Green Party pledge to reduce c section rates

As far as I can tell, Green policy is typically the result of a members passion project.

And most of those passions stem from an unhealthy social media bias.

Exactly. Medical intervention in the pursuit of “gender reassignment” is definitely not life saving, not medically necessary and certainly much more expensive than a caesarean section.

I realise there are far more sections performed than gender reassignment procedures and you can build an argument around mental health in these cases etc.

But this is a blatant example of a lack of consistency in the application of cost benefit in health economics. And again the suspicion is that interventions performed to support the comfort and wellbeing of women in labour are not deemed to be as important.

A thousand times this

I’ve had 2 sections, the first was an emergency because the hospital didn’t have enough staff in delivery suite to help progress my labour at 42 weeks. Got to the point where my son was in distress. So the EMCS may improve if they sort the staff and the culture out.

The other reason for increased c sections is the increase in more complex births, eg women giving birth older, IVF and other women giving birth who would have previously been encouraged not to do so, such as women with type 1 diabetes.

Yep the irony didn't escape me either. The greens are clowns.

I also chose a c section, as it turns out I would have had to have one anyway but my choice was so that I didn't have the long term (elderly) issues from vaginal birth.

I know it's infuriating. An elective c-section is safer than either many (most?) vaginal births or an emergency c-section.

If i get a green canvasser at my doorstep ill give them hell over it.

@Bullsey what will this achieve though? It'd just cause upset to a volunteer who's given up their time to engage politically, who probably have no say in policy making.
I completely understand you being really upset about this policy. Totally.
I am too.
But, surely calmly explaining how you feel, and asking them to report back to HQ, or better still contacting HQ directly, would be more likely to make a positive difference?
I have to say I'm always polite to the door knockers - even Tories! With Tories I explain I'd never vote for them. With Labour, I explain I used to vote for them, can't now because of x, y, z. I always give the caveat that I don't blame those individuals personally. They're human beings ultimately, and I don't want to upset them.

@Maray1967 sorry @Maray1967 this tag is a mistake! Not meaning to tag you into this post. I pressed it by mistake, and it won't let me delete it!

Meaning to tag @GettingFrustrated1 in what way am I being silly? I'm not voting for The Labour Party! Not for the same reason as you. It's because I'm so upset that they've become so right-wing. Surely there's nothing silly about caring for the NHS, the housing crisis, the climate emergency, Gaza etc?

Funny how medical interventions are something to be reduced when it's C-sections, but not when it's exogenous testosterone, double mastectomies and hysterectomies to further the delusions of girls or women who think they're men.

@Wheeeeee

I don't deny for a second that some women are receiving substandard care, or that many still struggle to get access to elective caesarians, but this particular one isn't at NICE's door.

I’m not blaming NICE for this: I understand they have to make difficult economic judgments and resources are finite. I am just making the point that even economic arguments are subjective and come with some bias.

The whole approach to caesareans on the part of policymakers seemd to be that they are unnecessary unless needed to preserve the life of the mother or baby. So the premise seems to be that enhancing comfort or tolerability isn’t a consideration with childbirth.

Which is definitely not the case with other branches of medicine. I don’t know why that perspective is applied but it seems likely that the rhetoric about childbirth being “natural” (and therefore something women should be able to handle without “intervention”) plays a part in this.

If you care about women's health and babies lives (which I'm sure you do) Labour's policies on Gaza and the NHS should trouble you way more than this.

Don’t be silly, @TryingToSeeTheFunnySide, the leader of the Labour Party couldn’t tell you what a woman is if his life depended on it.

The Greens posted it on their website.

What is this hot political grapevine you speak of? A pal of yours?

You seem very naive, tbh. Don’t ask them hard questions, they’re only young etc. It’s been a long time since the greens wanted to save the world; they’re more interested in erasing women’s rights these days. The happy home for misogynists and their supporters.

The fact that they proposed the policy is enough.

A 20 year old is old enough to know that they would be in for when giving birth in the future.

And due to the nature of my constuency, it’s mostly the actual candidates themselves knocking on doors. So that’s what I had in mind.

Gaza not relevant here.

If you read my comments you'll see that I've condemned the policy totally. I'm as horrified by it as you. Women's health and babies lives are a top priority for me.
I just think people are being weirdly inconsistent. Somehow suggesting The Green Party are uniquely bad when it comes to women's health, which is simply untrue. Labour and Tory policies have literally cost lives.

I suspect, and have in fact heard on the political grapevine, that powerful Labour/press people are deliberately peddling this story to dissuade lefties from protest voting Green. I've heard Stella Creasey MP and her team are at the epicenter of this. Many in her constituency who normally vote Labour, are protest voting Green due to the treatment of Faiza Shaheen in the neighbouring constituency of Chingford. So, they're panicking and trying to get those votes back. Dirty politics.
Green policies, good or mad, rarely make headlines; so I think this is very likely.

What does a stance on Gaza matter to those people living in the UK? What does having a stance on Gaza change? Gaza, Gaza, Gaza. Nothing anyone in the UK says will change anything. Most people in the UK see that. Most political parties see that.

By them even mentioning that c section rates are too high means that they've raised a conversation essentially blaming women for looking for medical intervention when it's not necessary. Do you know how many "too posh to push" "easy way out" "were you just scared of the pain" comments i had after my EMCS in which my baby almost died?

Far too fucking many.

So the green party can fuck off whether they are going to now quietly drop this policy or not. If i get a green canvasser at my doorstep ill give them hell over it.

If women's health and babies lives are one of your top priorities, then you'll be pleased to know they're mine too.

As explained already, The Green Party have already said they're listening to experts, and reviewing the policy. Hopefully changing it. So, I would advise you to keep tabs on that before you're too hard on a wide-eyed well-meaning 20-year-old canvasser who's trying to save the planet.

Absolutely batshit.

I chose to have sections after some research, and I'm pretty sure if men were the ones giving birth they would be standard procedure.

Noone has had a straight forward birth in our family. Episiotomy, forceps, lifelong incontinence have all happened as a result of vaginal birth.

Given the state of the NHS it seemed a no brainer.

Be stuck in a room with someone occasionally looking in on you, that person often very busy and overworked. Usually left in pain and alone except for family for hours.

Or be in a room where you and your baby are the sole focus of an entire team of people, including consultants and everything and everyone needed ready to go in case of emergency.

And as I said, i have different priorities to you so i will discuss what i like with the door knockers.

You need to read the book Politics of Childbirth. Nothing really changed in the last 30 years since it was written. As for politics in general- everything is politics. From the laws on the permitted levels of additives in your loaf of bread to how many hours you can be made to work without a break

This thread is about women’s health in THIS COUNTRY. Please start your own thread about gaza.

Nope. I've condemned the c-section policy robustly and completely. I'm asking people to be consistent.

The health of women and children is a top priority for me.
All I'm saying here is that people are being pretty inconsistent. The NHS is on its knees thanks to 14 years of austerity. That's an actual thing. A real thing that's happening. That really does put women's lives at risk.
This Green Party policy is a total non-threat, because they won't get into government in 2024.

You’re still doing it.

Nice to know they’re in favour of reducing women’s choices.