birth activist

Final Numbers are available for VBAC Bans across the country! Local birth activists polled hospitals that have Labor and Delivery Units. You can access this information on the ICAN Website by selecting the Advocacy Link. Then search ICAN’s Hospital VBAC Policy Database by state or zip code to find out if your local hospital bans VBACs or not.

Barbara Stratton, a national VBAC activist who reversed several bans, has opened up a national yahoo group for people actively working on reversing bans across the nation. VBACtivist@yahoogroups.com. This is a great place for people to share ideas and strategy with people all over the country. She only wants people to join who are actively working on reversing bans. If you are interested in making a difference in your area, please join the group.

I think most people would agree that we've got some problems with our maternity care in the United States. The cesarean and other intervention rates are skyrocketing and yet women are reporting that they aren't happy with their care. All the while some babies are suffering from our maternity care system when they shouldn't have to do so...

So thanks to Citizens for Midwifery (CfM) for putting together a really cool handout called Three Models of Care it includes the Midwives Model of Care, The CIMS Ten Steps and the Lamaze Normal Birth Care Practices. Wow, it's just cool. This is a great tool for childbirth educators, doulas, doctors, midwives, everyone who has a chance to interact with pregnant women and their families! Download your free copy today!

I just ran across this Parent Dish article about how this mom was upset by a breastfeeding ad. Please leave her a comment and let her know that the billboard isn't trying to guilt women into breastfeeding - it's simply stating a fact of life.

I found this article on WebMD today;

Cuddling Cuts Preemie Pain
Kangaroo Mother Care Helps Very Preterm Infants Get Over Pain Faster

Some quotes from the article;

"It works in premature infants of 32 to 36 weeks' gestation, according to an earlier study by Celeste Johnston, DEd, RN, and colleagues at McGill University School of Nursing. But can it work in babies born as early as 28 weeks' gestation? The answer is a qualified yes, Johnston and colleagues now find."

"Kangaroo mother care was invented in 1978 by Colombian pediatrician Edgar Rey. Faced with a shortage of incubators, Rey found that mothers could use their own bodies to warm premature infants. Years of study show the technique to be at least as safe and effective as incubators, and it lessens mothers' anxiety while promoting mother/infant bonding and breastfeeding."

"The technique calls for the tiny child to be held upright between the mothers' breasts and covered with a blanket. Because the child must be held upright against warm skin 24 hours a day, mothers can share kangaroo care with fathers and others."

"More importantly, the very preterm babies recovered from the painful heelstick about a minute faster when held kangaroo-style than when left in the incubator. That's a sign the babies' bodies are beginning to self-regulate, a process known as homeostasis."

"'Mothers should be offered kangaroo mother care as neonatal intensive-care unit policy, not only to be close to their infant, but also to provide comfort,' they add."

If kangaroo care, or skin to skin contact, helps reduce preemie pain, wouldn't it help reduce the pain or discomfort of full term infants as well? If it "lessens mothers' anxiety while promoting mother/infant bonding and breastfeeding", wouldn't the same benefits be seen with full term infants? If kangaroo care becomes "neonatal intensive-care policy", why shouldn't it also become the policy in the regular labor and delivery unit?

When I saw the title to this article "Choosy Mothers Choose Caesareans" I was intrigued. It didn't take long for my intrigue to turn into rage. In my opinion, the article makes it sound like the choice between a vaginal birth and a caesarean is equal to "paper or plastic?" This line really got me: "Pretty tidy way to conduct the often messy business of childbirth." Really? Having your abdomen sliced open is tidy? Hmm... What do you think?

The FDA has urged us to be patient and calm about the bisphenol-A (BPA) leaching into plastic baby bottles. After all, it might be safe - who knows? Momsrising.org has a petition to sign written to the largest makers of baby bottles asking them to take action now before any more babies are harmed or potentially harmed...

Car e to join the petition?

In The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, the author strives to show people how "to start 'positive' epidemics of their own." That's exactly what we want to do.

We, as birth activists, are a gathering storm. Our growing numbers of individuals and groups striving for better prenatal/postpartum care and better births ascertain that the time is coming when the consumer's voice will be heard.

With a clear focus on mother-friendly maternity care and a passionate, positive energy for it, there's nothing to stand in our way for making our goal a reality, except maybe doubt, fear and anger.

With our eyes looking forward, we'll encourage each other when we go astray and make mother-friendly maternity care a social and medical epidemic. Keep up the good work!

New York Times Article: C-Section Moms Less Likely to Have More Kids.

Hmm, now I wonder why that would be?

While at first glance the title of this post might seem more like a spam ad for some weight loss product or sex site, but it's not. A recent study says that obesity in pregnancy costs more money and causes more cesareans. This is a newer, but familiar tune, one that blames the "difficult births" on the women, though this time just the obese ones.

I do admit that when I first read this report, the first person I thought of was long time activist and pregnancy supporter of overweight women, KMom. Through her Plus Sized Pregnancy site she has done more to help women have healthy pregnancies when dealing with weight issues than anyone can imagine, and certainly more than most practitioners combined.

So you can imagine how pleased I was to see her information at another great blog on this very topic. Please take a minute to stop by and read Our Bodies, Our Blog's coverage of: "Fat Women Can Give Birth Vaginally": Obesity and the Skyrocketing Rate of Cesarean Sections

At this point, we probably all know at least a few women who have successfully given birth by cesarean. So why is it a concern?

A few things that are coming to mind are:

Subsequent pregnancies can be affected by a cesarean birth. It is not common, but it is possible for the placenta to attach over scar tissue in the uterus, leading to complications.

Breastfeeding is more difficult for mothers/babies who have a cesarean birth. Is it the medication? Time apart? Physical discomfort? IV Fluids? A combination of factors?
It takes longer for the milk to come in with a cesarean birth, which can cause the baby to lose weight and then receive supplementation with formula, which interferes with nursing.

Finding a provider who will help you to have a Vaginal Birth After Cesarean(VBAC). If you are pregnant and had a cesarean for your previous birth, be sure to ask your potential care provider right away about VBAC, because there are care providers out there who refuse to "allow" them. How will your provider help you to have a vaginal birth? Do they encourage women to have a VBAC? Or encourage them to have another surgery?

A general problem that I have with the Cesarean Trend:
20-40% of women's bodies have NOT CHANGED in some drastic way that would not permit vaginal birth. It is the way that we TREAT women's bodies that HAS CHANGED.