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VOA慢速英语2014 Women Are Giving Birth at Home – On Purpose!

时间:2014-05-04 13:41:04

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Women Are Giving Birth at Home – On Purpose! 

Empowering.  Life-changing.  These are two words women often use to describe natural childbirth.  Painful would be a third.  But that’s a different story.  

This story is about midwives in Los Angeles, California.  They are trying to bring more women of color into the natural childbirth profession and convince more women to give birth at home.    

But the numbers are small.

Only one percent of babies in the United States are born at home.  However, interest in home deliveries is on the rise.  In Los Angeles, California, for example, some women are choosing to use midwives instead of the usual hospital birth with a doctor. 

But first -- what is a midwife?  Midwives are specially1 educated in childbirth.  They begin as apprentices2 or students and then must pass state-issued tests, or Medical Boards. 

 

In 2012, Jasmine Lavender delivered her second child in a bathtub.

“It was an amazing experience. Very empowering. You know, I encouraged to support other moms to have a vaginal births.  It was life-changing, to be honest.”

She chose home birth with a midwife because she did not want to repeat the hospital experience she had with her first child. 

Ms. Lavender says at that time, the hospital performed an unneeded and hurried medical operation -- a Caesarean section.  During the birth she says she felt that her time was running out.  And not time on her body’s clock but rather on her doctor’s clock.

But some women, because of medical reasons, need to have a Caesarean section and some simply choose it.  It is a personal choice!

Ms. Lavender’s second baby arrived naturally with help from the Community Birth Center in south Los Angeles.

Licensed3 midwife Racha Lawler established the Center.  It provides services to people who might not otherwise receive them.  Ms. Lawler says the Center offers some general health services, such as testing for sexually4 transmitted diseases -- or STDs.

“You know, as a midwife you can draw people’s blood and test people’s blood and test people for STDs.  You can, you know, teach women about how their bodies work in regards to their ovulation and fertility.  So why not make sure everyone in the community knows that?”

When the Center first opened, there were about 300 licensed midwives in California.  Most of them were white.  But Racha Lawler hopes to increase by 100 percent the number of midwives of color.  She hopes to do this through reaching out to the community and offering free help for students like Tanya Smith-Johnson. 

Ms. Smith-Johnson says women of color have a special need of pregnancy5 and delivery care.  According to her, the “stats” which is short for “statistics,” show that women of color need special help when it comes to caring for mothers and babies.     

“The stats (the numbers) show women of color, we’re the ones who need maternity6 care. Our babies die at rates 3 or 4 times that of white women.  And one of the solutions to that is having more women of color tend to women like themselves.”

Are home births and natural childbirths more common where you live?  This is a great chance for our women listeners to share their thoughts on childbirth in our comment section!  But of course, everyone is welcome!       

From VOA Learning English, I’m Anna Matteo.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 specially Hviwq     
adv.特定地;特殊地;明确地
参考例句:
  • They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
  • The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。
2 apprentices e0646768af2b65d716a2024e19b5f15e     
学徒,徒弟( apprentice的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • They were mere apprentices to piracy. 他们干海盗仅仅是嫩角儿。
  • He has two good apprentices working with him. 他身边有两个好徒弟。
3 licensed ipMzNI     
adj.得到许可的v.许可,颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)
参考例句:
  • The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
  • Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗?
4 sexually niVzkg     
adv.性别上地;按性别地;性欲地;两性之间地
参考例句:
  • to be sexually promiscuous 性生活淫乱
  • I was depressed,withdrawn and sexually frigid. 我郁郁寡欢,离群索居,没有什么性要求。 来自《简明英汉词典》
5 pregnancy lPwxP     
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。
6 maternity kjbyx     
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。

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