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I would like to highlight two things that have recently come up on Feministing. One of which is the most recent Friday Feminist ******** You:

Link

I guess part of this could be considered freak outs against FOCA but it still needs to be said.

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The other is this little video by UNICEF highlighting maternal mortality in the world:

Link

This is really sad to watch because as someone pointed out in the comments section the US has a unnaturally high maternal mortality rate for a first world country. Compared to "socialist" countries. I don't remember where this quote comes from but I think it says it pretty well:

"A society that does not protect its women is doomed to fail." since women are the ones who give birth to the next generation and such.

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What do you guys think?

My state truly disgusts me now. I always knew Missouri was a backwards state, but to pass legislation against a federal bill that hasn't even passed? wtf?

One of the reasons why many women in the US have a higher mortality rate in childbirth is due to unnecessary interventions at birth.

In most other first and second world nations, the rate of C-sections is much lower, and this is likely due to the lower levels of interventions done unless absolutely medically necessary.

Recently, I was doing some research on why most "emergency" c-sections are often done, and apparently when a woman is induced into labor with pitocin and then gets an epidural, the drugs actually artificially speed up (pitocin) and slow down (epidural) the labor process, drawing it out much longer than it needs to. Because the pitocin causes intense and unnaturally hard contractions, this can lead very easily to fetal distress, a plummeting fetal heart-rate and VOILA! Emergency C-section situation completely created by intervention, NOT by actual physical need!

I've also read that you're more likely to bleed out and die if you're having an emergency C-section during labor because you're not only being cut open, you're also contracting and blood is rushing to the area because you're trying to physically give birth.

So, I'm starting to think that since I have GD and most GD women are often automatically given emergency c-sections after a short time of laboring, I may simply schedule a c-section for before I actually go into labor to lower the risks involved with contractions+surgery.

Although, it does make me sad that I will probably be forced into a C-section, I am much more interested in surviving the ordeal than in having some magical wah-wah perfect birth.

So far, my blood sugar control is perfect with only diet and exercise, but the doctors say that the ******** placenta will probably ramp up my insulin resistance more and more as I get closer to birth, so insulin shots are still a possibility (which I absolutely hate the idea of). And on top of that, I can't eat ANY carbs in the morning. Only HALF of a whole wheat tortilla sends my blood sugar over the "allowed" limit, even if coupled with meat and cheese for protein and fat to even out the blood sugar intake.

So, I can tell you right now that I'm getting sick and tired of people acting like pregnancy is some sort of magical time where nothing whatsoever happens to the woman. Even if you don't get gestational diabetes, the average woman's pancreas is forced to work 3-4X harder to cope with insulin resistance brought on by the placenta and her body gains weight really easily because high insulin levels = high carb cravings. Not only are women stuffing their faces because of the damn placenta, but their bodies are hormonally thrown out of whack way more than you'd think. Don't even get me started on the hormone relaxin which makes your whole body feel like you've been walking up mountains all day and night and you ache like you're turning into one big muscle spasm. Oh, and the charlie horses from HELL that make you writhe and scream and flail while hurting so bad you wish you could just die. Oh, and did I mention the whole fact that you are forced to eat a hugely restricted diet FOR THE BABY and possibly go through mandated MAJOR ABDOMINAL SURGERY with a MAJOR PRICE TAG ATTACHED just to give birth to the baby?

Oh yeah, but pregnancy is SO EASY, right, anti-choicers? It's so fast and so simple and so SAFE!

NO ONE should have to go through this against their will. -_-