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Dr. Butcher
Avoid cesarean operations

By Sheila K.
April 26, 2001
The Iranian

While I was serving Dr Shir-Ali (not his real name) and the rest of our guests my eggplant dish -- the scrumptious "Garnie Yarikh" (literally means sliced belly) -- Dr Shir-Ali began bragging about his practice in Iran.

Dr. Shir-Ali is a highly-educated a gynecologist with over 40 years of practice in Europe, Iran and United States. He began flaunting his "20-minute" C-sections -- the only delivery method he used on his patients in Iran.

By then, looking at my scrumptious Garnie Yarikh was becoming more and more nauseating. I was appalled by his greediness and cruelty. When I asked him, why had he performed so many C-sections, he said the money was good and it saved him a lot of time.

He also expressed the wonderful treatment he got from his patients and their husbands. He was always invited to glamorous parties of every first birthday of every child he had delivered -- or every stomach he had sliced.

Although Dr. Ghasaab's sadistic practice is viciously immoral, I can't quite blame doctors like him. C-section is a common form of child delivery in Iran. This involves both parties, Dr. Butcher AND his ignorant patients.

A good friend of mine recently moved to the United States by marriage. She's thinking about having children soon. It saddened me to see her frightened face when it came to the topic of natural birth. She was so frightened, she was thinking of giving birth in Iran so she could easily get a C-section. Although I assured her of a painless delivery (or minimal pain with tranquilizers), she didn't seem relieved at all.

Pain is not the issue, she said. Tragically, many women in Iran prefer C-sections because they believe natural child birth can affect their physical appearance. So they prefer the baby to come from some place else -- they prefer cutting the belly and uterus and exposing themselves to all sorts of infections, diseases and quite frequently, DEATH.

Personally, I know of many women who are suffering from cesarean side effects. Severe abdominal pains, uteral infections and bladder diseases are some of the most common side effects of cesareans in Iran.

But the self-mutilation continues. Performing C-sections, as an alternative method of childbirth, is not only corrupt but extremely dangerous. I wish we could educate our Iranian moms and moms-to-be to stop this destructive behavior.

Comment for The Iranian letters section Comment to the writer Sheila K.