Let the child be born early to have a beautiful age
Coming to the Central Obstetrics Hospital for a scheduled pregnancy check-up when she was 35 weeks pregnant, Ms. Bich (Ha Dong) earnestly expressed her wish to the doctor to be hospitalized and schedule a cesarean section so that her child could be born before New Year's Eve of the Year of the Dragon. The reason she gave was that a fortune teller said that a son born in the year of the dragon would be smarter and more successful than a snake. This is the child who will continue the family line, so it is very important to be born at a good age to bring glory and wealth to the family line... After a while of persuasion, the doctor refused and did not allow her to be hospitalized, Ms. Bich discussed with her husband to find another hospital to have a cesarean section according to the wishes of her husband's family.
At Hanoi Obstetrics Hospital, Post Office Hospital… there are cases of pregnant women coming to the hospital to request cesarean section to avoid having children born in the year of the Snake.
Ms. Nguyet (Soc Son) and her husband went to the maternity hospital with full luggage for mother and child. When meeting the doctor, the husband begged the doctor to let his wife have a cesarean section, even though the pregnancy was only nearly 36 weeks. Pressure from the husband's family, because they thought that having a child born in the year of the Dragon, which is compatible with the father's age, would help the business prosper, while a child born in the year of the Snake, which is not compatible with the father's destiny, would lead to bankruptcy. Although both husband and wife tried to convince the husband's parents, they failed, so they had to go to the doctor for help. Faced with that ironic situation, the doctor advised them, the couple sadly left, but in their hearts they were worried about how to deal with their parents.
Many young parents, believing in horoscopes and physiognomy, do not hesitate to gamble with their children’s lives. According to obstetricians, women who ask to give birth early just to choose their age, date and time of birth are ignorant and harmful to newborns.
Early cesarean section harms both mother and child
In a recent obstetrics conference, Associate Professor, Dr. Vu Van Du - Deputy Director of the Central Maternity Hospital - said that in Vietnam, the rate of cesarean section has increased continuously over the past 15 years, from 12% in 2005 to 37% in 2022. Currently, the cesarean section rate in Vietnam is very high. The World Health Organization recommends that the cesarean section rate should be maintained at 10 - 15% of total births to avoid obstetric complications for both mother and fetus. At the Central Maternity Hospital, there are more than 20,000 births each year, of which more than half are cesarean sections. In the past 5 years (2015 to 2019), out of more than 110,000 births at the hospital, there were nearly 68,000 cesarean sections, which is more than 50%, and double that of the previous 10 years.
The reason for the increase in cesarean sections is that, in addition to doctors' orders, many pregnant women and their families request to have a cesarean section so that their child can be born on a good day and time, according to the wishes of their grandparents and parents.
Doctors recommend that when there is no indication for a cesarean section, the mother should choose a normal birth. The doctor will consider the benefits between a normal birth and an active cesarean section in the most reasonable way. Because when the rate of repeated cesarean sections is high, the mother often has an increased risk of placenta previa, placenta accreta, and hysterectomy after each cesarean section.
Pregnant mothers and their families should not be too superstitious, choosing a good day and time to proactively have a cesarean section, especially asking for a cesarean section when the pregnancy is less than 39 weeks old just to avoid bad age, not compatible with the parents' age. A child born early can cause the baby to be premature, have an incomplete respiratory system, pneumonia, affecting future development. Not to mention, cesarean section leaves many complications for the mother, such as infection, scarring, unhealed incisions, itching, the risk of uterine rupture when having a previous cesarean scar is twice as high as a previous cesarean scar.
Another benefit of natural birth is that the mother will produce more milk after giving birth due to the activation of the endocrine system during labor. The recovery time of the mother who gives birth naturally will be faster. Babies born naturally have to go through a long period of labor, so their lungs function well and their respiratory system is better than babies born by cesarean section.
