Gentle Delivery Room|Obstetrician and Gynecologist: Having a baby and having sex are actually very similar

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Are you always uneasy and afraid of your imagination of production? In the process of preparing for the topic, we found that there are different interpretations of the concept of gentle childbirth from producers, physicians to midwives. Therefore, we specially interviewed two doctors and two articles to talk about gentle childbirth from different perspectives. (Extended reading: The first letter of gentle production: If most of the production stories are not very warm)

The first is Chen Yuping, an obstetrician and gynecologist at Union Medical College Women's Hospital. She said that during childbirth, the mother secretes a large amount of oxytocin. "At this point, production and sex are actually very similar, but in different directions."

Photo provided by Dr. Chen Yuping

Q1: Can you talk to us about your definition of "gentle production"?

"I prefer to call it homeopathic production. Whether it is a producer or a companion, they all follow the trend to give birth to a baby. In ancient times, in fact, all people and animals had a way to reproduce. However, in this 'civilized' society, we rely on places, technology, and professions to help you deliver babies. Giving birth to a baby is like a production line, as soon as you step in, the hospital has a clear SOP process, we start to calculate where you enter, then you are slow, I will induce the birth, and now if it is delayed, we will open the operation. The final product of all production lines is a child. But if you take these out, what does production look like? We want to follow the mother's trend and give birth to the baby. Therefore, the place of gentle production can be at home, midwifery, or medical institution. The midwife can be a doctor or a midwife." (Extended reading: Interview with "Wish Me a Good Pregnancy" Chen Yuqing, Su Yuting: Gentle childbirth, let us understand that pain is meaningful)

Q2: Is gentle production the same as home production?

"In the past, people liked to equate gentle production with home production. But this is actually because the production method of low medical intervention is not accepted in mainstream medical institutions. So much so that they can only be forced to go home. Of course, home is an option. For example, if we look at Denmark, the law states that 'a woman has the right to choose where she wants to give birth'. There are also many European countries that guarantee women's right to produce. But we are forcing these women home."

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Q3: You said that in addition to staying at home, you can also go to a midwifery center, but is there a midwifery center in Taiwan?

"We need to know that hospitals are a symbol of cleanliness and progress, which is very recent. Taiwan's midwives have disappeared. This cut-off point fell in 1972, when the number of physicians delivered babies exceeded the number of midwives and became the bulk of birth attendants. In the past, childbirth really took place at home, in midwifery. However, in those years, Taiwan terminated midwifery education and stopped issuing licenses. Later, midwifery education was restarted and was willing to issue a license. Also because of the break, many producers in the past thought that they could only find an old woman to deliver the baby. In fact, there are also midwifery departments and graduate schools in some schools now."

"In the past, midwifery was an important place for local medical care. It is hard to imagine that in the past, midwives were even arbiters in the local neighborhood. If the child is not well-behaved, he should be taken to the midwife and asked, 'Do you think it makes sense for me to scold you and let the midwife listen?' It's very interesting to have women share the entire knowledge system of reproductive upbringing."

"This year, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has also launched a new program to bring midwives back to the community. When we say that midwives have been eliminated, I don't know how many there were in their heyday, but now there are only 23. [1]」

Q4: So what will "gentle production" look like?

"First of all, before giving birth, you go to the midwifery and talk to the midwife, you will have a direction, and then we will draw up a 'birth plan', including the parts you like and don't like. During childbirth, you can eat freely, wear your favorite clothes, and if you want to put scented candles, you can accompany multiple people to give birth."

"I think production is very similar to having sex, but the direction is different. After all, production is the release of oxytocin. In that scenario, you will need privacy. Can you imagine what kind of environment do you like to have sex on your own? In fact, you may also like that environment during production. So if we do this in a cold, suspicious state, there will be a lot of psychological pressure, which will lead to an unhappy production experience. In the end, it is likely that a lot of unnecessary external forces have been added."

Q: What's next for you to drive gentle production?

"In the future, we hope that low-risk mothers can be given to midwives and students, and doctors are on the second line. If there is a problem with production, cooperate. This is also a model of cooperation with European studies. A few years ago, some obstetricians and gynecologists in Taiwan had doubts, thinking that if they were good at giving birth, they would hand over to midwives and students, and those who were not good would be handed over to doctors?"

"For example, my pregnant woman yesterday had an unstable fetal position and a baby that was overweight, over 4,000. Yesterday we were discussing which one to deliver. The tacit understanding at work is that I will also accompany the production together. Yesterday, we also did vacuum suction to give birth to the baby, and the mother is safe."

"Many of our generation are now heads of medical institutions, but we have hardly seen practicing midwives, so it is to be expected that the profession will feel unfamiliar. After all, it is beyond the imagination of our work. In fact, I think these two majors can synergize with each other and finally achieve a win-win situation." [2]