I was initially quite excited to meet the ob-gyn with whom our Israeli health insurance booked an appointment. I remembered looking at the calendar at the start of this month and thinking, ah, about nine days to go before I get an inkling into the prenatal care system of another country. I know that the U.S.'s highly medicalized approach to what I see as a very natural part of the female body is not a desirable form of prenatal and delivery care for me and my child, personally, and I'm curious to see how it is in Israel.
So... in addition to the practices I've seen in China, Taiwan, and now Israel, I am forming a general rule of thumb: the medical practice and low-risk pregnancies just don't mix. Look, I'm not sick, I'm just pregnant. But the medical establishment, especially of the Western persuasion, is all about watching out for the worst-case scenario and preventing that from happening. I am thankful for that, but I'm a very healthy woman who've proved with my first pregnancy and delivery that I'm fairly low-risk, child-bearing wise. So why am I constantly subjected to an ultrasound and a blood draw in addition to other things during every prenatal visit? Why do I have to keep saying no to amniocentesis or testing for Down's Syndrome? I don't plan to abort the child no matter what, so just leave me alone, ok?
It's all the more demoralizing and disappointing because I had a midwife during my pregnancy with Declan (up until week 30, when he suddenly folded up his practice due to family emergency and I started learning firsthand about the hospital approach), and it was so much better. Really. I got one ultrasound and one blood draw. ONCE. During the whole pregnancy, and that's all I needed. The rest of the time, the midwife measured the baby's growth with his hands and I heard the heartbeat with the doppler. So much less intrusive, so much more....reassuring and confidence-building. The medical system makes a pregnant woman really unsure about herself, even scared, so that by the time of delivery, I wouldn't be surprised if it's got them broken in like circus horses. I remembered arguing with three different nurses on three different occasions while I was in active labor with Declan in order for them to desist from their plan to putting a hep-lock in me. They painted scenarios to persuade me that would have cowed me into submission if I weren't a doctor's daughter who's aware of the possibilities of those situations actually happening. And this was at a hospital that's rated among the top 10 in the nation for women (and which I do agree deserves this standing!).
So... sigh. I skipped the improv gathering last-minutedly tonight because I'm just too down to see other people. I started crying as Daniel and I left the ob-gyn office because Daniel said he knows how badly I feel...and that made me really angry to boot because no man should ever claim he understands how a pregnant woman--who's now afraid and unsure about how she's going to deliver safely in the way that she desires and protect her newborn from unnecessary medical intervention--actually feels.
And I still have to scout out hospitals in which to deliver and attend the tours which would most likely be in all Hebrew. Joy. I hate not being able to have a say about what is being done to my body.
Addendum: Just received an email from a friend of one of Daniel's colleagues that I made dinner for last Thursday night. Wow, I'm so touched that Daniel's colleague actually wrote her friend about my apprehensions about birthing in Israel, and that her friend actually got on the ball and supplied me with a whole slew of resources. I feel a lot more hopeful again, and am greatly amused by some of her observations via her own prenatal experience here:
In my experience the prenatal care here is heavy on the testing, light on the actual "care" and overly dramatic about anything outside of the norm. Generally, at each appointment they do an ultrasound, ask you if you're taking your iron, and send you for whatever tests they like to perform at that time. We did not do any extra tests except for the weekly sonograms which were mostly to check my cervix and not the baby. They think you're crazy for turning down a test, but if you say no a couple times they get over it. Israel has a strange way of thinking about "perfect babies" and is quick to suggest termination for the slightly problem. Most doctors do not weigh you or check fundal height or anything like that. If you want to have your weight and blood pressure checked that takes place at the Tipat Chalav clinic which happens to be very close to where you live. Personally, if you feel in control of your pregnancy and feel like you can stand up for what you do and don't need, just find a doctor that has good hours and a good location. Almost every doctor here will speak some level of English because of the nature of the field.
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