Now that we have proof that people do not fare as well under this technical domination, can we please put an end to the virtual sanctification of medically-controlled births?

by Heidi Stevenson

How many mothers-to-be are told by their doctors that they must accede to a caesarian section, delivery by surgery, because their babies are “in distress”? In this age of technical births, it’s become quite routine. What seems not to be considered is that the stress of birth is necessary. Indeed, the science is finally catching up to this basic fact.

When babies are delivered by C-section, they are unable to develop enough of a natural protein that’s required for optimal brain development, specifically growth of neurons and connections in the hippocampus, the brain area involved in learning and memory. In other words, babies born unnaturally by C-section lose some of their intelligence. Their life options are decreased.

Where was the so-called scientific evidence base for this wholesale subverting of natural birth? There were no studies that even suggested outcomes would be equivalent with caesarian section births, yet they have become so common that they’re now routine, and in some places more common than natural births.

In Brazil, more than half of births are performed through C-sections, and when there’s insurance available, that number climbs to 82%! In the US, the number is over one-third of births. As of 2008, 46% of China’s deliveries were by caesarians. In the UK, the rate is about 25%—and the NHS is treating it as a right of mothers to choose such births, thus allowing doctors more power in efforts to require delivery scheduling.

Breast Milk Also Affected

Natural vaginal birth triggers a protein called mitochondrial uncoupling protein 2, more commonly called UCP2. According to the study:

Chemical inhibition or genetic ablation of UCP2 lead to diminished neuronal number and size, dendritic growth and synaptogenezis in vitro and impaired complex behaviors in the adult. These data reveal a critical role for Ucp2 expression in the development of hippocampal neurons and circuits and hippocampus-related adult behaviors.

The number and size of neurons is diminished in babies when UCP2 is suppressed. Further, adults delivered by C-section suffer from poor dendritic growth and development of synapses. Dendrites are extensions of nerve cells, along which signals are transmitted to other neurons through synapses, the space between neurons. Thus, the harm being done to babies clearly extends into adult life.

UCP2 is involved in the metabolism of fat, which is a key component of breast milk. The researchers also confirmed previous research that shows the beneficial effects of both high fat content and UCP2 in breast milk. The significance is great, because they are protective against febrile (fever induced) seizures in infants.

The study’s lead author, Tamas Horvath, states:

These results reveal a potentially critical role of UCP2 in the proper development of brain circuits and related behaviors. The increasing prevalence of C-sections driven by convenience rather than medical necessity may have a previously unsuspected lasting effect on brain development and function in humans as well.

The real question, though, is why C-sections have become so commonplace. Though Horvath says that the negative effects were previously unknown, modern medicine, which forever pushes its claims to being “evidence-based”, never bothered to look. As a result, we are now faced with major percentages of a generation or two of children who are growing—or have grown—into adults with their life prospects unnecessarily limited.

The Medicalization of Birth

The reality is that this medicalization of birth is resulting in poorer outcomes for both mothers and babies. Certainly, there are circumstances in which C-sections make sense—but most assuredly not in the wholesale manner in which they’re done. It’s long been known that there are increased risks to the mother, including hemorrhage, infection, organ injury, adhesions, drug reactions, and death.

Nonetheless, the UK has actually moved to make delivery by caesarians a matter of simple choice! In the US, they are routinely done for the doctors’ convenience, to accommodate holidays, parties, and golf dates. As reported above, they’ve become the predominant way of birth in Brazil.

This is nothing short of insanity! People’s lives are permanently diminished at the altar of modern medicine’s rush to convenience and profits. An event so significant in every single person’s life, birth itself, has been reduced to a technical process, complete with invasive monitors, drugs, and equipment in sterile hospitals with all the added risks of surgery. Yet, it’s been done without evidence of improved outcomes.

Now that we have proof that people do not fare as well under this technical domination, can we please put an end to the virtual sanctification of medically-controlled births?

Sources:

• Ucp2 Induced by Natural Birth Regulates Neuronal Differentiation of the Hippocampus and Related Adult Behavior Julia Simon-Areces, Marcelo O. Dietrich, Gretchen Hermes, Luis Miguel Garcia-Segura, Maria-Angeles Arevalo, Tamas L. Horvath; PLoS ONE 7(8): e42911. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0042911
• Natural birth — but not C-section — triggers brain boosting proteins
• Natural birth, not C-sections, triggers brain-protecting proteins in babies, study suggests
• Brazilian women rebel against cesarean births
• All women get right to caesarean birth on the NHS… even if they don’t need it