TIME Magazine Speaks Out on Repeat Cesareans

February 19th, 2009

Time Magazine came out with a great article “The Trouble With Repeat Cesareans” today online, and this is scheduled to be available in the newsstand issue tomorrow! (Does anyone buy magazines anymore???)

The International Cesarean Awareness Network helped greatly with this article, providing data on VBAC bans state by state, and I was shocked at the numbers for WA state: Out of 69 hospitals, 27 banned VBACs totally, and there are 13 “de facto” bans, where there is no outright policy against them, but just try to find a provider willing to work with VBAC’ing women! Ouch!
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As a co-leader of ICAN Seattle, I speak with, meet and hear the stories of women every day, who can’t find a provider willing to support her VBAC birth. Really support! Not like, “Well, you can try, but we will schedule your repeat Cesarean for 40 weeks if you haven’t had your baby yet! Courageous women are making choices beyond what any woman should have to do, in order to birth a baby out her vagina after a Cesarean! There are local women choosing to bring in traveling midwives to attend them, Women going to a different state to have their VBAC baby, and a few wonderul WA midwives who believe in choice and safe birth, willing to work with VBAC women to have a home birth, with very little community support from hospital based providers!

And, as the number of Cesareans go up every year, the number of women who want to have a VBAC will only grow. And unfortunately, I fear the choices will become increasingly limited.

Now, I am all for Cesareans when necessary, but honestly, can almost a third of the women in the US not birth a baby vaginally???? The World Health Organization (WHO) states that a Cesarean rate in developed countries of 10-15% rreflects surgery when truly necessary, and anything higher is actually doing more harm than good. More harm to moms and more harm to babies!

Go read the TIME article and let me know what you think. Or tell me about your own VBAC journey here! And if you need help finding resources, selecting a provider, or want to connect with other women with similar experiences, find your local ICAN chapter from the ICAN link above! Click here for Seattle ICAN Chapter info. Finally, as a doula, I love supporting VBACing women and I teach a VBAC class in Seattle for women looking to birth their next baby vaginally! More info on this at my website New Moon Birth

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A Busy Day Full of Birth Stuff…just right for a birth junkie!

February 10th, 2009

A day just full of birth, from morning to night! First off, a postpartum visit with a mama and four day old little girl! It is so nice to help get breastfeeding off to a good start and reassure the new parents that things are going well, even if they feel all topsy-turvey, which is so normal.

Then, a PALS Doulas board meeting, with lots of exciting plans and ideas for this wonderful Seattle based doula organization, the oldest doula organization in the country!

Later this evening, it is time for ICAN Seattle to meet, and we are having a local Certified Nurse Midwife come and share some of the current issues for VBAC women that she sees in her practice and at the hospital where she works! I am a co-leader of this group, and am enjoying it very much. ICAN has a wonderful video on women who have gone on to have vaginal births after cesareans (VBAC) after they were told they had CPD (Cephalo-pelvic Disproportion), meaning no baby would fit through their vaginas. I find it so inspirational, and you should check it out![youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roFVkDV45MM&eurl=http://www.ican-online.org/community/videos/laureen/question-cpd]

The day is full of good things, good people and birth! What could be better!

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Why Are We All So Afraid? Perpectives On How Fear and Risk Impact Birth

February 10th, 2009

I sit on the board of REACHE, Regional Association of Childbirth Educators of Puget Sound, and we are getting ready to have our 27th annual conference, geared toward childbirth educators, labor and delivery nurses, doctors, midwives, doulas and other folks involved in maternity care.

This year’s conference is sure to be a wonderful one! Hold the date: April 17th, 2009!

Why Are We All So Afraid? Perspectives on How Fear and Risk Impact Birth

Hype or Help? The Media and Maternity Care.
Jennifer Block

Issues such as home birth, cesarean section, and maternity care in general have been getting more attention in recent months in print media, television, and film, and the amount of information accessible on the web continues to grow. How is modern childbirth being portrayed and how are mothers being portrayed? How does this affect pregnant women’s knowledge and attitudes toward birth? Is the information age helping women make more informed choices or making them ore fearful?

