VOA慢速英語:在家自然分娩

Women Are Giving Birth at Home – On Purpose!

在家自然分娩

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health Report.

這里是美國之音慢速英語健康報道。

Empowering. Life-changing. These are two words women often use to describe natural childbirth. Painful would be a third. But that's a different story.

更強，人生改變。這是女性通常用來描述自然分娩的兩個詞。痛苦會是第三個詞。但那是另一篇文章。

This story is about midwives in Los Angeles, California. They are trying to bring more women of color into the natural childbirth profession and convince more women to give birth at home.

本文是關于加州洛杉磯市的助產士。她們正試圖將更多有色人種女性帶入自然分娩行業(yè)，并說服更多女性在家分娩。

But the numbers are small.

但這一人數還不多。

Only one percent of babies in the United States are born at home. However, interest in home deliveries is on the rise. In Los Angeles, California, for example, some women are choosing to use midwives instead of the usual hospital birth with a doctor.

美國只有1%的嬰兒在家里出生。然而，對家庭接生的興趣正在提高。以加州洛杉磯市為例，一些女性選擇助產士而不是通常的在醫(yī)院由醫(yī)生接生。

Midwives are specially educated in childbirth. They begin as apprentices or students and then must pass state-issued tests, or Medical Boards.

助產士接受過分娩的專門培訓。她們由學徒或學生開始，然后必須通過國家或醫(yī)療委員會出臺的考試。

In 2012, Jasmine Lavender delivered her second child in a bathtub.

在2012年，賈斯邁·蘭溫德(Jasmine Lavender)在浴缸里生下了她第二個孩子。

"It was an amazing experience. Very empowering. You know, I encouraged to support other moms to have a vaginal births. It was life-changing, to be honest."

她說，“這是一次了不起的經歷，非常給力。你知道，我鼓勵了其她媽媽自然分娩。老實說，這是人生的改變。”

She chose home birth with a midwife because she did not want to repeat the hospital experience she had with her first child.

她選擇助產士在家分娩，是因為她不想重復生第一個孩子時的醫(yī)院經歷。

Ms. Lavender says at that time, the hospital performed an unneeded and hurried medical operation -- a Caesarean section. During the birth she says she felt that her time was running out. And not time on her body's clock but rather on her doctor's clock.

蘭溫德女士說，當時醫(yī)院進行了一次不必要的匆忙的手術--剖腹產。在分娩期間，她說她感覺自己時間很緊，而且不是根據她的身體狀況，而是根據她醫(yī)生的日程安排選擇分娩時間。

Ms. Lavender's second baby arrived naturally with help from the Community Birth Center in south Los Angeles.

蘭溫德女士的第二個孩子是在南洛杉磯市社區(qū)生育中心的幫助下自然分娩的。

Licensed midwife Racha Lawler established the Center. It provides services to people who might not otherwise receive them. Ms. Lawler says the Center offers some general health services, such as testing for sexually transmitted diseases -- or STDs.

注冊助產士拉查·勞勒(Racha Lawler)建立了該中心。其服務對象是可能沒有其它途徑接受到分娩服務的這些人。勞勒女士說，該中心提供一些一般的醫(yī)療服務，如性傳播疾病檢測。

"You know, as a midwife you can draw people's blood and test people's blood and test people for STDs. You can, you know, teach women about how their bodies work in regards to their ovulation and fertility. So why not make sure everyone in the community knows that?"

勞勒女士說，“你知道，作為助產士可以提取人們的血液并檢測性傳播疾病。還可以告知女性她們的身體如何排卵與受孕。那么為何不讓社區(qū)的每個人都知道這些呢?”

When the Center first opened, there were about 300 licensed midwives in California. Most of them were white. But Racha Lawler hopes to increase by 100 percent the number of midwives of color. She hopes to do this through reaching out to the community and offering free help for students like Tanya Smith-Johnson.

當該中心首次開放時，加州約有300名注冊助產士。其中多數是白人。但勞勒希望有色人種助產士數量能增加100%。她希望通過深入社區(qū)并為塔尼婭·史密斯 - 約翰遜(Tanya Smith-Johnson)這樣的學生提供免費幫助實現這點。

Ms. Smith-Johnson says women of color have a special need of pregnancy and delivery care.

史密斯 - 約翰遜女士表示，有色人種女性對懷孕和分娩護理存在特殊需求。

"The stats (the numbers) show women of color, we're the ones who need maternity care. Our babies die at rates 3 or 4 times that of white women. And one of the solutions to that is having more women of color tend to women like themselves."

她說，“統計數據顯示，有色人種女性特別需要產科護理。我們嬰兒的死亡率是白人女性的3到4倍。而相應的解決方案之一是讓更多有色人種女性幫助像她們自己的這些女性。”

From VOA Learning English, that’s the Health Report. I’m Anna Matteo.

以上就是本期美國之音慢速英語健康報道的全部內容，我是安娜·馬特奧(Anna Matteo)。