VOA慢速英语--过时、危险的分娩方法在欧洲仍然很普遍

Outdated¹, Dangerous Childbirth Methods Remain Common in Europe

When Clara Massons was giving birth to her son, a midwife climbed onto her bed and pushed down on her stomach. The woman was a specialist on childbirth. She explained to Massons that she was helping² to deliver the baby.

For the next several hours, the midwife and a doctor closely watched their patient. They took turns pressing down whenever Massons had a contraction³ -- a movement of muscles when a woman is giving birth. The two were using an old, now debated method for troubled deliveries. It is known as the Kristeller maneuver⁴.

The method was first described in an 1867 German school book. It is sometimes used during labor⁵ to help women give birth and avoid a cesarean section.

Massons said her cries for them to stop were ignored at the Spanish hospital where her son was born two years ago.

"I thought I was going to die," she said. "For one month after, my belly⁶ was blue and purple."

Many doctors in developed countries say they have stopped using the Kristeller maneuver. They say they avoid it because of the risk of broken bones, organ damage and other painful health problems. The World Health Organization also does not suggest the Kristeller maneuver to medical workers.

Europe has some of the world's lowest maternal⁷ and newborn death rates. Reports of mistreatment during childbirth are more common in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

But the Kristeller maneuver and other questionable⁸ medical techniques remain common in some European countries.

"Depending on the act, these practices rise to the level of a human rights violation," said Mindy Roseman. She directs a justice and women's rights program at Yale Law School in Connecticut. Roseman said that not receiving permission from women for medical procedures and not taking steps to ease pain is "troubling wherever that occurs."

Last year, Croatian lawmaker Ivana Nincevic Lesandric brought attention to the issue of anesthesia. She told Parliament that she did not receive any anesthesia – a pain control drug -- for an emergency procedure after her pregnancy⁹ ended too early.

"I don't think I've ever been in (a) much more painful situation in my life," Lesandric said in her speech.

In answer, the Speaker of Croatia's Parliament criticized her for speaking for longer than her given time and for publicly sharing such personal details.

In the days after her speech, a childbirth advocacy group asked for and received hundreds of reports from Croatian women about poor medical care. United Nations human rights experts later said the stories "showed a pattern of abuse and violence against women undertaking¹⁰ medical procedures."

Ozge Tuncalp is a maternal and reproductive health care expert with the WHO, the UN's health agency. She says the agency has noted¹¹ increasing reports of mistreatment by women seeking health care in Europe.

The WHO says a once common procedure — a surgical¹² cut to make a woman's vagina larger during childbirth and prevent tearing — should not be used in more than about 10 percent of women. The WHO adds that that consent should be required. Yet government reports show rates of the procedure go from 30 percent to more than 90 percent in countries including the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Romania.

In France, a 2018 government report estimated that half of women who had the cut were not told before the surgery. In Italy, one study estimated 61 percent of women did not give their consent for the procedure.

It is not known how often the Kristeller maneuver is used. Doctors often fail to report its use in medical records. But health care workers in at least seven European countries told The Associated Press they see it used weekly, or even daily. And, a French government report last year estimated it was used in about 22 percent of births.

"The evidence says it's not helpful, it's actually harmful," said the WHO's Tuncalp. "The fact that so many women are getting an intervention¹³ that both national and international guidance recommend against is very worrying."

The Kristeller maneuver is banned in Britain, said Patrick O'Brien. He is a doctor with Britain's Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists. In the United States, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said they had no guidance on the method because it is not suggested.

Massons and her husband, Toni, remain troubled by the birth of their son, who is now 2 years old. Massons was told the method was needed because her labor had slowed, and because the baby was in a worrying position.

In a letter to Massons that she shared with AP reporters, the medical director of the Barcelona hospital where Massons gave birth wrote that doctors took "appropriate measures."

An official for the Catalonia area noted the Kristeller method was "discouraged" but not legally banned.

The WHO's Tuncalp said that changing medical care -- and not just guidelines -- is very difficult. She said, "It can take generations of doctors to actually change practices..."

Words in This Story

deliver - v. to give birth

cesarean section - n. a surgical operation for giving birth in which a cut is made in the mother's body in order to deliver the baby (also called C-section)

belly - n. a person's stomach

maternal - adj. of or relating to a mother

practice - n. something that is done often or regularly

advocacy - n. the act or process of supporting a cause or proposal

pattern - n. something that happens in a regular and repeated way

vagina - n. a passage in a women's body that leads from the uterus to the outside of the body

appropriate - adj. right for the situation

discouraged - adj. making people not want to do something

1 outdated   

adj.旧式的，落伍的，过时的；v.使过时

参考例句：

• That list of addresses is outdated,many have changed.那个通讯录已经没用了，许多地址已经改了。
• Many of us conform to the outdated customs laid down by our forebears.我们许多人都遵循祖先立下的过时习俗。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 contraction   

n.缩略词，缩写式，害病

参考例句：

• The contraction of this muscle raises the lower arm.肌肉的收缩使前臂抬起。
• The forces of expansion are balanced by forces of contraction.扩张力和收缩力相互平衡。

4 maneuver   

n.策略[pl.]演习；v.(巧妙)控制；用策略

参考例句：

• All the fighters landed safely on the airport after the military maneuver.在军事演习后，所有战斗机都安全降落在机场上。
• I did get her attention with this maneuver.我用这个策略确实引起了她的注意。

5 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

6 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。

7 maternal   

adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的

参考例句：

• He is my maternal uncle.他是我舅舅。
• The sight of the hopeless little boy aroused her maternal instincts.那个绝望的小男孩的模样唤起了她的母性。

8 questionable   

adj.可疑的，有问题的

参考例句：

• There are still a few questionable points in the case.这个案件还有几个疑点。
• Your argument is based on a set of questionable assumptions.你的论证建立在一套有问题的假设上。

9 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

10 undertaking   

n.保证，许诺，事业

参考例句：

• He gave her an undertaking that he would pay the money back with in a year.他向她做了一年内还钱的保证。
• He is too timid to venture upon an undertaking.他太胆小，不敢从事任何事业。

11 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

12 surgical   

adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的

参考例句：

• He performs the surgical operations at the Red Cross Hospital.他在红十字会医院做外科手术。
• All surgical instruments must be sterilised before use.所有的外科手术器械在使用之前，必须消毒。

13 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。