Balancing Fear and Faith: Risk Estimation in Modern Obstetrics.
Andrew Kotaska

Dr. Kotaska’s presentation will include: What is “normal” birth and why is it important to define? The language and the culture of risk. Overestimating obstetrical risk. Industrial versus normal birth. Fear versus faith in modern obstetrics. An interactive question and answer session.

The Courage to Birth: Reducing Fear and Enhancing Confidence
Kathy McGrath

Fear is a stumbling block to many women who are trying to achieve a normal birth. Learn how it affects labor progress and birth outcomes, and discover specific strategies to help clients reduce fears and develop the confidence needed to have a positive, satisfying birth experience.

The Effects of Fear and Risk on Obstetric Practice

Dawn Russell

Dr. Dawn Russell, MD, OB/GYN at Evergreen Women’s Care in Kirkland, Washington will cover the life experience, education and training processes for a practicing OB/GYN. She’ll explain how these processes influence her practice and decision making.

Check out the REACHE website to register, or for more information!

See you there!

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Darn that breech baby!

February 7th, 2009

I just returned from helping a wonderful couple welcome their little girl into the world! This baby had remained stubbornly frank breech since about 35 weeks, despite every attempt to turn her. Mom even tried an external version, along with all the acupuncture, chiropractic treatments, positioning, hot/cold, talking, bright lights, music, slant board, and visualization anyone could dish out!

And the little girl did not want to turn. The originally planned homebirth became a cesarean in the hospital. So different then the parents imagined. Mom had such grace and confidence as she slowly came to terms with the surgical birth. They wrote a birth plan to honor the things that were still important to them. Selected a facility and surgical team who were respectful and sensitive. Played their own music in the OR, walked into the operating suite, delayed newborn weighing, got skin to skin while on the surgery table, took lots of pictures, and remained skin to skin for hours after surgery back in the room. The little girl was healthy and happy and snuggled up at her mama’s breast when I left.

Yet, I can’t help but wonder? Isn’t breech just another variation of normal? Why are providers not being taught the skills to assist at a breech birth? (“Hands off the breech” being the first one!) Every breech birth puts the mom on the path to navigating the VBAC journey in the future, and choices around VBACs are getting slimmer and slimmer, at least in my community.

Why is breech birth considered safe and the standard of care in many communities and in others, it means automatic surgery? How can that be evidence based medicine?

Here is one of my favorite resources for breech birth, The Coalition for Breech Birth! Check them out!

And welcome earthside baby girl, you are loved, no matter how you arrived!

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A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to My VBAC Class!

February 2nd, 2009

I was teaching a New Moon Birth VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) class this past Saturday to some families who are working very hard to have their next birth be a vaginal one, after a less than satisfying cesarean birth experience with their first child. I had a family enrolled in the class, who were very close to their due date, and said that they would plan on coming if she was still pregnant. The night before the class, we emailed, and the mom said, “Still pregnant, but I haven’t slept much this week and just feel like crud at this point. I don’t think I would be a good student tomorrow, I’m pretty miserable.” I told her we would miss her but to take care, as she will be having a baby soon.

I teach the class all day, return home and check email. Right there, from this mama, screaming at me from the subject line:”He is here, VBAC BABY!!!”

I couldn’t help but smile! Feeling like crud equaled early labor! I am so happy for this family! Welcome earthside baby boy!

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Up early to go work with a new class of doulas!

February 1st, 2009

Sipping coffee, getting ready to leave the house to go teach for a few hours at the Seattle Midwifery School Labor Support Course doula training.  A whole new fresh crop of doulas ready to start working in our community!  If you are ever looking for a doula and are worried about the cost, please let me know, as I have several resources, and can also ask at the doula trainings for someone just rarin’ to go and on the lower cost side of things!

Every woman who wants a doula at her birth should have one, and I am committed to helping that be true here in my community!

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New Moon Birth committed to normal birth!

February 1st, 2009

The birth of a blog!  Come back frequently to see what I am up to, to learn about normal birth, and recent births and newsworthy information!  I welcome your participation!

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