How Childbirth Went Industrial & A Deconstruction 10/10

In "How Childbirth Went Industrial: A Deconstruction", Henci Goer analyzes Gawande's article through skeptical eyes. She questions whether the packages offered in hospitals are actually beneficial for patients, or whether they are putting them in danger. Unlike Gawande, Goer has conflict with C-sections, because they are unnecessarily dangerous in most situations. Goer's argument also differs from Gawande because she presents a factual, point-by-point presentation of her views, while Gawande utilizes a real-life story to support hers.

In Atul Gawande's article title "The Score", she describes Elizabeth Rourke's childbirth story, beginning with when she wakes up in the middle of the night with intense contractions, a week past her due date, and ending with her decision to have a natural childbirth. The vivid and descriptive writing style that she utilized in this article got me very involved in the story, and made the vague concept of childbirth more solid and able to grasp for me. In general, childbirth seems like a very stressful event, especially when it was described in the situation where a woman gave birth in the parking lot of the hospital. The main character, Elizabeth, chose not to get an epidural because she would not feel in control under the influence of such strong medicine, yet was forced to get an epidural and a C-section. This seemingly necessary procedure eliminates the concept of freedom of choice that women have during childbirth. One of the other options that Elizabeth considered would be hiring a doula, also known as a birthing coach. All in all, this article had a great impact on me because not only did it make birth more a more realistic and scary idea, but it actually provided me with information, and helped me realize how "human birth is a feat involving an intricate sequence of events" (Gawande 3). Gawande then goes on to describe the medical advances that were made in order to help with this intricate series of events, and how this opened up conflict involving doctors' decisions with the babies and patients. She then describes the Apgar score, which was supposed to help doctors excel in delivering babies, yet this system did not work because some doctors had the wrong intentions. This article raises an important question: are these recent advances in medical technology always necessary, and when and to whose order should they be used?