First Anniversary !

A year ago I began this blog in honor of Cesarean Awareness Month (April), intending to post one cesarean prevention or VBAC article per day. I didn't quite meet my goal, but made a good start.

It's April again and ICAN is posting a birth story every day of April.
Here is the first one:
http://blog.ican-online.org/2010/04/01/cam-birth-story-1/

You will start to see the patterns in women's experiences all over the U.S.
What you learn could help you avoid your first or subsequent unnecessary c-section.

Knowledge is power!

My own line of prevention t-shirts and more, part of proceeds go to ICAN:
http://www.zazzle.com/lovemychoir/gifts?cg=196873930024520261

Shari

Video: C-section vs VBAC: A Dramatic Difference

This 16 minute video is graphic, poignant, and really makes its point.
You will see live surgery and live birth. All the babies are healthy, so don't worry about that, but I think it does a good job showing why caring so much about this topic makes sense.

What I find interesting is that this couple didn't have an agenda about being against c-section. They were very mainstream and compliant. But sometime after their second child, the tide turned and made them demand something more gentle.

http://vimeo.com/5648654

The video will mean different things to different people. I cried when the Dad had to unwrap the bond around the Mom's hand so that she could backwards pet her baby right after birth. I remember my intense desire and expectation to hold my baby immediately, but I just got that kiss and fingertip pet. I felt so shocked and alone that I couldn't hold him and mother him right away, and had to just listen to him cry as they worked on him across the room where I couldn't even see. Maybe that shouldn't matter, but for many Moms, it makes a huge impression.

The letter at the end could have been written by any one of us.

Shari

Article / Newsweek: "A Change of Delivery"

Great new article in Newsweek about the pros of VBAC.
I really think the tide will be changing, however slowly.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/235317

Happy New Year / Birthday

Happy New Year to everyone. I wish you a peaceful, healthful, adventurous, active, and loving 2010.

And by the way, Happy Birthday to my darling, delicious son Reuben who was born a few hours after midnight on January 1, 2009. He was born via VBAC at home in a tub of warm water with a midwife attending, and immediately cradled and nurtured by his loving Mommy and Daddy. He was cared for lovingly by his Aunt and family without leaving the comfort of our home.

Thank goodness I took the time to learn about c-section avoidance, giving me two safe and natural births after one questionable c-section.

Shari

Standing Firm with the OB

This post gives suggestions of how to deal with the pressure you will feel at the OB's office in your final weeks - from about 36 on. In my case, I began planning a home birth at 36 weeks, but wanted to maintain OB "shadow care". It was important to me to stay with both the OB and midwife, to not burn bridges, so that I could swiftly change my mind if I felt the situation was degrading. This is a very difficult tightrope to walk, especially as the OB was not aware of my new plan due to laws threatening to midwifery in my state.

I feel it's important to be respectful and not too cocky about the subject with your OB. In some ways, he or she is probably constrained by regulations that do not agree with his or her own beliefs and experience.

* Listen respectfully to their advice
* Try to separate out fear and control techniques from good information
* Remain positive and avoid confrontational reactions
* Stand firm on your decisions and know what you want
* Politely ask to read the scary research they cite
* Ask to see written copies of their bans and other rules if they push those
* Realize that in some cases, medical intervention actually is useful and bend as needed
* Remember that it is your body, your baby and you have patient's rights. There is little they can "allow" or "disallow" that can be done without your consent. "Won't Allow" is a red flag.

A sample conversation on the table, about 38 weeks and up. PLEASE - Respond with some of your own experiences in the exam room! These conversations are very very common.

History: Wanting my 2nd VBAC, age 40, gestational diabetes.
This is my 3rd baby, so while the below was stressful, I had had a lot of practice with these questions during my 1st VBAC attempt. I hope this will help you on your very 1st try.

"Why don't we just put you on the surgery schedule, and hopefully you won't need it?"

"No thanks, I'll just wait until the baby is ready. The BPPs are perfect so I'm in no hurry."

"We have a new absolute policy against VBAC induction with pitocin."
"Then I guess I'll just have to wait it out. What will we do if I go to 42 weeks and still refuse a c-section?"
"We won't let you go that long."
"I think that's up to me."

"I'm sorry, but you absolutely have to give birth by 40w3d."
"Is someone going to come to my house and get me if I don't? (said in a friendly way)"

Said in front of my 4 year old: "You know your uterus could rupture and you and the baby could die. There have been two tragic cases in our local hospitals recently." (I was FURIOUS but still chose to bring it back to the point and not fight that battle.)
"I wonder how many of those women with ruptures had been induced or otherwise rushed through labor? I have read up very extensively on the statistics, and I still feel that trying to follow a natural course will be the safest for us for now."

