it's hard to look at the statistics regarding induced labor and caesarean births over the last forty years and come away believing that doctors are always acting in the best interest of their patients.

As a man who will never have kids, I don't really have a dog in this fight. But, I can't think of anyone I know who has been happy about their delivery. Most are furious. That includes both PhD scientists and punch-you-in-the-mouth anarchist hippies who I suspect are significantly more likely to speak up for themselves and do research ahead of time than the average person. I find it hard to believe they're not reacting to something real and ugly in the way hospitals deal with birth.
posted by eotvos at 11:09 AM on February 17, 2020 [1 favorite]


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