Retired football star and current radio host Boomer Esiason has opened the floodgates of righteous indignation by suggesting that the Mets second baseman should have encouraged his wife to have a scheduled C-section before opening day. That would have prevented him from missing the first two games of the season when he flew home to be with her.
Esiason got the blowback that he should have expected, and made a lengthy apology for his comments today.
I’m happy though, that this mis-step has turned into an opportunity to educate people about the dangers of early elective delivery. There’s actually been a major, successful effort underway to reduce the use of early elective deliveries. Such deliveries –either induced or scheduled C-sections before 39 weeks– represented 17 percent of births in 2010 (as high as 25 percent in some states). As of 2013 the rate has fallen dramatically, to less than five percent according to the New York Times.
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It turns out babies born at 37 or 38 weeks have a lot more health problems then those born at 39 or 40 weeks, even though it doesn’t seem that such a short time difference should be so important. So I hope the reaction to Esiason helps to get this message across.
Esiason is getting the word out. Here’s what he said:
I’m very grateful to my many friends over at the March of Dimes who graciously reached out and re-educated me that if a pregnancy is healthy, it is medically beneficial to let the labor begin on its own rather than to schedule a C-section for convenience. In fact, babies born just a few weeks early have double the risk of death compared to babies born after 39 full weeks of pregnancy. As their promotional campaign says, ‘Healthy babies are worth the wait.’ And as a proud father, I couldn’t agree more.
I find it quite interesting how societal expectations about fatherhood have changed in the recent past. A generation ago, the notion of a father being in the delivery room was unheard of. Fifteen years ago I had a job interview with a large financial services company. The hiring manager (in his early 30s at the time) told me the job required an all out commitment, and that while he hoped to be present at the birth of his child, that wasn’t really the way things were prioritized there. I didn’t agree with that sentiment then, but it was the norm in many places.
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So it’s interesting to me that Esiason took it for granted that the player would be present for the birth –he didn’t seem to question whether work should come first.
Esiason said the wrong thing, but I think we should cut him some slack. First of all, being a football quarterback is different from being a baseball second baseman. Baseball teams play 162 games per season, NFL teams only 16. A star quarterback plays every game, whereas even star baseball players get a day off from time to time. So maybe we can accuse Esiason of lack of empathy for thinking about how he would have behaved, not what a baseball player would do. But I understand his point about not wanting to miss a game.
Esiason is 52 and times have changed. He gets part of the new way of thinking –dad should be there for the birth. But he screwed up by suggesting unnecessary surgery. And while I don’t fault him for not knowing that earlier births aren’t good for babies, at least it gives people a chance to bring it up and make it known to a wider audience of would-be fathers who might otherwise not be paying attention.
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By healthcare consultant David E. Williams of the Health Business Group
