Caesarean sections may have become the norm for births in Hong Kong, but not in New York- where they're only usually performed when medically necessary. Of course, they remain popular among the select few who consider themselves 'too posh to push', mostly wealthy Manhattan mums who schedule births like dental appointments.
Doctors in Hong Kong and the mainland are extremely liberal when it comes to C-sections. I know of one expatriate woman in Beijing who even had to fight the doctors there to allow her to have a natural birth.
I fully intended to have a natural birth, but my doctor said I should have a C-section for medical reasons. I was genuinely disappointed at having to miss out on the labour process and wasn't exactly looking forward to abdominal surgery.
I have always considered myself a modern woman, with a Western outlook on life, but I also have a traditional Chinese side. So I went to work on the impending C-section in the best East-meets-West way possible, choosing to succumb to the power of painkillers while placing a bit of trust in fung shui. The first step was to find a fung shui master to analyse the astrological signs of my husband and I, and suggest auspicious dates for the birth.
Obviously, the best place to look was Hong Kong. My due date was August 16 and the master we found suggested the best date around then was August 9, but my doctor could initially only squeeze me in on August 13- the day of the Hungry Ghost Festival. This sent my relatives into a frenzy, so I had to ask for another date.
While my Chinese-American doctor understood what the fuss was about, she told me C-sections could not be performed in the United States until week 39. In Hong Kong, they can be performed as soon as week 37.