Representations of Pregnancy in Media

From UBC Wiki

There is a growing trend of people learning about pregnancy and birth through popular media. A 2005 survey found that 68% of pregnant women in the United States watch reality-based TV shows on pregnancy and birth regularly[1]. It also found that 72% of first-time mothers and 34% of non-first-time mothers reported that the shows helped them understand what it would be like to give birth[1]. The media dictates both biological and cultural expectations of birth that facilitates the changing ways pregnancy, birth, and motherhood is approached.

Expectations of Women’s Bodies

In popular media, birth is often shown as dramatic, painful, and dangerous[2]. This is due in large part to women’s bodies being portrayed as inferior, unpredictable, and under constant need of supervision. Reality TV shows sometimes show medical professionals criticizing women’s decisions regarding their births and placing blame on them for any health complications[3]. This portrays women as unable to make decisions regarding their bodies and removes their agency. A woman giving birth is expected to give up control of their birth and bodies to medical doctors. 85% of the time, women are shown lying on their backs surrounded by nurses and doctors coaching them through the birthing process[3]. However, this position was found to be used in only 57% of births surveyed in an American study[1]. When delivering, women are encouraged to be quick and quiet. Women are expected to conform to a standardized timetable of labour and when they do not they are given Pitocin to induce their labour[3]. Medical interventions are often done without showing the informed consent that is required to be given prior[3]. This further takes away any autonomy of pregnant women on TV. During labour, a woman featured on A Baby Story: Baby Moskowitz was instructed “‘Let’s have a baby in a nice civilized way. No screaming. No yelling’’ while having contractions[3]. Of course, not all women’s births will fit a template preferred by the media, nor should they be expected to.

Medicalization of pregnancy

It has been argued that “childbirth is now something that is ‘performed’ on a woman, rather than something women perform”[2]. In the United States, medical intervention in pregnancy is now the norm. four-fifths of pregnant women receive intravenous fluids, three-quarters receive epidural, and a third of babies are now born by caesarean section[2]. It was found that 46% of women on reality TV shows had their labours induced[3]. Induction is presented as natural and normal in media, with the drawbacks and complications often never discussed. A survey found that now 40% of women in the United states have their births induced[1]. This shows the increased medicalization of childbirth. Furthermore, TV shows often present women as unable to handle the trauma of childbirth[3]. As a result, pain medication is often shown as a necessity and TV shows normalize its use. Many women in the United States now use an epidural, with a reported 70%[1]. When not under an anesthetic, women are shown as hysterical and out of control while giving birth[3]. A midwife on Birth Day: Birth Centers II stated that "as a culture, we’ve lost the concept [that] there’s normalcy in birth, that it’s inherently a normal process, and it’s inherently a process that’s very successful with wonderful outcomes"[3]. This may be due to the fact that alternative and natural births are often marginalized in reality TV shows.

Disease Mongering

The medicalization of pregnancy is facilitated by disease mongering in reality TV shows. Reality TV is not as concerned with portraying reality as it is with increasing ratings. Therefore, highly dramatized and sensationalized versions of pregnancy and birth are often represented. Many episodes of the reality TV show Birth Day center on complications during pregnancy and birth, presenting these complications as typical when they are in fact not[3]. Some common complications were abnormal birth positions, hypertension and postpartum bleeding, labor and delivery triage, cervical cancer, bicornuate uterus, mothers in preterm labor, and diabetes[3]. This disease mongering causes increased anxiety surrounding childbirth and makes expecting parents more likely to seek medical intervention.

Representation and Diversity

A study found that mothers of all races are represented in reality TV shows about pregnancy and childbirth. Black and Hispanic women are much more likely to be represented as single mothers with 5.3% of white women, 0% of Asian women, 26.3% of black women, and 26.7% of Hispanic women on the sampled TV shows being single mothers. Overall, single mothers are underrepresented. Only 10.6% of women on reality TV shows are single mothers, while on average 38.5% of births in the United States are by single mothers. This may lead single mothers to feel more marginalized and abnormal. The same study found that no lesbian couples were present on the reality TV shows studied, but did not address any diversity in gender expression of the mothers[3]. This creates an ideal image of the preferred mother as married, straight, and cis-gendered.

Teenage Pregnancy

There is a strange obsession with TV shows about teenage pregnancy and teenage motherhood that is reflected in the popularity of shows like Teen Mom, 16 and Pregnant, and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. While 16 and Pregnant was created as a cautionary tale to deter young girls from becoming mothers[4], some worry that it has done the opposite. Arguments include that these reality TV shows turn teen moms into stars and therefore role models for young girls who begin to glamorize teen pregnancy. While rates of teen pregnancy in the United States has decreased[5], there is still debate whether this is due to these shows, increased and reformed sex education in schools, or a combination of both. A study found that 16 and Pregnant led to more teenagers google searching and tweeting about contraceptives and abortions[6]. The release of 16 and Pregnant also corresponded with a 5.7% decrease in teenage birth rates[6]. While it is difficult to confirm causation when studying media influences, data does show correlations which suggest that reality TV shows about teenage pregnancy affect the way youth think and act.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Declercq, E. R, Sakala, C., Corry, M. P., &Applebaum, S. (2007). Listening to Mothers II: Report of the Second National U.S. Survey of Women's Childbearing Experiences Journal of Perinatal Education, 16(4), 9-14. doi:10.1624/105812407x244769
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Luce, A., Cash, M., Hundley, V., Cheyne, H., Teijlingen, E. V., & Angell, C. (2016). “Is it realistic?” the portrayal of pregnancy and childbirth in the media. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 16(1). doi:10.1186/s12884-016-0827-x
  3. 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 Morris, T., & Mcinerney, K. (2010).Media Representations of Pregnancy and Childbirth: An Analysis of Reality Television Programs in the United States. Birth, 37(2), 134-140. doi:10.1111/j.1523-536x.2010.00393.x
  4. Lowrey, A. (2014, January 13). MTV's "16 and Pregnant," Derided by Some, May Resonate as a Cautionary Tale. New York Times.
  5. CDC Teen Pregnancy in the United States Retrieved April 4, 2017
  6. 6.0 6.1 Kearney, M., & Levine, P. (2014). Media Influences on Social Outcomes: The Impact of MTV’s 16 and Pregnant on Teen Childbearing. The National Bureau of Economic Research . doi:10.3386/w19795