Interview with "Wishing Me a Good Pregnancy" Chen Yuqing and Su Yuting: Gentle childbirth makes us understand that pain is meaningful

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Every May, we sing praises to our mothers. Only then did the world face up to their bitterness. However, from film and television media and promotional activities, it is not difficult to see that mothers are still often just objects described.

Is it possible that we can let all kinds of mothers talk? This year, women's fans want to talk about how a mother becomes a mother. How do they become a subject? Can a mother have the right to tell a story? (Extended reading: Interview with Ye Yang for the injured: Tragedy is a rain, you are here, proving that you are bigger than that rain)

In the world, in addition to general medical production, there is actually a way to give birth to a baby, which the world calls gentle production. It advocates minimizing non-essential medical measures and returning to the mother's fertility method, such as practicing breathing, massage, music, yoga, etc., to minimize the impact of drugs and surgery on the mother.

Of course, this method of production may not be suitable for everyone. But in this interview, let's open our eyes and ears to another possibility of production.

The distance between production and medical care

"Wishing Me a Good Pregnancy" is a documentary about gentle childbirth. The predecessor, "Wish Me a Good Pregnancy" (2016), discusses the midwifery profession in Taiwan. In this year's film, it is also like version 2.0, they used the story of the producer Guo Shiwei and Huang Wanting to give birth to babies at home and in the hospital respectively.

Director Yu Tingyuan worked in a TV station and talked about the idea of filming: "At first, I wanted to get pregnant, so I asked many mothers, but suddenly found that pregnancy is not too pleasant in most people's hearts, or even something I don't want to remember. For some women, childbirth is traumatic." (Extended reading: The first letter of gentle production: If most of the production stories are not very warm)

"From the moment of pregnancy, pregnant women have to endure a lot of pressure from society. Whether a child is raised well or not, whether the fetal position is correct or not, seems to be the score of the parents. But I think the ultimate meaning of production is to give people the power to think about how my body, my children, and even my family can be treated."

Yu Ting added: "But in modern society, we are too accustomed to giving our bodies to hospitals."

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The interviewee in the film, Wan Ting, is an aromatherapist. She said, "I have been an aromatherapist for eight years, and the biggest help is that I know my body better. For example, I don't want to rely on Western medicines that have side effects, but I want to use a more natural way (to produce)." And when she accompanied her pregnant friends to do their homework, she found that the current medical system was relatively unfriendly to many pregnant women. "Most people still feel that the perineum is cut, enemas are needed, and the separation of mother and baby is also very serious. As soon as I thought that this is a problem that almost every woman in production has to face, I suddenly felt so bad."

This is called the medicalization of production.

Picture | I wish me a good pregnancy

In past medical experience, starting from pregnancy, according to hospital procedures, women will go through a series of production SOPs, such as shaving, enema, belly pressing, perineum cutting, etc. However, with the advent of medical research, many people have discovered that there are actually many things that can be improved or unnecessary in these processes.

A 2014 report in the Journal of Health and Wellness pointed out that "pressure on the bottom of the uterus to assist childbirth", commonly known as "belly pressure", has been proven to be not necessarily effective, but may lead to other risks for pregnant women. In addition, the Journal of Health and Wellness also pointed out in a separate report that "perineal cutting" (i.e. "episiotomy"), which was regarded as the norm in hospitals in the past and had a practice rate of almost 90%, is actually not a routine medical measure abroad.

Of course, hospitals are no longer as good as they were back then, and there have been many improvements in the treatment of mothers. However, at the psychological level, some mothers still feel that from the moment they put on patient gowns and come into contact with the low temperature in the delivery room, expectant mothers have changed from "mothers" to "patients".

Under the existing system, can the "birth of gentleness" be opened?

This became the director's starting idea. Looking at the midwifery system abroad, in Japan, there is a midwife who delivered 4,000 babies, Fujie Sakamoto, and in the UK, everyone has also seen the British princess give birth to babies through midwives. They want to ask, is it possible to give birth to a baby in Taiwan without going through so many medical procedures, but can be adjusted according to physique and needs? (Further reading: Breaking tradition! Princess Meghan of the United Kingdom chose to give birth to a baby at home)

Director Yuqing said:

There are several nouns that have been confusing. It is fertility autonomy, gentle birth, and homeopathic production. In fact, these groups of words all express the same concept, that is, "pregnant women-centered production methods", which may be implemented through midwives or doctors.

