Comments on: What SUVs Can Teach Us About Maternity Care http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=846 A Research Blog About Healthy Pregnancy, Birth & Beyond Mon, 06 Sep 2010 20:15:38 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Linkage « Birth In Joy http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=846&cpage=1#comment-1605 Linkage « Birth In Joy Thu, 17 Dec 2009 07:16:37 +0000 http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=846#comment-1605 [...] What SUV’s Can Teach Us About Maternity Care ~ Science & Sensibility [...] [...] What SUV’s Can Teach Us About Maternity Care ~ Science & Sensibility [...]

]]> By: Maternity Coverage And Access To Midwifery Care | Colorado Health Insurance Insider http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=846&cpage=1#comment-1601 Maternity Coverage And Access To Midwifery Care | Colorado Health Insurance Insider Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:26:19 +0000 http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=846#comment-1601 [...] Romano has written an outstanding article comparing modern American maternity care with SUVs.  Since maternity care takes up such a huge portion of our health care budget, this article is a [...] [...] Romano has written an outstanding article comparing modern American maternity care with SUVs.  Since maternity care takes up such a huge portion of our health care budget, this article is a [...]

]]> By: maria http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=846&cpage=1#comment-1563 maria Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:18:13 +0000 http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=846#comment-1563 Hahaha LOVE it!! I guess I missed you posting this on FB, Amy? I need to check in here or subscribe! Hahaha LOVE it!!

I guess I missed you posting this on FB, Amy? I need to check in here or subscribe!

]]> By: MomTFH http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=846&cpage=1#comment-1551 MomTFH Sun, 13 Dec 2009 00:01:32 +0000 http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=846#comment-1551 Sorry I am late to the thread. I want to be in the diesel hybrid birth center, too! Sorry I am late to the thread. I want to be in the diesel hybrid birth center, too!

]]> By: Baby Steps Blog http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=846&cpage=1#comment-1537 Baby Steps Blog Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:26:36 +0000 http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=846#comment-1537 [...] http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=846 Comments (0) [...] [...] http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=846 Comments (0) [...]

]]> By: Jennifer stevens http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=846&cpage=1#comment-1523 Jennifer stevens Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:42:39 +0000 http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=846#comment-1523 Absolutly! I immediately thought of a freestanding Birthcenter as the hybrid! Brillant Absolutly! I immediately thought of a freestanding Birthcenter as the hybrid! Brillant

]]> By: Amy Romano http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=846&cpage=1#comment-1507 Amy Romano Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:49:16 +0000 http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=846#comment-1507 What's the diesel hybrid, the freestanding birth center with operative and anesthesia facilities? What’s the diesel hybrid, the freestanding birth center with operative and anesthesia facilities?

]]> By: Nicholas Fogelson http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=846&cpage=1#comment-1503 Nicholas Fogelson Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:37:14 +0000 http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=846#comment-1503 Honestly if you wanted a very efficient delivery system, a diesel would be better than a compact hybrid. America's all excited about hybrids, but diesels are just as efficient and drive better. A diesel hybrid would be the best! Honestly if you wanted a very efficient delivery system, a diesel would be better than a compact hybrid. America’s all excited about hybrids, but diesels are just as efficient and drive better. A diesel hybrid would be the best!

]]> By: Monica Waggoner http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=846&cpage=1#comment-1499 Monica Waggoner Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:39:21 +0000 http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=846#comment-1499 [bullet point:] The costs to society of driving an SUV are not fully captured by the increased purchase, registration, or fuel/maintenance costs to the vehicle owner. Externalized costs spread the burden of that "choice" across society. Similarly, the external costs of losing a birth climate where a safe, intervention-free birth is available to all women are not captured by the invoices negotiated between insurers and hospitals for a given birth. Furthermore, the pricing of birth has shaped much of our health industry... prenatal care and childbirth are ALWAYS billable to someone, so that's cheap business that can turn a profit for low-cost clinics, public hospitals, and the like. Hospitals now compete for maternity patients, sometimes at the expense of other programs... much as car companies may invest in R&D for the latest and greatest SUV, rather than innovating sedan design to improve gas mileage and safety beyond required regulations. [bullet point:] The costs to society of driving an SUV are not fully captured by the increased purchase, registration, or fuel/maintenance costs to the vehicle owner. Externalized costs spread the burden of that “choice” across society. Similarly, the external costs of losing a birth climate where a safe, intervention-free birth is available to all women are not captured by the invoices negotiated between insurers and hospitals for a given birth.

Furthermore, the pricing of birth has shaped much of our health industry… prenatal care and childbirth are ALWAYS billable to someone, so that’s cheap business that can turn a profit for low-cost clinics, public hospitals, and the like. Hospitals now compete for maternity patients, sometimes at the expense of other programs… much as car companies may invest in R&D for the latest and greatest SUV, rather than innovating sedan design to improve gas mileage and safety beyond required regulations.

]]> By: Ahmie Yeung http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=846&cpage=1#comment-1495 Ahmie Yeung Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:48:06 +0000 http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=846#comment-1495 <a href="#comment-1461" rel="nofollow">@Amy Romano</a> It's not just the personal decisions, some people also take into account how many other people are already driving SUVs. I lived in an area where SUVs and minivans outnumbered other vehicles about 2 to 1 for a while and heard this kind of conversation going on. The marketed perceptions of SUVs seem to inspire a certain cocky attitude (as does the availability of technology in hospital birth situations) and, in my experience, contributes to the unpredictable nature of others while driving SUVs (it's a big vehicle! It has 4 wheel drive! That "bridge freezes before road" sign doesn't mean me!). The likelihood of injury to a driver/passenger in a subcompact car when hit by an out-of-control SUV is significantly higher than that of someone in another SUV (for one thing, the height of the SUV's bumper relative to the subcompact's frame). Some people take this communal issue into account when chosing a vehicle. To me, this is an analogy to women expecting a twin, breech, etc birth in an area without professionals experienced in birthing those less-common configurations vaginally. If none of the available care providers have ever participated in a breech or multiple birth other than via c-section, then you and your child(ren) are safer going with the c-section instead of being the provider's first experiment. Those situations and more can be safely handled vaginally, even at home, with experienced care providers, but if your care provider has never driven a subcompact and has only ever driven SUVs with multiple/breech births.... that's scary! @Amy Romano
It’s not just the personal decisions, some people also take into account how many other people are already driving SUVs. I lived in an area where SUVs and minivans outnumbered other vehicles about 2 to 1 for a while and heard this kind of conversation going on. The marketed perceptions of SUVs seem to inspire a certain cocky attitude (as does the availability of technology in hospital birth situations) and, in my experience, contributes to the unpredictable nature of others while driving SUVs (it’s a big vehicle! It has 4 wheel drive! That “bridge freezes before road” sign doesn’t mean me!). The likelihood of injury to a driver/passenger in a subcompact car when hit by an out-of-control SUV is significantly higher than that of someone in another SUV (for one thing, the height of the SUV’s bumper relative to the subcompact’s frame). Some people take this communal issue into account when chosing a vehicle.

To me, this is an analogy to women expecting a twin, breech, etc birth in an area without professionals experienced in birthing those less-common configurations vaginally. If none of the available care providers have ever participated in a breech or multiple birth other than via c-section, then you and your child(ren) are safer going with the c-section instead of being the provider’s first experiment. Those situations and more can be safely handled vaginally, even at home, with experienced care providers, but if your care provider has never driven a subcompact and has only ever driven SUVs with multiple/breech births…. that’s scary!

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