Childbirth Around the World

I wanted to research childbirth practices in Sweden because our first AuPair is from there and since we are going to Skype with her this weekend, I had Sweden on my mind.  As I was researching, I came across and article on CNN (see link below) titled "The best and worst places to give birth" by Lisa Selin Davis.  She spoke about her mom's two birthing experiences, one in a hospital in Malawi in rural East Africa; the other in a freestanding birthing center in upstate New York.  These were both great experiences for her mom, but when she starting studying the way people in America give birth today (the C-section rate is above 34%) she thought that America had lost sight of the best way to have babies.  Thinking that other countries and cultures were handling it better, she edited a book called "Childbirth Across Cultures: Ideas and Practices of Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Postpartum."  The most surprising things she discovered were the fact that many countries have high rates of C-sections (some hospitals in China have rates as high as 90%) and that some countries still have traditional practices that are disrespectful to women and dangerous.  For example, Hmong women are forced to give birth alone without expressing any pain or discomfort.  One in eighteen die in the process! These were just a few examples in the article...I am sure there are many more examples in the book.  I would like to have this book as a reference, but it is $160 on Amazon!

Anyway, at the end of the article the author says that Sweden is the most desirable place to give birth.  According to her, they try not to treat childbirth like a disease.