VOA标准英语2014--越来越多的美国女性选择传统的生育方法

 

More US Women Birthing the Old-fashioned Way 越来越多的美国女性选择传统的生育方法

DERWOOD, MD— 

A small but growing number of women in the United States are choosing to give birth using the services of a certified¹ nurse-midwife rather than an obstetrician. The number of midwife-attended births - at home, in birthing centers and in hospitals - reached 8.6% of all births in 2012.

Beth Drake of Derwood, Maryland is one of those statistics. She recently gave birth to baby Debra with the help of a certified nurse-midwife in the comfort of her own home.

The first-time mother decided² on a home birth after witnessing her sister give birth in a hospital.

“To see the baby taken away from her right away and placed on the table - he was warmed and fully³ taken care of - but he was crying and alone; it just didn’t seem as gentle a way to come into the world as I wanted for my child,” she said.

So for her own pregnancy⁴ and labor⁵, Drake and her husband Derek chose Mairi Breen Rothman, a certified nurse-midwife who’s been delivering babies since 1996.

Drake said having Rothman there for the hardest parts of her labor was very reassuring⁶. “Mairi would suggest changing positions and would be there to rub my back and I think that was the most surprising thing for me about the whole experience was how present she really was with me the whole time.”

And her delivery was a memorable⁷ birthing experience.

“As soon as the baby came out, she was immediately placed on my chest,” she said. “So I got to say hello to my baby right away, and Derek was right there so he was the second person that she would have seen. It was really, really special to have all of the intensity⁸ gone and this new part of life started in such a gentle way.”

'Not just for hippies'

Certified nurse-midwives are nurses who receive specialized⁹ training in obstetrics, labor and delivery. They generally work with low-risk pregnancies¹⁰, and are required to have a plan for consultation¹¹, collaboration¹² and referral with other levels of medical care should things become complicated.

“I have this poster that says ‘home birth; it’s not just for hippies anymore,’” noted¹³ Rothman with a smile, “because women from every walk of life choose to have their babies at home.”

The numbers are growing, even though midwives have often had to struggle with negative stereotyping¹⁴.

Opponents of home birth cite studies that claim a higher risk of neo-natal deaths due to the distance a patient would have to travel to get to a medical facility in case an emergency develops. But Rothman said thesestudies are "not based on science and are the subject of great controversy¹⁵ in the birth community."

“Midwives have fought for legitimacy¹⁶ for many decades, so as a result they’ve become extra competent, extra vigilant¹⁷, and very much specialists in the care of women experiencing normal childbirth and normal pregnancy.”

She notes that in many countries in the world - many of them with much better infant mortality rates that the U.S. - midwifery care is the portal of entry into the maternity¹⁸ care system.

“Everyone starts with a midwife,” she explained, “and they only move to a more specialized form of care if it’s indicated by their personal health. But in the vast majority of cases you don’t need medical care, you just need maternal¹⁹ health care during your pregnancy.”

She points to the Netherlands, which has some of the best outcome data of anywhere in the world in terms of maternal infant and infant mortality, where a third of the babies are born at home.

An integrated system

Concerns about the safety of using a midwife are unfounded, agrees Eugene Declercq, Professor and Assistant Dean of Community Health Sciences at Boston University School of Public Health.

“The evidence suggests that an integrated system where midwives do what’s often called primary care - first line care - for mothers is every bit as safe as a system based entirely²⁰ on having high-risk specialists do all the births.”

That approach is summed up by a phrase used in England: ‘all mothers deserve a midwife and some mothers need an obstetrician too.’ "I think that describes to me what would be an ideal system; that care starts with midwives but that they work in conjunction with obstetricians around cases that may require risk and may require more specific medical intervention²¹.”

According to Declercq, that sort of cooperative approach offers safety at a lower cost. “The impact of that in the long run would be less intervention in our system and most importantly, intervention only when it’s necessary.”

The larger point, he said, is to have an integrated system “where midwives and obstetricians are working together and not at odds²² with each other.”

And that seems to be happening at a slow - but steady - rate. Many hospitals around the country are responding to women's interest in having a more natural birth experience by working more closely with midwives and are also setting up baby-friendly environments where mothers can keep their babies with them in a home-like setting and receive nutrition and breastfeeding support.

In the meantime, new mom Beth Drake encourages women who are thinking about their childbirth options to educate themselves about their choices so they can make the best decision for themselves - and their babies.

1 certified   

a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的

参考例句：

• Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
• The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

5 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

6 reassuring   

a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的

参考例句：

• He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
• With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。

7 memorable   

adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的

参考例句：

• This was indeed the most memorable day of my life.这的确是我一生中最值得怀念的日子。
• The veteran soldier has fought many memorable battles.这个老兵参加过许多难忘的战斗。

8 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

9 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

10 pregnancies   

怀孕，妊娠( pregnancy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Since the wartime population needed replenishment, pregnancies were a good sign. 最后一桩倒不失为好现象，战时人口正该补充。
• She's had three pregnancies in four years. 她在四年中怀孕叁次。

11 consultation   

n.咨询；商量；商议；会议

参考例句：

• The company has promised wide consultation on its expansion plans.该公司允诺就其扩展计划广泛征求意见。
• The scheme was developed in close consultation with the local community.该计划是在同当地社区密切磋商中逐渐形成的。

12 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

13 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

14 stereotyping   

v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I realize that I'm stereotyping. 我认识到我搞的是老一套。 来自辞典例句
• There is none of the gender stereotyping usually evident in school uniforms. 有没有人的性别刻板印象通常是显而易见的。 来自互联网

15 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

16 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

17 vigilant   

adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的

参考例句：

• He has to learn how to remain vigilant through these long nights.他得学会如何在这漫长的黑夜里保持警觉。
• The dog kept a vigilant guard over the house.这只狗警醒地守护着这所房屋。

18 maternity   

n.母性，母道，妇产科病房；adj.孕妇的，母性的

参考例句：

• Women workers are entitled to maternity leave with full pay.女工产假期间工资照发。
• Trainee nurses have to work for some weeks in maternity.受训的护士必须在产科病房工作数周。

19 maternal   

adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的

参考例句：

• He is my maternal uncle.他是我舅舅。
• The sight of the hopeless little boy aroused her maternal instincts.那个绝望的小男孩的模样唤起了她的母性。

20 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

21 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

22 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？