What I think about….Public School June 24, 2007

I think that public school is catering to the masses not the individual. That’s all they CAN do. If your child falls in the range of average, and you as the parent offer a modicum of participation then probably your child will do just fine. However, if your child falls above or below that average then any sort of problems are going to arise and the majority of public schools are not equipped to cater to that, either due to lack of funding, lack of teachers or lack of resources.

So much time is spent on creating little automatons that sit when they are supposed to, and talk when they are supposed to, and line up when they are supposed to and work quietly, that children’s natural personality and learning styles are often stifled. Classes are often overcrowded and it’s easy to see why it has to be that way. But just because something has to be that way does not mean it’s the best way.

The common argument against homeschooling that I hear is the lack of social interaction with other kids. To this I ask: have you spent much time in an elementary school? The two years that my son was there I did spend time there. Recess was 20 min at most, and then not every day. Before and after school, they were required to either A.Sit quietly in the gym and wait for the busses to come. or B. Stand quietly in line and wait for the carpool. At lunch, they had 20 min in which they were to stand quietly in the lunch line and gather their food and eat it as quickly and quietly as they could before lining back up again to return to class. There were precious few minutes in the day for my child to interact with any other student in a meaningful way. And then, it was only with kids of his same age/grade. In what way is this scenario like life? Who among us is held to a rigid schedule that demands when you can eat, play, talk to people only of your own age? That’s just not real life.

I say that homeschooling provides a much more realistic preparation for real life. Students are allowed to learn and allowed to love learning. They interact with people of all ages, from younger siblings to adults. They must learn responsibility in how to act appropriatly, not because they are commanded to and held by peer pressure.

Of course there are many families that don’t feel they can manage homeschooling, and can’t afford private schools. I don’t judge people for choosing public school, everyone has to make their own choices for their family. But, like every other decision, I think it’s important to do the research and make an educated choice instead of maintaining the status quo.

What I think about…..Drs. June 24, 2007

I am not one that is totally anti-dr, as many I know are.  I think that family drs/GP’s are expected to know a little bit of info about a lot of different things.  It would seem appropriate that other then something common or mild that one should consider a second opinion, or a specialist. I don’t feel it’s fair to the patient OR the dr to expect them to be the primary care person for anything that is ongoing or out of their realm of normal practice.

I think because of our litigious society, drs often operate on a CYA mode.  Even the smallest possiblity of something ‘bad’ happening needs to be covered because you know that the majority of our society will come back on the dr and say “well, you should have caught that and prevented it”. It’s unfair and it’s wrong. Dr’s are not psychics or magicians. I think that this is why so many OB’s give unecessary procedures–just on the off chance that there is a complication. They don’t want to be the one that has a mother or a baby die on their watch.

I think the problem is not the mentality of drs, but how they are forced to respond to the mentality of our society.

Often, the breastfeeding mothers I work with are given misinformation by their childs pediatrician or family dr. Pediatricians, I have little patience for. Child nutrition falls under the realm of their specialty and as such they have a responsibility to have a full working knowledge of human lactation.  However, what do you expect from a family doctor? The know what little bit they gleaned in medical school (however many years ago and outdated info to boot) and what the formula companies tell them.

If you have a problem with your transmission in your car, you aren’t going to take it to the mechanic next door unless you are very confident he knows all about transmissions. You are likely going to take it to a transmission specialist.

Breastfeeding help should be treated the same. Dr’s don’t know everything, and in fact, from what I’ve seen, the majority of them know very little about breastfeeding. You need to go to a specialist–an LC, CLC, peer counselor etc. Go to someone who’s had the training to take on your specific needs.

I always tell my moms that if something doesn’t sound right, or goes against what you think you wanted to do with your baby, do the research yourself and see what turns up. That goes for most every health matter imo.  People need to be advocates for their own health and see a dr that will acknowledge them as part of a team. No one should ever blindly follow dr’s orders without trying to gain some knowledge on their own.

Bottom line: Dr’s are not bad. They are not willingly out to get you to try X drug or product. What they do have is a limited scope. It’s up to the consumer to work with them and on their own.

Furthermore, Naturopaths and alternative medicines should be incorporated into practice with or supplementary to more western medicine. Unfortunately, big health insurance doesn’t allow for that, so why should an MD even bother to figure it out?

What I think about….Unassisted Childbirth (UC) June 24, 2007

Unassisted Childbirth is a concept that a lot of my internet circle of friends subscribe to. It is the idea that hospitals and drs treat a pregnant woman as someone who has an illness that needs to be monitored and “fixed”. That dr’s operate on preventing the worst case scenario (Which the data will tell you is actually pretty rare) and act accordingly.

VBAC is vaginal birth after cesarean. Most dr’s won’t attempt it.  The UC group believes that women are made to have children and have been doing so, alone, for centuries. That drs don’t do much more then get in the way, scare the mother, and usually cause her to undergo unecessary procedures at risk to the mother and fetus.

I honestly have mixed feelings about the subject. While I certainly see their point, for ME, I’m not comfortable taking that risk. The risk that something might happen at home and my husband, myself or other caregiver would not be equipped to handle it. Of course, one would then be transported to the hospital, but I have heard many a tale of the mother being berated by the staff for not taking better care of herself and her child.  The last thing I’d want in a moment of trauma, would be that. And the medical staff feel they have every right to say those things, because you ARE there, and THEY told you so.

Then again, I am not one that needs to have this beautiful, spiritual birth experience.  For some people that really matters. They are empowered as a woman and as a mother by the act of having a child naturally without intervention.  I say more power to them. But not for me.  I want to have the baby with as little pain as possible. (what I think about epidurals is another post)  I have had 3 very different hospital birth experiences, two with medwives, and one without.  Frankly, as far as the birth part goes (not the prenatal) the one with a dr went the smoothest and most according to birth plan.  Interesting, I thought.  I had gone into it with such fear and dread of how I would be treated but the reality was much much different.

Bottom line: Whatever works for you. I do have a little trouble with using scare tactics to try to sway the ones who choose to do a hospital birth. If that’s what you really really feel is appropriate for you, chances are you are correct and everything will be fine, so go for it.  But please don’t look down on me because the very idea does not appeal to me in the slightest. I’ll take the hospital any day. The last thing I want during my birth is to have my other kids/family around. And I certainly don’t want to be expected have to get right up and mommy them. I prefer to be confined to a bed and let everyone wait on me for a day or so. That wouldn’t happen at home, no matter the good intentions of my husband.

VBAC: I think that dr’s should be more willing to give this a try, esp for mothers who have only had one section. Multiple sections may be more complicated, I don’t really know. But scar tissue heals stronger then regular skin, much like a piece of metal that has been welded. At the weld, it’s strong. So the possiblity of uterine rupture should be relatively low. Low enough that VBAC should at least be considered and a decision made with the mother instead of having it made for her.