What the Hell is Going on Down There?!: The Media's Negative Depictions of Childbirth

Today, the NYTimes' Neil Genzlinger wrote an analysis of birthing scenes on this season's tv shows. His conclusion: there is a lot of birthing scenes happening right now! And the networks all make them seem excruciatingly painful, gory, and terrifying.

He couldn't be more right!

The media makes giving birth appear categorically horrible. I've long noticed that there isn't a single positive depiction of childbirth in film or on television (if you can think of one, let me know in the comments!). The woman is always screaming, there is always blood, and something almost always goes wrong. Seriously, the whole your-regular-doctor-couldn't-make-it-for-some-mysterious-reason-so-I'm-taking-over-even-though-you-don't-know-me-and-apparently-hate-me plot is so overdone. And the woman always acts sooooo surprised that the doctor is different, and goes crazy over some strange thing like the doctor's hair or age. I am no experienced birther, but I am willing to bet that most women know that their regular doctor might not be available if they go into labor suddenly, and that they have been prepared for such a situation. I'm also willing to bet that most women, even if they are a little uncomfortable or nervous with a new doctor, don't hate the doctor that is standing in or act like a verbally abusive maniac.

These stand-in doctors are almost always depicted as steering women away from their original birthing plan. These birthing plans usually tend to be on the natural birth side of things, and the woman is almost always depicted as being an uptight, crazy, hormonal thing because she gets upset that the new doctor is ignoring her wishes. It takes a man - husband, boyfriend, whatever - to talk some sense in to her and get her to forgo the plan. Thank goodness we have rational menfolk around to do that for us! They know so much better than those hormonal, crazy screaming ladies about what is best for their bodies and the baby. I always find this plot line ironic given the U.S.'s penchant for inducing women's labor with drugs that may or may not be safe and performing caesarean births (32% of births in the U.S. are performed via c-section, one of the highest rates in the world). Of course, there are times when it is necessary to have a c-section, but I worry that this frequent depiction of childbirth conveys the message that women should just shut up and listen to the doctor because they are being (comically) irrational by doing anything other than that.

Along the same lines, I am irritated by the fact that men almost always appear like the calm, rational, and in-control half of the "birthing couple." Even though they do have reason to be more calm - they aren't, after all, pushing a person out of their vagina - media depictions of childbirth tend to infantalize women and be very patronizing. The man is in control, the woman is out of control and hysterical, and the man needs to soothe her, pet her, etc. to get her in control and successfully bring the baby into the world.

Finally, the people that make these shows must not have a very thorough knowledge of childbirth or human anatomy, because as Genzlinger points out, there are so many references to "down there" that I'm pretty convinced no writer or producer has ever actually uttered the word "vagina." Everything that happens during tv childbirth happens "down there" like it is some dark, terrible place. "Down there" is also a place that no living person should ever look at, lest they be traumatized by the sight. The message is clear - that is some disgusting stuff going on "down there!"

Strangely, I realized that the media's depiction of childbirth is overwhelmingly negative when I watched Kourtney Kardashian give birth on tv. It sounds ridiculous, but this video totally changed the way i thought about childbirth. Watch it!



Another awesome video of childbirth is this one. It always makes me cry. I love how calm and in tune with her body the woman seems, and how supportive and sweet the man is. Also - midwives! I will give birth with midwives at my side. I <3 midwives. Although I'm not so sure about the whole birth in an inflatable pool thing. What temperature is the water? Would I get all prune-y? My former roomie Margaux always said she was going to do this. Hurry up and get pregnant Margaux so I can see what it is like!

Anyway, the point is that it doesn't look fun or pleasant, per say, but it isn't the horrifying, screaming, bloody mess that is tv childbirth.

So why the negative media depictions of giving birth? Why do they all follow the same tired plot line? It is because viewers love gore? Love drama? Because men in the film and tv industry view themselves as the heroes of the delivery room?

I would argue, without going into an in-depth explanation or analysis here (it is past my bedtime!) that society as a whole expects childbirth to be a horrible, painful, agonizing, categorically negative experience. Women are supposed to find it painful. It goes back to the whole Genesis 3:16 curse, where (so the story goes) women are told by God that childbirth will be painful because they are sinful. And perhaps men, and arguably some women, want to keep it that way. Because without the pain and terror that surrounds childbirth, women are just left doing the awesome thing of giving birth and bringing new life to the world. Without the constant media message that childbirth is something they should fear, women might think more positively about their body, its amazing capabilities, and how incredible childbirth really is.