Thursday, February 28, 2008

Planning on Several Children? Might want to reconsider that C-Section on demand...

This according to Mary D’Alton, MD, director of obstetrics and gynecology at the Columbia University Medical Center, College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City.

 

As quoted by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology:

 

“There was consensus, says Dr. D'Alton, that CDMR (Cesarean Delivery on Maternal request) is not recommended for women who are planning on having several children since the risks of placenta previa and placenta accrete increase with each cesarean delivery.” http://www.acog.org/from_home/publications/press_releases/nr05-09-06-1.cfm

 

Feel free to run a quick google search on “placenta previa” and “placenta accrete.” Increasing those odds is scary enough even if you aren’t planning on several children…

Scheduling Your Birth?

A common theme I hear among new mothers these days is the growing practice of “scheduling” their births. Perhaps that is just another reflection of the on demand world we live in. The problem with that mentality is that bodily functions weren’t designed to occur on demand, and attempting to force those processes can cause undesirable complications. Consider this tidbit from ICAN:

“Rupture of membranes - The breaking of the mother’s waters, either naturally or artificially by her care provider, can cause the baby to drop into the pelvis in an unfavorable position. An arbitrary and artificial time limit being placed on labor may not allow the laboring woman’s body enough time to birth.” Taken from http://www.ican-online.org/vbac/cephalopelvic-disproportion-cpd

The amniotic sac is there for a reason folks! You might want to think twice before breaking it just to speed things along – unless you prefer to increase the risk of poor positioning and forced emergency C-Sections…

Vaginal Birth After Cesarean? (VBAC)

Having our fourth child in an area where we had never had a child before was a VERY "eye opening" experience for us. Every hospital we contacted seemed bent on dissuading us from a VBAC and equally bent on doing everything they could to protect, not mother or child, but physician and hospital from liability if we insisted on VBAC.

Of general note was insistence on constant monitoring, extreme restriction of freedom during labor, and attaching a monitor to the head of the fetus during labor. Yep, you read right, they wanted to insert a wire through the birth canal, forcibly break the water, and stick a probe on our child's head. After two absolutely successful, VBAC's in other regions, every hospital, doctor, and even midwife we spoke with was prepared, indeed determined to treat us as though we were an inexperienced danger to their wallets. Assanine.

If you have previously given birth by Cesarean, and are now considering a VBAC, please visit this site: http://www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/50ways_VBAC.asp Understand that you have rights that doctors are bound to respect, but sadly, in many cases will fail to inform you of.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Episiotomy and Epidurals ~ Avoid Them!

I subscribe to Midwifery Today ~ this was taken from 2/27/08 newsletter.

Avoiding an epidural is also helpful in preventing perineal damage. In one study, women with no anesthesia had the highest rate of intact perinea (34.1 percent), while women with epidurals had the highest episiotomy rate (65.2 percent). Another study shows that women who got an epidural were more than three times as likely to suffer third- or fourth-degree tears. Why would this be?
For one thing, women with epidurals often end up getting cut because they don't have enough sensation to push the baby out. The effects of epidurals are notoriously variable, and even the best anesthesiologist in the world can't predict when delivery will occur, or how different women may be affected by the same dosage of medication. Furthermore, an epidural prevents the mother from assuming optimal positions during delivery. She is also denied the natural sensations of an urge to push and has to rely on external sources to tell her when it is appropriate, instead of listening to the wisdom of her body.
Not surprisingly, oxytocin (or Pitocin) also increases a woman's chances of serious tearing: 47 percent with Pitocin vs. 29 percent of those without Pitocin tore deeply.
— Elizabeth BruceFrom the article "Everything You Need to Know to Prevent Perineal Tearing," which was excerpted from the book Get Through Childbirth in One Piece? How to Prevent Episiotomies and Tearing and published in Midwifery Today, Issue 65

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Educate Yourselves!

If you do not want to give birth the "granola way" make sure you educate yourself completely in the form you would like to give birth in.

(the following information is taken as an excerpt from Cesareans on Demand written by Mayri Sagady Leslie, CNM, MSN from the magazine Every Baby Magazine page 102)

Risks that exist for all cesareans, including elective:

  • longer hospitalization than for vaginal births
  • more pain than with vaginal birth
  • higher risk of the baby developing asthma
  • unexplained stillbirth in subsequent pregnancies
  • problems with getting pregnant again and possibly an increased risk of miscarriage