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Postcards from the Womb

A video in full color of the fetus in-utero as memorabilia for the parents feels so totally unnecessary. While the discussion on protecting the health of the woman and her baby is very much in order, isn't there also the issue of the unborn's privacy and right to have some peace ?

I look at the fetus being a victim of the parent's reckless hedonism which does not bode well for the postpartum future. These are probably the same parents that will take the show on the road outfitted exclusively in designer labels and flaunt them like they would their material goods.

The act of a father filming child birth to me is equally repugnant. It would take a man completely dispassionate about the pain of a woman to be able to do that. What is surprising that most women do not view it as such - we have been conditioned to believe that child birth is a magic moment and that the man in our lives is doing us a favor by recording the event in full color for us and perpetuity. Having bonded in physical pain as much as in pleasure, having felt her pain in his heart and soul is truer, higher magic to me.

Comments

Priyamvada_K said…
I was remembering how a male colleague put it - "each time my wife gives birth, I end up with a cold and feeling ill the week after that. The stress of seeing someone I love in so much pain takes a toll on the immune system".

Priya.
Priyamvada_K said…
SSM, my colleague has 4 kids :). He made this comment after the 4th (and according to him, last) one came.

Priya.
Heartcrossings said…
Priya

You provoke me to make yet another of my infamous broad brush generalizations with that data on the 4th child :-) Sensitivity in men is most not enough to overcome their basic instincts.
bilbo said…
Sensitivity in men is most not enough to overcome their basic instincts.

hey hc.
sorry to sound a lil confused, but jeez , are we still in the caves. I thought women had more control of their bodies and the decision of wether and when to have a baby. Is it back to a man's basic instincts.
Do enlighten me.
Heartcrossings said…
Bilbo,

We may technically be out of the caves but sometimes the in the mind we still dwell right there.

A woman can be coerced emotionally or as a result of financial dependence to bear bore children than she cares to.

I have a number of girl-friends in this country who did not want to have a second child but went on to have one because of one or both reasons.

A child who does not get a warm welcome from both parents is indeed very unfortunate. There are many such kids around. My heart goes out to them.
Arpana Sanjay said…
I have to agree, I hate the idea of videographing child births...its private, its a moment to be enjoyed at that precise moment. I would rather see a man faint than hold a video camera instead of his wife's hand!!

I dont think anyone can really overcome those basic instincts HC...not men, not women. It's what constitutes us!!

Good read, as always...enjoyed the exercise!! ;-)

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