Here is the radio interview I did with Debbie Hull of the Whole Mother Radio show.  We talked about the current percentage of cesareans, VBAC availability, where to obtain support, ways to prevent an unnecessary cesarean and much more!

http://archive.kpft.org/mp3/090803_063001wholemother.MP3

Today the cesarean rate is an alarming 31.8% (CDC 2007 preliminary data).  Only a maximum of 15%  of birthing women should be having cesarean deliveries in order to keep mortality (death) and morbidity (poor outcomes) to the healthiest levels according to the World Health Organization. With the staggering discrepancy in what should be and what is, you NEED to care about this topic.  You could have a questionable cesarean like so many others.

It is important that you the childbearing woman understand how to have the healthiest birth for you and your baby which is most often a no-to-low intervention vaginal birth.

When a cesarean occurs for a truly medical and/or life saving reason it is necessary and the benefits far outweigh the consequences for mom and baby.  The cesareans that occur for other than truly medical and/or life saving reasons are often not necessary or became necessary due to external influence that skewed the labor and delivery outcome (routine induction, epidural,  impatience by provider, mal-position of baby, staying in bed during labor, routine continuous monitoring, pushing in one position, lack of food and water during labor, routine augmentation of labor, lack of support, etc.)

Below is a list of ways to promote having a vaginal birth even if you have already had a baby this information needs to be known.

• Take the ICAN webinar on cesarean prevention.
• Interview before choosing your care provider – you are doing the hiring! Know his or her statistics.  If you do not get a clear answer, that is a RED flag.  You need individualized care. ou and your baby deserve no less.
• Interview both midwives and OB’s.
• Research your chosen birth location well.  There are other options outside of the hospital – home and birth center.
• Hire a doula who shares your philosophy and is comfortable with the type of birth you desire. Some searchable places for a doula are: www.cappa.net, www.dona.org, and www.alldoulas.com.
• Without medical reason standing in the way, labor at home into active labor if traveling to a hospital or birth center.  Well established labor upon arrival to the hospital or birth center decreases the opportunity for interventions, medications, and cesareans.
• Get educated! Take a childbirth class that promotes confidence, consumer awareness (knowing rights and responsibilities), and evidence-based practices. A “good patient” class is not what you want to take.  READ books that share positive stories and good information.  A few of the searchable sites are: www.cappa.net, www.independentchildbirth.com, www.lamaze.org, and www.ican-online.org.
• Turn off your TV – stop watching the dramatic birth shows.  They are not real.
• Use mobility in labor.
• Drink and snack in labor.
• Say NO to routine interventions – meaning interventions or medications without a true medical reason. These can include, IV with fluid running, artificial rupture of membranes, continuous monitoring, wearing of hospital gown, and vaginal exams.
• Say no the the epidural completely or at the earliest at 6 cm’s dilated.
• Push and deliver in positions other than the reclined or “C” position unless that feels good and baby is coming well that way.
• Only have those around you who will support what you need and desire in labor and birth. When you close your eyes who is there with you in your labor “cave”? Who doesn’t fit well there?
• Study yourself for what comforts, assures, and adds to your feeling of safety.
• Eat healthy and exercise during pregnancy.
• Read What Every Woman Needs to Know About Cesarean Section – http://www.childbirthconnection.org/article.asp?ck=10164
• For more information on Cesarean recovery and support, VBAC education and support, and Cesarean prevention go to www.ican-online.org.
• Bottom line – take your money and walk if you are not being listened to and treated as a partner in your care.

This is a  slight re-do from a popular blog post from early 2008. The information is vital and pertinent to the near 1.5 million women (based on previous CDC data) who will have a cesarean surgery this year.

Having a cesarean section will almost always  get you a baby.  Generally there is much more to it and anyone could bargain for or anticipate even in the best of recoveries.

