20/20 is doing a special tonight on women and pregnancy

[dawn9476]

They are going to talk about women dying in childbirth around the world when they don't have to because there are low cost and low-tech solutions out there. Thought I would mention it because I am sure in some places, religion and/or cultural rules are probably a couple of the many reasons to blame for these low cost and low tech methods from not being introduced in some parts of the world.

[FakePigtails]

Anyone else watching? The stories from Afghanistan were heartbreaking :-(

[AugustPenguin]

I am. Scary stuff. Makes you realize how lucky we are to have access to the technologies and knowledge of medical practices.

[FakePigtails]

This family planning info is fascinating. I'll have to read more about what Mexico did later.

[MonkeyMomma]

I thought it was interesting how the piece from Mexico about contraception talked about how women would often use it in secret because the men want to prove their masculinity by fathering many children, and how when the couple had the visit with the doctor, the doctor spoke only to the man about contraceptive options for his wife ...

[Austin]

Oh, crap, I meant to watch this.

[FakePigtails]

I thought it was interesting how the piece from Mexico about contraception talked about how women would often use it in secret because the men want to prove their masculinity by fathering many children, and how when the couple had the visit with the doctor, the doctor spoke only to the man about contraceptive options for his wife ...

Yeah . . . that started playing as I was typing and I went with what I'd started writing. It's still amazing to me that even with the Catholic Church being so big there they able to be more liberal about sex education than we can be here (at least in my conservative state).

[maybeizfundie]

Didn't get to watch it. But I know in my husband's country there are a few big causes of childbirth complications that could be easily prevented (relatively speaking, it would take some major cultural changes to actually effect that prevention), even if people didn't want to use contraception. It's mostly obstructed labor. Easily resolved if you're in a Western hospital with an OR down the hall, but not so much if you're in a hut on a mountainside with medical care several days walk away.

The three biggies there that I'm aware of:

Malnutrition causes pelvic deformation in many women, especially combined with hard physical labor in their childhood.

Child-marriage is still a big problem in rural areas.

And FGM in some areas is so severe that it causes scar tissue that can obstruct delivery dangerously.

Just one of those could be disasterous. For many women it's a combination of two or three of them, and while plenty survive, many also end up suffering from fistulas and the resulting social consequences. :(

[FakePigtails]

Then there's this reaction: http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=626148

:roll: :angry-banghead:

maybeizfundie: have you seen the documentary A Walk to Beautiful?

[maybeizfundie]

I have. It was amazing. Even made my dh cry, which is like, a once in a decade occurrence.