A Dyke A Broad #118 The Baby edition
The changing landscape for women in the U.S., more and more makes me think of my grandmother...with little medical supervision, and blocked access to abortion. Plus bonus photo.
It’s an extraordinary thing giving birth. I mean, one minute there’s a single person howling in bed, the next there’s two. A friend of mine just had a baby and couldn’t quite believe she herself had produced it, even though she could see her body changing, feel that creature inside, feel it emerging.
I don’t blame her. My god, a new and tiny helpless human turning up from one day to the next. As long as you wanted it in the first place—it really is miraculous.
I’m glad she had her baby in France where the whole process is cheap or free, and even in public hospitals the average stay is three days for a vaginal birth, five or more for a C-section, so there’s plenty of time to monitor the health of both mother and baby. New parents can also pelt nurses and midwives with questions, rather than turning to fear-mongering google, or relatives who may be even worse. (Sure, a few drops of whiskey never hurt anybody. Look at me!)
She and the baby are back home. Happy, healthy. In the company of husband and cat.
Not every woman is so lucky.
The U.N. just released a report on Trends in maternal mortality finding that a woman dies every two minutes worldwide due to pregnancy or childbirth—
Severe bleeding, high blood pressure, pregnancy-related infections, complications from unsafe abortion, and underlying conditions that can be aggravated by pregnancy (such as HIV/AIDS and malaria) are the leading causes of maternal deaths.
Most could have been prevented with proper care before, during, and after birth—care that includes safe abortions. But that requires a functioning, accessible medical system which respects women’s autonomy, something rarely in reach for women in low and lower middle-income countries where almost 95% of all maternal deaths occurred in 2020.
Of course, divisions exist not just between regions and countries, but within them. I’ve written about how in the U.S., where health care is outrageously expensive, and class divisions often mirror those of race, black women have mortality rates three times those of white women.
Racism is a factor, and how black patients are treated. But economics is, too. Best practice for pre-natal care includes about dozen or so visits and a range of blood work, glucose tests, genetic testing, ultrasounds and other screenings.
All that costs money. One U.S. website estimates,
The amount your obstetrician charges for each visit could range from about $90 to more than $500. Additional services such as pregnancy ultrasounds and laboratory tests are typically billed separately and usually cost upwards of $100 each. And special tests like amniocentesis can cost more than $2,500.
Even if you have insurance, it only pays a portion of visits and tests. And if you get an hourly salary, it may not seem worth taking off work to go.
And when it comes to giving birth, instead of several days in the hospital recovering, and being carefully monitored, new mothers in the U.S. are often sent home after a mere 24-48 hours. Probably the woman herself is eager to leave. According to the Peterson-Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) Health System Tracker, if there are no complications, giving birth costs about $18,865 including pregnancy, delivery and postpartum care. Even with insurance you’ll probably pay nearly $3000.
There are political divisions, too, differences between states. The changing landscape for many women in the U.S. makes me think of my grandmother and how so many women are now no better off than her. With little medical supervision, and blocked access to abortion, any rhetoric about living their best lives, or realizing their dreams doesn’t even make sense. What’s at stake is life and death. The very real risk of bleeding to death, or getting sepsis, dying when your body gives out after being forced to have another baby too soon after the last.
I wish we talked more about that when we defend the right to abortion. Just how much it costs the female body to sustain a pregnancy, give birth. That even if everything goes well, it takes a toll. You’re not just eating for two, your heart has to pump for two, your liver and kidneys filter for two. The little creature doesn’t just take nourishment from the food you eat, it strips you like a car for parts, sucks calcium from your bones and iron from your blood. You can end up with diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, anemia.
That without good care, without the ability to space pregnancies, or refuse them, you risk becoming a statistic. Or nearly as bad, hating and fearing that thing you were forced to bear.
That’s it for this time.
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Disgruntledly yours,
xoxo K