Let me count the ways in no particular order:

• A scar that in no way makes a bikini look better. Sometimes described as a shelf or a pouch.
• The feeling of failure, guilt or less than deserving of motherhood.
• The struggle of living with the huge dichotomy of loving your baby and perhaps hating the birth.
• Higher probability of losing your ability to have more children either through physiologic secondary infertility, pregnancy complications, self-induced secondary infertility, hysterectomy or lack of sexual intimacy in relationship.
• Higher probability of difficulty in breastfeeding.
• Postpartum depression or PTSD, especially in an unwanted cesarean.
• The feeling of failure as a wife or partner.
• Having others discount your feelings and needs. After all you “just” had a baby. Really you just had MAJOR surgery, perhaps by coercion, a true medical indication, or completely from interventions and medications.
• Living with the idea that you failed to pass induction, you failed to push out your baby, you failed because _________ (fill in the blank).
• Obtaining your records to find what you were told and what was written are different. Could your trusted care provider have lied and cheated you?
• Simply finding out that no one told you and you didn’t think it would happen to you. That being induced, getting the epidural, allowing AROM, not getting out of bed, etc. is why you had the cesarean. Is maternal ignorance and fear enough to quell what you feel and make it okay?
• How can you trust yourself as a mother when you ignored your maternal intuition and kept saying yes, because the nurse, midwife or doctor told you to?
• The way your marriage or partnership takes a turn toward hell or in the least a divided place.
• Living with dread when a hungry hand sweeps over your scar. Being sexual can be extremely difficult physically and emotionally.
• Having great fear of becoming pregnant again.
• Having great fear of going for a VBAC and ending up in the OR at the end.
• Not being understood and having others say to your face how lucky you are that you got to take the easy way out.
• Pain.
• Difficulty moving, walking, getting up, rolling over, coughing, laughing, tending to personal cleaning…. You get the idea. It is surgery.

Though not every woman will experience what is on the list, many do.  For all of these – there a stories layered and interwoven for too many women.

Every thirty seconds a woman is surgically having her baby delivered. Light her a candle. Offer her a meal. Let her speak. Listen to her intently. Don’t judge her. Send her to ICAN. http://www.ican-online.org/.

I have been invited to share with you an intimate and challenging (and graphic) journey of a mother from an unexpected primary cesarean, physician decided repeat cesarean and a home water birth after those two cesareans.

Before you watch it, take a deep breath and have an open mind. A box of tissues may be in order as well.

Cesarean vs. VBAC: A Dramatic Difference from Alexandra Orchard on Vimeo.

Watch how a baby is delivered in a cesarean birth and see the dramatic difference of what both the mother and baby experience in a home water birth after cesarean.

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Thank you Alex for allowing me to share your story!  Many blessings to you and yours.

For more information on cesarean recovery, support, prevention and VBAC information go to www.ican-online.org.

Having a cesarean section will likely get you a baby, but generally much more than you bargained for.

Let me count the ways in no particular order:

• A scar that in no way makes a bikini look better. Sometimes described as a shelf or a pouch.
• The feeling of failure, guilt or less than deserving of motherhood.
• The struggle of living with the huge dichotomy of loving your baby and hating the birth.
• Higher probability of losing your ability to have more children either through physiologic secondary infertility, pregnancy complications, self-induced secondary infertility, hysterectomy or lack of sexual intimacy in relationship.
• Higher probability of difficulty in breastfeeding.
• Postpartum depression or PTSD, especially in an unwanted cesarean.
• The feeling of failure as a wife or partner.
• Having others discount your feelings and needs. After all you “just” had a baby. Really you just had MAJOR surgery, perhaps by coercion, or completely from interventions and medications.
• Living with the idea that you failed to pass induction, you failed to push out your baby, you failed because _________ (fill in the blank).
• Obtaining your records to find what you were told and what was written are different. Could your trusted care provider have lied and cheated you?
• Simply finding out that no one told you and you didn’t do the research, that being induced, getting the epidural, allowing AROM, not getting out of bed, etc. is why you had the cesarean. Is maternal ignorance and fear enough to quell what you feel and make it ok?
• How can you trust yourself as a mother when you ignored your maternal intuition and kept saying yes, because the nurse, midwife or doctor told you to?
• The way your marriage or partnership takes a turn toward hell.
• Living with dread when a hungry hand sweeps over your scar. Being sexual can be extremely difficult physically and emotionally.

For all of these – there a stories layered and interwoven for too many women. Every thirty seconds a woman is surgically having her baby delivered. Light her a candle. Offer her a meal. Let her speak. Listen to her intently. Send her to ICAN. http://www.ican-online.org/.