... and don't want a C-section, it is imperative that you inform yourself NOW, while you are still expecting. The sooner the better. Don't wait until the late stages of your pregnancy, when your doctor starts telling you that the baby is too big, your pelvis is too little, you are overdue, the baby is breech, there is too little amniotic fluid, you are developing pre-eclampsia, you are too fat, too old, or a number of other issues that are either fabricated or could have been avoided/dealt with naturally.
Please don't think it couldn't happen to you. C-sections rates across the nation's hospitals are at an all-time high of 34%, but are as high as 70% in some hospitals. Florida and New York must be about the worst places to have a baby from what I've heard. Rates are only expected to continue their sharp upward trend as VBACs become almost unattainable with many doctors and at most hospitals (thanks to the stipulations of their malpractice insurance underwriters).
Many women have been led to believe that having a Cesarean is not that big of a deal any more, and that it is perfectly safe. Please stop and take the time to read this article about a lady who had a cesarean due to her baby presenting breech. She almost died. I wonder how common it is for this to happen and we never hear about it. The nurse who is writing about it is new, so I'm guessing complications such as this occur frequently.
Did you read the article? No? Go read it right now, seriously.
But even if Cesareans were perfectly safe (which they are not), they could also limit how many children a woman would be able to have. The risks associated with this major surgery increase in number and severity with each additional C-section, and three is generally considered the max for any woman.
Many women have been led to believe that having a Cesarean is not that big of a deal any more, and that it is perfectly safe. Please stop and take the time to read this article about a lady who had a cesarean due to her baby presenting breech. She almost died. I wonder how common it is for this to happen and we never hear about it. The nurse who is writing about it is new, so I'm guessing complications such as this occur frequently.
Did you read the article? No? Go read it right now, seriously.
But even if Cesareans were perfectly safe (which they are not), they could also limit how many children a woman would be able to have. The risks associated with this major surgery increase in number and severity with each additional C-section, and three is generally considered the max for any woman.
So back to what I was saying, if you are pregnant and planning on having a hospital birth, please do all you can to educate yourself now. Even if you are not wanting to have a home birth, you can read many pregnancy books written by midwives, glean from their childbearing wisdom, and take that knowledge to the hospital with you. Some suggestions of mine would be:
- Ina May's Guide to Childbirth
- The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth
- Silent Knife
- The Natural Pregnancy Book
- Heart and Hands
- The Complete Book of Pregnancy and Childbirth
and many others that you can find crossreferenced on Amazon. It is unlikely that you will find any of these books at your local bookstore. About the worst book to read during pregnancy is "What to Expect When You're Expecting", which must be why so many OBs give it out for free to their patients.
A lot of great information is also available online on websites such as Unnecesarean, ICAN, and My Best Birth.
I also liked a recent documentary, "The Business of Being Born". Because of a few brief but somewhat graphic scenes (given the nature of the subject), I would only recommend this to be viewed by other women.
Of course, the situation is much different with home births, which continue to maintain very low rates of hospital transfers leading to Cesareans. While hospital births and midwife-attended home births have about the same numbers for infant and maternal death (or in favor of home birth, depending on the study), home births have much, much lower rates of intervention. What that means is that home births achieve the same results without all the trauma, pain, blood, and gore.
Please do not wait until you are in labor and your doctor plays the "dead baby card" to educate yourself. It is YOUR responsibility and nobody else's to ensure the health and well-being of your child. If you suffer at the hands of an ignorant and conceded doctor, it is your own fault if you did not take the time to educate yourself first, but rather blindly followed "doctor's orders".
One great change that you can make today that helps prevent many pregnancy-related complications is to start following the Brewer Pregnancy Diet.
If you do plan on having your baby at a hospital, tour all the ones in your area that your insurance will cover, and pick the best one, then find out which of their (female) OBs is the best, i.e. has the lowest intervention rates. I would never recommend male OBs because aside from the fact that I think it is a perverted job for a man to have, they also know nothing about the female body. It's like having a mechanic doing your dental work. Getting all this info can be time consuming, but it is well worth your effort. You can call the maternity departments and ask them about their rates for C-sections and other interventions.
You should also definitely look into having a doula at your birth. A doula is not a midwife, but is a skilled birth attendant whose role it is to help and support the mother, and advocating for her safe and natural birth. She can help you decide if the doctor is just trying to pressure you into a C-section because he wants to get home in time for the ballgame, or if your baby really is in immediate danger. Going to the hospital without a doula is like going to court without an attorney.
