Brisbane mum Jacqui Dever, who is 22 weeks pregnant, had to have a C-section with her first child because of a medical emergency. PIC: Luke Marsden. Source: News Limited
MOTHERS are being shamed by other mums and their families after having Caesareans, accusing them of being too lazy to give birth in a vile campaign on social media.
But it is the shaming of women in the delivery room that has doctors worried, with world-renowned gynaecologist Professor Hans Peter Dietz accusing the public health system of allowing women to unnecessarily suffer for the sake of reducing C-section rates.
“The drive to cut back on C-sections is dangerous,’’ Prof Dietz said. “Relentless, ill-informed pressure on obstetricians suggesting they abandon professional judgment, in order to satisfy some bureaucratic target, increasingly has distinct negative consequences.”
Prof Dietz, who spoke on the subject in Brisbane, said women forced into long labours risked severe medical complications or death.
The anti-caesarean campaign gained momentum after the World Health Organisation said the number of caesarean surgeries needed to drop to 10 to 15 per cent of births.
One-third of Australian births are via C-section.
Prof Dietz labelled the WHO plea as “completely outdated”.
“In reality there is no C-section epidemic,” he said.
A meme shared on Facebook shaming women who have given birth by caesarean. Source: No Source
Compounding the pressure on mums are memes circulating on social media sites labelling those who do not have a natural birth as inferior.
Brisbane obstetrician Gino Pecoraro also believes the shaming of women must stop.
“The most important outcome is a happy, healthy mum and baby,’’ Dr Pecoraro said.
Brisbane mum-of-one Jacqui Dever never planned a C-section and is disgusted by the shaming of women who have them.
“The reality is if I had not been rushed for an emergency C-section with my daughter, I would have died,” she said.
Ms Dever, who is 22 weeks pregnant, will have another caesarean because of the high risk of a repeat health emergency.
“I always thought I would have a natural birth and the midwives did their best to make that possible for me, but, in the end, it did not happen,’’ Ms Dever said.
“I was certainly never in the ‘too posh to push’ category.”