HW 48

The two family members I decided to interview are my grandfather and my aunt. This is a touchy subject knowing that my grandfather has been sick but I think that would make it even a better interview. The first question I asked both of them was Would you rather be buried or cremated? I asked this question because I know those are the two choices that most americans think of. My aunt said buried right away like there was no question. She said this because she doesn't want to be burned. "When your burned in my opinion its not really you, just ashes. Your not one, rather millions of little pieces of dust." I can agree with that but I feel like that is a very easy typical response. The fact that it was such an easy response means that she probably doesn't know that much about the topic. When I asked my grandfather he said the opposite. He said that he rather be cremated because thats what most of our relatives have done. This is not only true on his side of the family but on my dads side as well. "Being cremated bring you two places, your physical body is turned to ash and is put in a urn, while your spirit rises in to the sky. But who knows where it goes after that." I know that this has been well thought about especially with somebody nearing death but again its very typical american that he chose that, and thats completely fine. But if he learned what were going to learn would he think the same? I think that its interesting that my aunt and my grandfather had different opinions because they are complete opposites. In gender, age, spiritual beliefs (My grandfather being religious), where they live, and how they were raised. Personally I don't know enough about the topic to compare these beliefs to my own. But I can say that millions of Americans are definitely thinking the same way. Another question I asked was what are you most scared about when you die. Surprisingly the answers were very similar. Both of them basically said they are scared that they wont be there for their family and loved ones, and they are scared for the world. "What will the world be like without me in it?"That is a very interesting question to ask yourself because there isn't an answer. You can never know and thats the scary part. I think that isn't just a dominant question in the U.S. but one that spreads to almost if not every person on earth.

HW 46

The new unit we are working with is the care of the dead. Now that we have learned about illness and dying I find it interesting that we will get to know what happens after. I also find it cool how we jumped from the end of life to the beginning of life to the end again. I haven't really thought much about the care of the dead really. All I know is that when you die you are out in a funeral home then you are either taken to a cemetery to be buried or put in an incinerator to be cremated and the family takes the ashes. That sounds kind of nightmarish but it has never seemed like that. I think that the nightmarish atrocities are somewhere else. I just don't know nearly enough to put my finger on it. So what are the alternatives when it comes to taking care of the dead?
I expect to hear a lot of things that I haven't heard because this is my first time really dealing with the subject. I've thought of things like there are preservatives they put in the bodies to keep them fresh. Or stuff like all the people who just don't get a proper burial or cremation. What happens to those people with out families to pay for them? I know that it is really expensive to take care of the dead and thats not right. Its like these funeral homes are exploiting people because you can't just not take care of your dead loved one. So these people just use that to there advantage which also causes unequal service for all customers. Some will get the perfect treatment which still isn't that great cause that coffin is still going in the ground. Or really bad service which just makes the family feel even worse that they couldn't provide for their dead loved one and that they may need to spend the rest of there time in a cramped cheap plywood box.

comments 44

Harry,
In your project you asked questions about things that we haven't learned about so your really making this your own project which is part of the reason I was so interested. You used a source that was close to you to find out about something that not many people know about which is adopting over seas. The only thing I knew was about celebrities that have done that. Something that particularly interested me was that one of the main reasons of adopting was that there was a lawyer involved. With out that connection do you think they still would have your friend? I also never knew how hard adopting may be, you would think that with so many kids who dont have parents it would be an easy process. This matters to me because I've met many people over the years who have been adopted and I never really asked about it to much. 
Max,
I've thought about this topic a lot as well and I like how you've decided to use this. You talked about what an OBGYN actually is cause we know briefly what it was but if this is really "the enemy" in most cases then its important to know your enemy. I always really think about how does this fit in the whole society, like how it fits in this larger puzzle. This chart partly shows that by showing the salary. At first we may just think oh a lot of people must want that job because it has such a high salary but a higher salary means that more money gets to the government and the big cooperation's which continues to help build the industrial atrocities we all have been learning about.

Javon,
I really enjoyed reading your wall post. It was very interesting and we didn't get much of a chance to talk about abortion in class. I like how you interviewed somebody who had one giving us a first hand look at what an abortion may be like. You asked all the questions that would have came to my mind so I liked having my questions answered. It's interesting how just the thought of a fathers facial expression could totally change somebody's mind in a huge choice like that.
Keep up the good work.

