To think adolescents should be taught more about childbirth in school?

[magicalmama]

The point of sex education is to stop children being left ignorant of something that can affect them so deeply, so shouldn't we be giving adolescents, and especially girls, more information in school about what giving birth, something dangerous, life changing and also incredibly common, could be like?

So many women post about childbirth and wondering what it's like and how it feels, and many are afraid and ignorant. In a similar vein, lots of people post about trying to get pregnant where all we teach kids in school is how not to get pregnant, with little or not concern about what happens when you do want to get pregnant or if you leave it too late and things like that. It seems a bit counterproductive to leave such a big blindspot in education.

AIBU to think pregnancy and childbirth and what it's like, its consequences, something a lot of women worry about, should be taught about in a lot more detail in school along with sex ed?

This is literally taught in schools in KS3 science.
The facts have to be taught, and often multiple births and IVF are also taught.

How much is retained and useful when in 10-20 years time they actually want to have a child is debatable.

Does KS3 science include the word 'episiotomy'?

No. We teach sex, pregnancy and childbirth to year 7. I'm holding back the gore for the 11-12 year olds. You can read up on this yourself or join an NCT /NHS group when you decide to try for a baby.

@HPandthelastwish

I think my concern is not that they don't mention pregnancy and childbirth, but that they don't give the details that women really care about and want to know when it comes to making decisions about their own family planning and childbirth:

first second third and fourth degree tears, incontinence, the effects of forceps and a vacuum, haemorrhoids, prolapse, rates of these things, rates of recovery and the possible corrective surgeries and effects of such surgeries.

Many are simply left in fear and ignorance. How much detail does KS3 science go into on this?

When I taught year 6 we watched a video of a woman giving birth. V informative!

I agree with you and think it should be taught, maybe around age 15.

NCT groups are too late, you're pregnant already by then...

I have heard (anecdotally, not in the context of schools, and no idea if actually true or not), that medical professionals (as a generalisation), historically avoided telling women details about pregnancy and childbirth as it was thought that hearing about stats such as "1 in 3 women suffer life changing birth injuries" might negatively affect the fertility rate...

No idea if true, but the avuncular "we won't bother women's pretty little heads with facts that are extremely relevant to them" wouldn't surprise me from the medical establishment.

@menopausalmare isn't waiting until you decide to try for a baby to be educated on that stuff a bit too late? Can't you only join an NCT group once you're already pregnant so it is in fact already too late - the decision whether or not to have a child has been made.

What about all those women not making the decision yet who have a lack of information?

Just to add to your post

I think in secondary school not only should more be taught about pregnancy and childbirth - so should infertility and pregnancy loss. I definitely do not think it should be a huge topic, but a light going over about the facts and statistics.

They can’t teach everything.

Did you learn everything you’ve learnt it life at school? No, you continue to learn and grow all through life. If you want to find out about childbirth you can do so.

NCT groups are too late, you're pregnant already by then...

And? It's not like a lesson at age 14 on episiotomies is going to make you decide age 30 to not have children.8

Thanks to a wonderful invention called the Internet, women and men can find out lots of information about pregnancy and childbirth at a time that suits them. Teaching about prolapses and 3rd degree tears to young children is wholly inappropriate.

Hah! I'd love to see how many complaints we can rack up if we taught the gory details about tears and prolapses in a world where a childbirth video in class has to come with a risk assessment (I kid you not) because of regular fainters.

This is completely inappropriate for school and really a very weird suggestion for a topic to discuss with young people.

I can't imagine why you think giving horrible details would be helpful.

Schools can't teach everything. That information is out there and I don't think it's particularly kept secretive.
Are many women really that oblivious to what giving birth involves? In my experience as soon as anyone announces they are pregnant every female relative or friend who has given birth will have plenty of tales to tell. Usually in gory detail.

Anyone working in an office with other women gets an education on all this for free, whether they want to hear it or not.

I suspect teaching all the gory details at 15 would lower the birth rate and politicians are already freaking out about that, so I can’t see it happening. Plus all the parents would complain or want their child exempt from it.

I mean 15 and 16 year olds.
I agree it's a scary topic for a young child.

I just think we're leaving people ill equipped to make life changing decisions. Anecdotally once I had kids several of my friends who hadn't started asking all manner of questions that showed me they don't know what to do because they don't know what to expect. I think many women are scared due to ignorance.

They could learn about sex from the internet and their friends too, but we give all children sex education.

Why is sex education more important or appropriate?

I think that schools have got quite enough to be getting on with to be honest.

Nothing stopping family members teaching this stuff to the younger generation in an appropriate way.

Maybe it would be better to wonder 'should families discuss serious topics with their young people?'.

Do you really want 13 and 14 year olds to know the details of how they’re going to be ripped in half??!! The human race will end!

Currently the biggest gap in knowledge is about death.
Nobody is taught about the process of death and everybody dies, not everyone has kids

But even if it was taught would it make a difference?
Personally I think the biological urge to have a baby isn't going to stop women from having one because they think "I might tear" or whatever.

Because the consequences of not doing so is teenage pregnancy, with adverse outcomes for both parents (or least mum) and child.

Not teaching 15 year olds about birth injuries when they have plenty of time to learn about that in due course doesn’t have adverse outcomes for parent and child.

Unless you’re suggesting that women in their 30s are being tricked into having babies because nobody told them at 15 that they might have birth injuries.

And thinking about it, whilst both injuries are of course a very serious matter, perhaps we should teach adolescents about making choices about having children depending on their social situation, finances, stability of any relationship, their ability to support a child throughout its own life etc. This would probably be branded deeply unpopular and too socially conservative. Where would we stop?

I learnt about childbirth from my friends and decided it wasn't for me. I remember being 15 and deciding not to have children but about 10 years later my friends experiences confirmed by decision.

Young girls hearing all this would make them terrified. So, no, I don't think it's right to give them this level of information to sit anguishing about for years before they had a child.

Personally, I think girls should be getting a thorough education (maybe a GCSE) on protecting themselves from males, recognising controlling and abusive behaviour and how to be strong enough to say no to anything they don't like (including the violent nature of sex, these days).