"Your baby could be getting huge because of the GD and could have serious sugar problems and shoulder dystocia."

"I don't feel that my baby is overly large and I have excellent control of my diet. My fasting numbers are within a few points of the required number. There don't seem to be any indications of a problem in my case."

'What are you going to do when you get to 41 weeks? Start hiding out from us?"

"Well if the BPPs are fine and I feel fine, then I guess I'll just keep coming to my appointments and see what happens."

"How about we just stretch your membranes for you and maybe get you going?"

"I'd rather not do anything that might possibly introduce infection or break my water before I'm ready. By the way - I formally forbid you from trying to induce labor during an exam until I ask for it." (I allowed them to stretch me at 41+ weeks but told them in front of a witness to be very careful not to break my water..)

"You know there is new research that the placenta degrades after 41 weeks and you are endangering the baby's life."

"Can I see that research? I had read that there can be a very tiny drop in function around 41 weeks, a little bit more at 42 weeks, and significantly more problems around 43 weeks and greater. I have not read of this leading to severe damage or fatalities except in extreme cases."

"We've had office meetings about your case and we really need to get you in."
"It seems you are the only ones worried. My baby and I seem to be doing OK."

Let's hear from you.

Sign up for Cesarean Prevention Webinar TONIGHT!

Passing this on...

******************
There is still time to register for ICAN's cesarean prevention webinar!

http://ican-online.org/none/ican-birth-class-cesarean-prevention

ICAN Birth Class: Cesarean Prevention
NEW Online Webinar

Planning YOUR birth? Are you keeping your fingers crossed and hoping
for the best? Well, take charge and find out ways you can increase
your chances of having an easier and safer birth. First-timers and
experienced mothers both can benefit from this class.

This 2-hour online session will help you learn:

* Different kinds of care providers you can use, and the pros and cons of
each
* How to empower yourself to make educated choices during your
pregnancy and during labor
* What factors contribute to your chances of having an unnecessary or
preventable cesarean
* What is the "downward spiral of intervention"
* Why avoiding an unnecessary cesarean is safest for you and your baby
* When cesareans are truly necessary

Tuesday, June 23rd - 10:00 pm EDT (7:00 pm PDT)

$20.00 fee benefits ICAN - click here to register:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/999201490

--
Lily Beck
International Director, ICAN
www.ican-online.

org

April 23, Big hurdles / Baby Steps

I certainly got derailed from my quest, but I am not giving up. I'll have to revise the mission. Instead of a post per day for every day of Cesarean Awareness Month, I will strive to post a month's worth of useful information. However, it might take me twice or three times that time to do it. This week I have been caught up in the Earth Day furor. It's really catching on and becoming part of the culture.

At the moment I am trying to fight off guilt about the 40 years of plastic I've used and discarded. As a child, I clearly remember eating fast food and my Dad manually rolling down the windows for us to throw it right out onto the road. Classy, huh? Thank goodness for progress, if only inch by inch. I recoil at even a flying cigarette butt flying out a car window these days. At the moment I am googling ways to reduce use of plastic packaging and wishing the grocery stores would enable this. The most striking statement I heard in an Earth Day TV program yesterday was the following. In the ocean between CONUS and Hawaii, in an area of strong swirling currents where boats rarely go, there is a mass of plastic garbage rotating. The size of this mass is twice the size of Texas! Sea birds are dying, and their bellies are found stuffed with it. The scientist called it a "plastic soup" and there is more plastic than plankton per cup of water. It affect every species from the tiniest to the largest, including us. Our behaviors have to change.

When faced with overwhelming wrong and enormous mistakes, we can only change it one step at a time.

I will continue my blog one step at a time, as I can with a young child in my arms, and not beat myself up for not getting it perfect the first time.

I will make incremental changes in my behaviors to reduce waste my family's life. I will be open to new products and supportive of manufacturers and stores who are trying to move toward a better model.

I will improve how I take care of my house and organize my life, learning good skills and positive attitudes one step at a time (yes, I'm a FlyLady subscriber www.flylady.net).

We will question the warped priorities of our healthcare system and clearly but respectfully demand changes that result in healthier babies and mothers at childbirth, though we might feel so small next to the enormity of that system.

To link the two issues together - how much plastic waste do you think comes out of a single hospital birth compared to a single home birth? Think of every needle in a plastic case, in a plastic sleeve, in a box. All the disposable bedding. The pharma bottles, masks, disposable but non-degradable surgical gowns. All the chemicals. It's interesting how everything comes together. In your own home, with your own familiar germs, the need for plastic disposables or sterilized products is very small or reserved for unusual circumstances.

Recycling: Plants Recovery: Just What the Doctor Ordered (From "WasteAge")


Shari