The most common objection I hear against doulas is that it would hurt the feelings of the pregnant woman's husband, and as ridiculous as that may seem, I can see that being a real issue. While certainly most moms would prefer their husband to be at the birth for emotional support, that does not always translate into the ideal physical support. Because men are men, they may end up pushing on the wrong spot at the wrong time, or too hard. I remember during one of my labors I was in the late stages and very thirsty. Between contractions, I managed to ask my husband to bring me some ice water. By the time he got back, I was in the middle of a long and hard contraction that took all my strength and concentration. He didn't even notice, and proceded to try to force the drinking straw through my grit teeth. I snapped at him to get him to stop, and he was puzzled why I didn't drink the water I had just asked for. Practically speaking, you will get a lot more comfort from somebody who knows what you are going through.
Also, be very, very picky about whom you allow to attend your birth. Hospitals have gone from not even allowing the woman's husband to now having fullblown parties in the birthing suites while the laboring woman is hopped up on an epidural. If at all possible, I would recommend having only people who have had positive birth experiences themselves, and who do not work in the healthcare industry. People who had traumatic births themselves, and the ones who work to produce them, are filled with and lead by fear. Fear of the unknown and the unpredictable. The last thing a laboring woman needs is insane fabricated scenarios of what all could go wrong. Leave Eeyore at home and call after the baby is born. When it comes to birth attendants, less is definitely more.
Finally, think twice about whom to accept advice from. Decide what you want the outcome of your birth to be, find other women who have already successfully achieved what you want to achieve, and then do what they did. If you go to the hospital expecting a birth experience as peaceful and natural as somebody else had at home, you will be sorely disappointed.
Remember, it is your responsibility as a parent to act in the best interest of yourself and your child. You cannot rely on a doctor to do what is your job.
Please do not wait until you are in labor and your doctor plays the "dead baby card" to educate yourself. It is YOUR responsibility and nobody else's to ensure the health and well-being of your child. If you suffer at the hands of an ignorant and conceded doctor, it is your own fault if you did not take the time to educate yourself first, but rather blindly followed "doctor's orders".
One great change that you can make today that helps prevent many pregnancy-related complications is to start following the Brewer Pregnancy Diet.
If you do plan on having your baby at a hospital, tour all the ones in your area that your insurance will cover, and pick the best one, then find out which of their (female) OBs is the best, i.e. has the lowest intervention rates. I would never recommend male OBs because aside from the fact that I think it is a perverted job for a man to have, they also know nothing about the female body. It's like having a mechanic doing your dental work. Getting all this info can be time consuming, but it is well worth your effort. You can call the maternity departments and ask them about their rates for C-sections and other interventions.
You should also definitely look into having a doula at your birth. A doula is not a midwife, but is a skilled birth attendant whose role it is to help and support the mother, and advocating for her safe and natural birth. She can help you decide if the doctor is just trying to pressure you into a C-section because he wants to get home in time for the ballgame, or if your baby really is in immediate danger. Going to the hospital without a doula is like going to court without an attorney.
The most common objection I hear against doulas is that it would hurt the feelings of the pregnant woman's husband, and as ridiculous as that may seem, I can see that being a real issue. While certainly most moms would prefer their husband to be at the birth for emotional support, that does not always translate into the ideal physical support. Because men are men, they may end up pushing on the wrong spot at the wrong time, or too hard. I remember during one of my labors I was in the late stages and very thirsty. Between contractions, I managed to ask my husband to bring me some ice water. By the time he got back, I was in the middle of a long and hard contraction that took all my strength and concentration. He didn't even notice, and proceded to try to force the drinking straw through my grit teeth. I snapped at him to get him to stop, and he was puzzled why I didn't drink the water I had just asked for. Practically speaking, you will get a lot more comfort from somebody who knows what you are going through.
Also, be very, very picky about whom you allow to attend your birth. Hospitals have gone from not even allowing the woman's husband to now having fullblown parties in the birthing suites while the laboring woman is hopped up on an epidural. If at all possible, I would recommend having only people who have had positive birth experiences themselves, and who do not work in the healthcare industry. People who had traumatic births themselves, and the ones who work to produce them, are filled with and lead by fear. Fear of the unknown and the unpredictable. The last thing a laboring woman needs is insane fabricated scenarios of what all could go wrong. Leave Eeyore at home and call after the baby is born. When it comes to birth attendants, less is definitely more.
Finally, think twice about whom to accept advice from. Decide what you want the outcome of your birth to be, find other women who have already successfully achieved what you want to achieve, and then do what they did. If you go to the hospital expecting a birth experience as peaceful and natural as somebody else had at home, you will be sorely disappointed.
Remember, it is your responsibility as a parent to act in the best interest of yourself and your child. You cannot rely on a doctor to do what is your job.