Thread: Childbirth shows....arghhhh! (vent)

Watching the latest one, One Born Every Minute. Why do these shows always have to portray women who have natural deliveries as insane? And then they always turn out to be the least eventful and the doctors say things like "that was an ideal birth." Doesn't that tell you something? The nurses ask the women every 5 minutes if they are sure they don't want an epidural and say things like "the pain of the epidural needle is a lot less then what you'll be feeling when that baby comes out of your vagina" and "you aren't superwoman, just get the epidural." Why do I torture myself watching this crap? I just want ONE of these shows to take a positive perspective on natural birth.
End of vent

watched part of that show the other day and it really pissed me off. the woman had to be induced and said she didn't want an epi. the nursed LAUGHED AT HER and said wait till we get this pit turned up and we'll talk. grrrrr, won't watch it again!

I do the same thing! I love to hate those shows.

By watching them you are giving them ratings, which means that they will keep showing them! If you hate them, don't watch them! Otherwise you are subtly part of the problem, as you are creating a market for such nonsense.

I don't hate them, I love to hate them. It's like a train wreck, I can't help but watch. I just wish there would be a show about women having babies where it was all natural births and just presented as it happens, without the dramatic music when they are moaning through a contraction (making it seem so much worse than it is) and condescending angles and shots of nurses shaking their heads and skeptical looking doctors.

Originally Posted by Potter75

By watching them you are giving them ratings, which means that they will keep showing them! If you hate them, don't watch them! Otherwise you are subtly part of the problem, as you are creating a market for such nonsense.

Not unless you're watching online--they can't tell who is watching what on regular television, that's why they do the Nielsen surveys.

But still, good point

i haven't watched that show or any of the others recently because i'm trying to stay in my "bubble of peace," but i totally agree that they feed into our culture's fear of natural childbirth. i did see a quick ad for the "one born every minute" show recently and it's main image is of a woman in a hospital gown in bed, sweating, and looking absolutely terrified/insane/tortured...why does that have to be our dominant image of a woman giving birth? yeah it's not always pretty and we shouldn't idealize it either and only portray it as a peaceful, easy thing, but all these shows seem to do is focus on the complications and pain and need for medical intervention. i guess because that's where they think the "drama" is...

Originally Posted by waitingimpatiently614

i haven't watched that show or any of the others recently because i'm trying to stay in my "bubble of peace," but i totally agree that they feed into our culture's fear of natural childbirth. i did see a quick ad for the "one born every minute" show recently and it's main image is of a woman in a hospital gown in bed, sweating, and looking absolutely terrified/insane/tortured...why does that have to be our dominant image of a woman giving birth? yeah it's not always pretty and we shouldn't idealize it either and only portray it as a peaceful, easy thing, but all these shows seem to do is focus on the complications and pain and need for medical intervention. i guess because that's where they think the "drama" is...

Yes, this. I totally steer clear just to keep those images out of my head. It's been a few years since I've seen one but I do remember being sucked in when viewing.

I have to say I don't even have to watch the show... while we were on vacation we kept seeing a commercial that was for several shows all having to do with birth/babies and the whole commercial was like, "I can't take this pain!" "Breastfeeding was so hard." "My child never sleeps." "Give me an epidural!" "No one said this would be so hard."

Literally- EVERY snippet was negative, portraying the whole experience from pregnancy through the first month as pretty much the worst thing you'll ever experience in your life. Horrible. I know all of these aspects can be difficult for some...but, I don't think SUCH negativity is necessary!

Originally Posted by Potter75

By watching them you are giving them ratings, which means that they will keep showing them! If you hate them, don't watch them! Otherwise you are subtly part of the problem, as you are creating a market for such nonsense.

Seriously.

I have no idea why anyone watches those shows. I loathe anything on TLC though. It's rubbish.