"It comes in many forms, whether you choose to stay at home or in the hospital." Specifically, it is to add more measures for the mother to manage her body. For example, you can choose where to give birth, who accompanies you, whether to use a specific drug, and minimize non-essential medical practices.

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If pregnant women wish, they can ask a midwife to assist in giving birth at home. If you want to be in the hospital, you can also communicate with the obstetrician about the desired and unwanted delivery content through the "production plan".

There is a misconception that gentle childbirth is equivalent to opposing medical treatment, as if from now on, pregnant women can order any food, which is above the medical profession. This also made the medical community angry and criticized gentle production. Yuting said.

However, the original intention of gentle production is not to simply oppose medical care in a binary opposition. Instead, they want to ask whether there is a possibility of "medical and maternity consultation" in the world, and when there is a dispute, they also suggest that mothers can respect the medical profession, after all, safety is still the most important thing.

I said that the concept of the production plan is very similar to the Patient Autonomy Rights Act. In January this year, Taiwan's "Patient Owner Law" was launched, which aims to allow citizens over the age of 20 who are fully capable of making medical decisions (AD) to decide how they would be treated if they became unconscious or terminally ill [1]. When making medical decisions, doctors, psychologists, and family members will also be present to reach a consensus together. [2]

This process of shared decision-making between doctors and patients is the trend of gradual reform in the medical field. The body and science can one day be a decisive power relationship.

"Since childhood, people have been afraid to talk about their bodies."

Behind the gentle production, the greater awareness of the problem is also closely related to physical education. Yuting said: "Since I was a child, people have been afraid to talk about their bodies and see their bodies."

"I don't know if you feel this way, since I was a child, my parents didn't talk about vagina, hymen, or childbirth. I always touch the body in a decontextual situation. When I was pregnant, although I clearly felt the changes in my body, I didn't really believe in the body signals." This is a very sad thing.

This situation of physical and mental rupture also makes us always rely on medical care as an intermediary, whether it is necessary or not. Yu Ting herself is also a gentle producer, so after she became pregnant, she was surprised that she had never heard of a lot of body knowledge. Are there specific examples?

"The most empowering thing is that by adjusting my breathing and posture, I can sometimes decide how much my body hurts. I am very proud. This makes production bring joy and willingness."

"Probably because, we know, that pain is meaningful." Director Yuting said.

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You know, pain is the body talking

"What the documentary wants to do is to render the real thing. Childbirth should not be just an illusory dream, telling you that childbirth will not hurt and that being a mother is happy. It gives people a real understanding of the physical and mental changes of pregnant women at each stage."

Yes, after pregnancy, there are many changes in the body alone. Yuqing, who is also a mother, replied: "There is a lot of super interesting knowledge! When pregnant, a black line will appear on the stomach, from the navel to the tip of the nipple, which is called the black midline, which is the breast search map that allows the baby to climb along it to the mother. And it will turn black because the baby has poor eyesight, so it can be found."

In addition, contractions are also a very uncomfortable experience. Yuting said: "But I know that every contraction is the child's hard work to think about it, hoping that I will help him."

Pain is interpreted because of understanding, and all this has meaning.

I'm a pregnant mom and I'm the life of the party

I also have a question, is this an attempt with a very high threshold for producers? It sounds like you have to spend a lot of time reading, attending classes, and doing psychological construction, which is too much trouble compared to going directly to the hospital?

"You have to think that since you are already on the road, you really don't need so many things to finish with peace of mind. Modern people may be too anxious to dare to go out with a large bag of luggage. But our experience is that when you are really in labor, a lot of pre-pregnancy knowledge is put aside. You have basic common sense, and then you can be guided." In front of life, everyone is a student. Whether it is a midwife, a physician or a childbirth, everyone wants this journey to go smoothly.

Moreover, even if you choose to go to the hospital to give birth to a doctor, it does not mean that the mother can be completely free of anxiety. Anxiety has always been there, but from now on, we choose to face up to it and take responsibility.

"Of course, doctors and midwives will still play a certain level of auxiliary roles, but my mother is the protagonist of this party." Yuqing said.

On Mother's Day, we specifically talked about gentle childbirth because we saw that in addition to physiology, there are also many psychological helplessness, which was not seen by the medical side in the past. Now, we hope to speak up.

Gentle childbirth is not painless. The so-called gentleness is to make the most appropriate choice after understanding the body. It is also the meaning of knowing the meaning of pain and choosing to bear it.

"If your life is a journey, this life should not only reach the goal, but also see more different scenery and maintain peace and happiness." Yuqing is the knot.