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Getting ready for Japan

These past few days I have been preparing my presentation for a trip to Japan that will take place in early December. It’s been eight years since I last visited Japan (the time just flies!) and I am looking forward to discovering what had changed in the Japanese birth scene since my last visit.

I remember being impressed last time by the lack of concern about the length of labour, as long as all was well and some progress was being made (partograms were not much in use), and of course, the stoical Japanese attitude to labour pain. Dealing with pain of all sorts, without complaint, has been a hallmark of Japanese culture for centuries, and noisemaking in labour has been frowned upon as an outward show of not being about to cope, and therefore a display of weakness.

I gather, from the information that my hosts have sent me that the epidural is now being promoted for use in labour. I don’t as yet know how widespread it is it, or what local attitudes to it are, but I will be investigating this as soon as I arrive. Japan has always had very low perinatal mortality statistics and low rates for caesarean birth too, and I wonder if these are being influenced by the more aggressive medical approach that I understand is taking hold.

I will be present a one-day training course for educators, another day long workshop for midwives and doctors and then participating in a forum for parents with a group of obstetricians and midwives. Three very different programs that will give me a chance to learn a lot about their country, as I explain what is happening in the west and how we can “keep birth normal”. More later.

Posted by andrea at November 20, 2005 06:41 AM