HW 42

Dear, Chuck Schumer

            Have you ever seen the movie The Business of Being Born? Or have you ever read Ina Mays Guide to Childbirth by the famous midwife Ina May. If you have then you know exactly what this letter is about and if not then I’m sure you have an idea from the titles I just named. But let me start by introducing myself, my name is Alex Feldmann and I’m attending School of the Future high school in Manhattan. In my social studies class we have been learning about how the normal may not be so normal when you know about it. One of the topics that we have been studying is childbirth in America. When most people think of childbirth they think of a couple of things that contrast. First one may think of babies and all the joy that comes with having a baby. But in the hospital the experience is a lot different. There isn’t any joy to giving birth in a hospital at all. Birth isn’t looked upon as the start of a new life and great things to come; it’s looked upon as a medical emergency and a business. But still everybody does it because it is “the safe, traditional thing to do.” Well that’s what most people think at least. But from all the research my fellow peers and I have been doing in school and at home we’ve found that this well known statement may not be true. But the good part is that there is an alternative to all business and medical emergencies. This alternative is the way humans have lived since the start and have always been meant to live and this is home birthing. From what we’ve learned about midwives and homebirths in class its possible that birth doesn’t have to be laying on your back in a room where hundreds of people have been the same and not getting the proper emotional and not even the proper physical care that woman need to give a proper birth. Birth doesn’t have to be that painful horrifying story that we have all heard since we were children. So why if birth could be like this then why do most Americans not even consider it? It is because they don’t know and it is our job as Americans to educate the people to see that all the drugs and cesarean section surgery is not how things are suppose to be. Of course there are times where these procedures are absolutely necessary and no time should be wasted but when one in three woman are getting a dangerous surgery that may not even be necessary there is a problem. If you watch the movie the business of being born you will see exactly all the things that I mean when I say we need change. When you ask a woman why they wouldn’t have a home birth they will say that they trust the hospitals more. But what is more important the “safe” environment of a hospital filled with sick people where the woman are treated as a procedure rather then individuals, or a caring loving environment which will bond a woman and her baby for their whole lives. We are scared of change but there is proof that change is okay and can only do us good in this situation. We are the only country to give birth in hospitals and everything is wrong with it. Commercials should be made to educate the typical American who may not know this stuff. We need to change what’s normal to what’s natural and what us as humans were made to do.

40

Hey Ina May, thank you for writing your own guidebook on childbirth. I think that if everybody read your book then they would also see how flawed the hospitals are and start using midwives. For me personally I've learned so much about how birth works and how it is connected with everything around us. The idea that reading positive birth stories is excellent and must definitely help change the mind set that woman have of birth being painful and horrid. 

In the last part of the book you described how the hospitals aren't really doing the right things for child birth. Unnecessary cesarean section surgery, unnecessary epidurals and other drugs, wrong positioning for the woman, and the list goes on. Sometimes these procedures may be necessary but not most of the time. Treating child birth almost like its nothing which for the doctor it isn't but for the woman giving birth it may be the most important thing of their life."The FDA banned DES for use in regnant woman in 1971, after it was found to be the cause of rare vaginal cancers in young women as well as genital abnormalities in both young women and men whose mothers were given the drug." (280) Knowing this why does the U.S. still continue to use unnatural products on the mother? Maybe in 20 years from now all people who got an epidural or were born by a mother who used it will have get a rare cancer as well. It just doesn't make sense, people are dying because the doctor is too busy to stick around for the whole day with his patient if needed. "One of the greatest influences on what happens to you during labor (especially as this relates to medical interventions, procedures, and medications) depends on whom you choose to be your caregiver." (305) If this not so difficult decision can make the difference between being strapped to a bed and cut into for extra money or having a birth that will connect a child and mother forever then why do so many woman not know? How is it possible that the public is so hidden from the truth that they cant make a decision like that? Of corse there are some exceptions for people who may need to go to a OBGYN but the other Americans need to wake up.

This book was very well formatted and interesting as a student to read. But as a normal teenage guy I don't think that I would ever pick this book off a shelf. The book doesn't need to be made better as much as who its targeted to. Pregnant woman are what it is targeted to and the most important but in order for an action like this to take real affect everybody needs to know about it. If everybody knew how wrong our system really is they would be astonished maybe even ashamed of letting this happen. As bad as that sounds it's how to start a revolution. Maybe even get on television to really let the true American know.

HW 38

So far Ina Mays Guide to childbirth has been an interesting book so far. The way it is set up is alright. It doesn't really have a strong introduction because it goes straight into birth stories. But in a way the birth stories set up the books own introduction in a unique way. Its not as much of Ina May talking at this point but as the table of contents says right now its all birth stories. This book doesn't as much ask a question but has you question yourself about what you know about birth. It makes you question stories or experiences that you have heard about or had. I think the most important point this book is trying to make is that everybody's birth experience is different. That there is no way to know what your experience will be like weather you go to the hospital or to "The Farm". It is also trying to prove that to significantly improve your birth experience a midwife may be your best choice. To prove her point Ina May gets many happy birth stories that try to empower woman to be positive when in labor. She tries to show that having a completely natural birth with a positive attitude can give you an amazing experience. I am very convinced by this because not only does she support her point with hundreds of stories as evidence but she is also "Simply put, midwife Ina May Gaskin is the most important person in maternity care in North America, bar none." As said by Marsden Wagner, M.D., M.S., former director of woman's and children's health, World Health Organization.

37, Comments on 26

Stephen- I think that it was very smart how you started by compairing people who had one kid to those who have given birth more then once. Its interesting how people shun the 17 year old was shuned. You would think that she would get more attention and help because shes so young. Its very nice to here about Brooks son. That is a huge choice to make and to know your baby might come out with problems may very well be a good reason to get an abortion, but since hes normal it shows that there is a chance and one may be depriving a perfectly fine baby of life. I would like to here more on how brook was scared she could die. Its a bit funny and typical for the guys to mention the mood swings. What did the guys have to say about the mood swings?

Beatrice-it seems that in our culture the immediate thought is to go to the hospital as if there were something wrong. did you think to ask the mother whether she ever considered a home birth, as it seems from your story that she was fairly relaxed about the procedure. i like the way you told the story in a nostalgic way, as its a more interesting format to read rather than just informing the reader. although obviously it is procedure and routine to take the baby away it seems strange that immediately after birth the baby gets taken off you. we recently read something in class that talked about the 'sewing up.' this is because they make an incision between the vagina and the anus so that its easier for the mother to give birth. also i think they have recently gotten rid of the stirrups but woman are still more likely to be in the laying down legs up position. also- a vaccum extractor?!!