Anna Sirota Screams and faces distorted in terror: Should childbirth be shown in cinema? 08:01

The crusade to improve the demographic situation in our country continues. Expert after expert is calling for us to return to the Stone Age. This time, psychologist Zara Harutyunyan came forward, arguing that explicit birth scenes should not be shown to young people, especially female students, in films.

The expert’s motivation is simple: He is worried that the torment suffered by the heroines in the series will scare expectant mothers, cause them psychological trauma and deter them from giving birth forever. It’s partly possible to understand Zara – there is little joy in the birth process, especially when it’s the first time. Does fear of physical pain affect the decision to become a mother? You do not need to be a certified psychologist to answer this question negatively.

Everyone can understand from their own experience that the unknown is always scarier and that the expectation of pain can be much worse than the pain itself. For men, I can draw an analogy with visiting the dentist: no one wants to go there, especially those unfortunate people who still experienced Soviet dentistry and remember dental treatment without painkillers, but sooner or later life forces you – and you go. Of course, there are those who mumble about toothless mouths because they are afraid of going to the dentist, but their number is still very, very small.

So what can we say about birth? Love, the prospect of a new life, family happiness and motherhood – explain to me how Jennifer Aniston’s conditional birth of a child in the TV series “Friends” can affect this? The greatest fear that so frightened Zara Harutyunyan lies in the screams, moans and corresponding facial expression of the actress.

In the series, they generally pity the fragile soul of the audience and do it without any details. And these details are exactly what you need to know. There is no use in claiming that storks give birth to babies.

We have already experienced this; this will not have a positive impact on the demographic situation. And even vice versa.

I know for myself that the shock of my first birth, which occurred in the same knowledge vacuum that a psychologist dreams of, affected the rest of my life. 30 years ago it was not customary to explain to the expectant mother what awaits her during childbirth. In antenatal clinics, they did not teach how to breathe correctly, they did not explain how contractions differ from straining, and I learned such an important term as dilation directly during the process, which, thanks to complete ignorance and lack of any theoretical and knowledge, practical training turned into hours of torture for me.

The worst part of this torture was the uncertainty rather than the pain. Nobody found it necessary to explain what happened, they did not help me either financially or morally, they did not inform me which medicine was injected into my veins, they did not inform me how many hours or minutes until my daughter was born.

I was 20 years old and felt like a completely powerless, lonely creature, not even human. No one talked to me, I was in pain and scared for almost 24 hours. By the way, to this day I have never seen a single birth scene in a single movie because it was not shown in THESE movies. Need I say that this particular experience was so traumatic for me that I no longer want to repeat it?

The same thing happened to my mother at one point; I remember you saying that birth was the scariest thing that had ever happened to you.

Attitudes towards childbirth have changed dramatically in recent years: thanks to, among other things, tremendous changes in our education and birth system, the process of bringing a new person into the world has ceased to be so traumatic. Yes, today all girls know that childbirth is painful, but thanks to the development of medicine, especially obstetrics and gynecology, everyone has realized that this process can and should be managed, that you can prepare for it and not die of horror for nine months. An event about what will happen.

Forewarned, forearmed.

Now young mothers know how to relieve pain during contractions, what positions can be taken during childbirth, what painkillers are like, when it comes time to go to the maternity hospital, you will be treated like a person, and not like a piece of meat. The most important day in every woman’s life has ceased to be scary and unpredictable, childbirth has become manageable and you no longer need to be afraid of it.

This happened precisely because the topic ceased to be taboo, the same schoolgirls who were very worried about the psychological health of Zara Harutyunyan stopped lying that a baby was found in the cabbage. And along with the lies, the horror stories of horrific inhuman torture with unpredictable consequences that our former friends and family members once frightened us with have also disappeared.

Childbirth can become an important and even beautiful moment in the life of every woman, and if something needs to be promoted, it is not the rejection of scenes in the series, but, for example, the presence of the future father at this important event. .

Now many men are preparing for the appearance of an heir with his wife. This greatly strengthens family relationships and forces yesterday’s boys to grow up. There is no need to be afraid of childbirth, we need to talk about it and the more the better.

The author expresses his personal opinion, which may not coincide with the position of the editors.