Symphysiotomy--cruel Irish operation to avoid caesarean section.

[bobbieinok]

Article in Guardian 12-12-2014.

As I understand it, it was thought more than 3 ceasareans was dangerous. Therefore they should be avoided.

The procedure involved cutting through the catilage of pelvic joint or through pelvic bone itself. This was done to widen the birth canal so that the baby could be born vaginally.

The procedure often led to inontinence and lifelong pain.

The women were not asked for consent.

There is the belief that doctors doing this believed ceasarens would limit the number of babies a woman could have, a definite no-no in classic Catholic theology.

The article discusses the history of the practice, reasons why it was done, the long-term consequences for the women, fight for reparations.

A horrible story of mistreatment of women.

I first heard about this from a post yrs ago at DU.

[OnDoutside]

1. And the butcher of a doctor who did loads of them is not in jail

[hlthe2b]

2. Need article to best discuss the issue (both patriarchal, religious, and sadistic aspects). HERE

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/dec/12/symphysiotomy-irelands-brutal-alternative-to-caesareans

Symphysiotomy – Ireland’s brutal alternative to caesareans

They were never asked for their consent – but symphysiotomy caused the Irish mothers subjected to it catastrophic long-term health problems. A compensation scheme has now begun, but the question remains: did religious dogma trump the women’s best interests?

When the doctor arrived, he did something Mary cannot forget. “They gave me gas and air and an injection, and took me to another room, where they tied my legs up on each side,” she recalls. “There were two nurses on each side of me. I saw this doctor at the end of my bed with a big, long silver thing. They made a hole in your private parts, and he inserted this silver thing up and cut the pubic bone and pushed it over to widen your pelvis for you to deliver your baby yourself.”

Petrified and in agony, Mary had been subjected to a symphysiotomy – a controversial operation that was seldom used in the rest of Europe after the mid-20th century, but which was carried out on an estimated 1,500 women in Ireland between the 1940s and 1980s.

The procedure involves slicing through the cartilage and ligaments of a pelvic joint (or in extreme cases, called pubiotomy, sawing through the bone of the pelvis itself) to widen it and allow a baby to be delivered unobstructed.

Critics blame the continued use of the operation on a toxic mix of medical experimentation, Catholic aversion to caesarean sections and an institutional disregard for women’s autonomy. They claim it has left hundreds of surviving women with life-long pain, disability and emotional trauma. For some in Ireland, it is yet another scandal perpetrated against women and girls, joining revelations over the Magdalene laundries (where “wayward” women were abused), the deaths of children at mother-and-baby homes and sex abuse in the Catholic church.

Not everyone agrees with this analysis: some doctors and historians argue that these criticisms fail to account for wider changes in medical culture. But this year the mothers who believe they were wronged finally got some encouraging news. In July, the UN Human Rights Committee called for the Irish government to hold an investigation into the issue. And last week saw the deadline pass for applications to the state’s ex gratia redress scheme, which offered women who have been through the procedure compensation sums of between £40,000 and £120,000. More than 300 women are said to have applied.

Read the entire article at the link above.

see also interview on CNN:
https://www.cnn.com/2015/01/30/europe/ireland-symphysiotomy/index.html

[bobbieinok]

3. Thank you very much for posting link and excerpt. I am not able to on this device.

[hlthe2b]

4. Sure.. no problem...

In light of today's cruel attempts to negate female autonomy and basic human rights, this story is important to spread.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

5. The nonsense that a woman can't have more than some

number of C-sections was known to be wrong probably 50 years ago.

Also, the saying "Once a C-section always a C-section" has little basis in fact. A woman's uterus won't explode if she has a normal labor and vaginal birth after a section. If she has some other good reason for a section, then she should have it, but it's really not mandatory. There's something known as a V-bac, which means Vaginal birth after a c-section, and has been happening for perhaps 40 years in this country.

Not all C-sections are because the pelvis is too small. I had two of them. First time I had a complete placenta previa, the second time a placental abruption. If I'd had either of those two in a fourth pregnancy (I only had the two kids) such a surgery would have killed me and the baby.