Baby school

We started our baby classes this evening. I suspect that we have done a little too much reading and have desires for natural childbirth that put us a little too far outside the mainstream for this class. It was really amazing to learn from reading that doctors, who take the Hippocratic oath, engage in all kinds of practices that, based on the evidence, are not helpful and are sometimes harmful. It is just as amazing to hear a childbirth educator feeding all kinds of incongruous information to people like it is so much tripe. I really felt at a couple of different points that I wanted to jump up and protest. For example:
1. The educator said, "Your doctor might cut your perineum. This is called an episiotomy. Some doctors do them all the time and some do them if they feel you might tear." If the episiotomy were really necessary, why is it that whether or not you have one is completely dependent upon your doctor's preferences for giving them? Everything I read suggests that they are not helpful (except possibly in the case of forceps extraction), and can even increase the chances of deep tissue tears. Granted, I've been reading some "earthy" books on childbirth. However, even mainstream information about childbirth acknowledges that there are no proven benefits and definite short and long-term risks to the procedure.
2. The number one fear that the expectant mothers in the class reported was the fear of pain. The number two fear was that the mother would be too small/baby be too big for vaginal delivery. After acknowledging this fear, the educator took out a model of the pelvic muscles to show folks the area through which the baby would pass. The problem was that the model was not even close to life-sized. When the educator pulled it out and showed the 2 or 3-inch space through which the head and shoulders had to pass, some people gasped, having their fears of being too small confirmed by the model. Several minutes later, the educator pulled out a tiny model of a fetus to show the different positions (breech, etc.) I asked, "That fetus is to scale with the pelvis right? Our babies will be bigger but our pelvises are bigger too, right?"
3. Despite the fact that at least one member of the group has gestational diabetes and several others had high risk pregnancies, good questions were rewarded with candy and the refreshment offered was chocolate chip cookies.
On the walk home, we talked about whether or not we should go back next week. I think we should for 2 reasons.
First, I think that this class will help prepare us for the difficulties we will encounter having our wishes respected at the hospital. It really is too bad that we feel like we will have to exercise constant vigilance - like we need security at the door to insure that no episiotomy scissors or amnio-hooks (used to artificially break water) enter the room. The inability to relax completely will likely increase my discomfort during labor, but at least we shouldn't be taken by surprise with some undesired and unnecessary medical intervention.
Second, I almost feel like someone should dissent. That way maybe one or two people in the room will get the sense that they are not getting the whole story and do a little research on their own. If anyone asks, I will recommend that anyone who wants to avoid unnecessary medical intervention start by reading "The Thinking Woman's Guide" - making sure to get the latest edition.