When I became pregnant, I thought I would enjoy my favourite medical documentaries, especially those showing pregnancy and childbirth, even more. However, something strange happened. When I watched my first while-pregnant episode of One Born Every Minute, my blood started to feel shivery in my veins and I began to suffer from what I presume are the physical symptoms of medical anxiety. I presume that because the medical situation I was watching was no longer theoretical to me, I had become scared and squeamish. I was not happy. I had loved blood and guts and thought this would have been an advantage when it came time to have kids. Why was this happening to me now!
A little while later I did my hypnobirthing course and was instructed not to let any negative or overly dramatic depictions of birth into my headspace, so these reality birth shows were officially out. This left a few gaps in my TV schedule. It also meant I couldn't watch the US version of One Born Every Minute, which I previously wouldn't have missed for the world, and I have to admit I did feel a bit aggrieved.
But I have managed to sneak in a few scenes of childbirth here and there in my TV viewing. Now I know that E! Entertainment channel reality shows aren't the most legitimate ways to learn about the medical and social system of another country! But I don't get much time to watch TV and these shows are so relaxing sometimes I can't resist.
So, lately I have seen two births on E! reality shows - the first was Kourtney Kardashian's birth of son, Mason, and the second was on Ice Loves Coco, where Coco's sister gives birth to her baby boy, Austin.
Now I must stress that these are not the only America hospital births I have seen on film - my hypnobirthing education class did show us numerous US hospital births, so I know that there are different environments and systems available to women in the US. However many of the births I saw seemed to have one thing in common, and something which differs immensely from the system in my country: most of these women appeared to have the whole family in the room, or at least crowded in the doorway, vying with each other for a better view of the action!
This strikes me as weird and unpleasant for many reasons! Firstly there's my own personal reasons: I hate to feel watched, on show, or the centre of attention. I also hate to feel physically exposed, and am struggling with the anticipation of this in my own upcoming labour, even though it will most likely be just myself, my husband and a midwife (and possibly a doctor) in attendance.
But personal foibles aside, I also wonder if this crowded, communal method of birth is the most conducive to birth? Certainly the hypno-birthing school of thought would have us believe that being in a "safe" place, a kind of haven or retreat, is the ideal environment for an enjoyable and stress-free birth. At the very least, the woman must be able to relax fully in order to get the full benefits of hypnobirthing. I may be the odd one out here but I find the idea of my whole family watching me birth a baby the least relaxing scenario I could possibly think of!
Aside from all the above, I also hate to get emotional in front of people, I really can't handle crying in front of people, so my whole family watching my reaction to my baby's birth would be the final straw. Pretty glad I'm not giving birth in the States actually. And that's without even touching on the crazy-ass costs!
I'm a first-timer attempting a natural birth, follow my progress here...
