Please do pass this along...this is a new site dedicated to showing the dangers associated with the use of Cytotec ( aka Misoprostol ) for labor induction. It's scary that still so many people don't know about it, that doctors don't explain the risks associated with it, nor that it is NOT approved by the FDA for use in pregnancy.
Pitocin is not approved by the FDA either, but I'll get into that in a later post. ;)
Here is the site:
Cytotec Adverse Event Site
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Some Favorite Posts
I brought over some of my favorite posts from the old blog, so feel free to scroll down and enjoy!! : )
A Healthy Baby Isn't ALL That Matters
This was a post from March 26th, 2008. It is being published in one of the upcoming issues of Midwifery Today. :)
There are so many details of my cesarean that I have either left unwritten, or have written in fragments in various locations. A reply back to an online thread regarding the “safety” of a cesarean; or to a mom who is being told that her baby will be too big and she needs to have her baby surgically removed.
But you see, my story doesn’t just end when we brought our son home from the hospital on Palm Sunday in 2004. My journey began when I found out I was pregnant in 2003, and it continues every day. Some days I wish it would all just be over with. Be done with the deeply seated emotional pain, be done with the physical pain of ongoing adhesions and endometriosis from my cesarean – even 4 years later. The ongoing torture of the emotional pain could have been avoided, I suppose. However, in 2005 I made the decision to take the red pill. And for those of you who paid attention during the movie The Matrix, you’ll get my analogy here. The red pill enables us to see truths that we otherwise would have never believed. The red pill takes us out of the “habit” beliefs – simply believing what we are told or what we were raised to believe. On the other hand, the blue pill enables us to live in the “ignorance is bliss” state. Never digging deeper, simply being happy with the things we believe and never questioning the origin or the author. So, in 2005 I made the choice to swallow the red pill. The reality that had been mine in childbirth, was shattered as I learned more. And as I gained more knowledge, my guilt and anger grew over what I had done to my son; and also pain for the vast number of women who do the same to their children unknowingly.
Just before my son turned one, I found the ICAN support list. To this day I don’t remember exactly how I found it, but I did. I was still of the mindset and belief that some babies simply grow too big for mom to deliver safely, inductions are perfectly acceptable, and epidurals should be used by every woman. I joined the support list, totally oblivious to what I was walking into. Women who were totally angry over their cesareans, marriages compromised due to lack of support or differences in birth beliefs between a woman and her spouse. Women having their babies at home, after having undergone a cesarean with a prior pregnancy. Basically, a group of crazy women. Or so I thought at the time. I defiantly challenged their arguments that claimed it was intervention, not size, that caused my very difficult first birth and recovery. The harder I fought it, the more information and resources they flung my way. After a few days of this, I sent out a post calling them all crazy, and then unsubscribed. Six little words posted by a woman who is known for pulling out a wet fish when needed, haunted me and really made me think. “Damn. She took the blue pill.” The nerve! Crazy, fanatic, rude women! Who were they to tell me that my cesarean was unnecessary and avoidable? But it planted a seed…
I began to research all of the things that they had challenged me with. Little by little, that seed began to sprout. Three months later I returned to the list, apologized for calling them all crazy , and asked for help.
So why am I telling you about ICAN and my beginnings with it if I am not writing this about my VBAC? Well, because without ICAN I would have continued to believe that my babies were just too big for my body. I would have continued to believe that there is nothing wrong with cesareans. The day that I re-subscribed to the ICAN list, is the day that I chose the red pill. I no longer wanted to live in ignorance, because after all…ignorance is what led to my son spending 9 days in the NICU.
Ironically, it was my son’s 2nd birthday that hit me the hardest. On his 1st birthday, I was still learning, and not quite convinced yet that the cesarean wasn’t necessary. But by that 2nd birthday, not only did I know from research that it had been unnecessary, just five months earlier I had pushed out my VBAC baby onto my bed. She was 10.10lbs and posterior. By body had never been broken – I was only told that it was. As I began to really process through this, I realized just how alone and misunderstood I was outside of the ICAN list.
“He’s healthy now, that’s all that matters.”
From my friends, my mom, and even my husband. No one knew how damaging those words were, even though they were not meant to harm. I didn’t understand. How is him being relatively healthy now, negate all of the harm that was done to him in his first seconds, minutes, hours, and days of his life? When a woman is trying to heal from a rape trauma, do people essentially tell her to get over it…at least she’s safe now? But people are almost offended when the two are compared. Cesareans take place every single day and are accepted – even CHOSEN. So then, would it be different if many women didn’t mind their rape experience? What would happen as a society if we as women told rape survivors, that their experience was acceptable, because women are raped all the time? How damaging and belittling would this be? Cesareans are major abdominal surgeries. And so many women are lied to, coerced, and convinced to have one. Many occur because of a cascade of intervention during labor that never belonged there to begin with. As a society, we have strayed so far from what birth is – a normal, physiologic process. We’ve turned it into an ugly, scary, medical procedure. No wonder so many women are scared of it. All they hear are horror stories. You have to dig for the beautiful and unhindered birth stories that ARE out there. They are just not as common as the “You’ll be begging for the epidural…” stories. I’m afraid that until women take a stand for their babies, that our daughters are going to have to figure this out for themselves.
So, back to my cesarean.
The story is quite simple. I was young, I had delivered a larger-than-average baby vaginally 2 ½ years prior. The recovery from that birth was long and hard, and I had always been told that it was because she was 9.1lbs. Not the pitocin, AROM, stadol, or the forced pushing that ended up in a large episiotomy and vacuum extraction. I was terrified of another birth and recovery like this.
I met with a new OB late in pregnancy, because my former OB refused to induce me even though my son was showing to be over 8 ½ lbs already, and I did NOT want to go through the hell that I went through with my first. Yes, I warned you…I was completely ignorant. This new OB agreed with me about size, and went on to tell my husband and I stories of large babies and shoulder dystocia, nerve damage, and broken collar bones. He said our best plan of action was a cesarean, and soon, since my son was only putting on weight at this point. We agreed, even though my husband and I both discussed later how we had a slight uneasy feeling about all of this, but shrugged it off as uneasiness over the unknown. The very next morning I went in for an ultrasound and NST. During the NST it was discovered that I was contracting quite regularly. Upon a vaginal exam, I was told that I was 4cm dilated, and would be having the cesarean that afternoon, instead of the next morning. I was nervous, but the thought of finally meeting my son was what I kept focusing on.
A lab technician came in and drew several vials of blood. Then a nurse came in to start my IV, administer Terbutaline to stop my contractions, and to insert a catheter. My mind was in a whirl as I was being prepped for surgery, and trying to get a hold of my husband to get back to the hospital. He had dropped me off, thinking that I was just going in for routine pre-surgery stuff. He arrived, as did my grandmother in law and my mom. My husband was told that he could not go into the OR with me, until my spinal block was in place, and they were ready for the surgery. I was terrified, and I had to leave the one person that I trusted most in this world, behind. The one thing I asked before walking in was that they cover the instruments. I didn’t want to see what they were going to use on my body. They found this a bit strange, as they said that they have never had a patient request this before. Surely I couldn’t have been the only one afraid of being cut open, could I?
The nurse walked me into the OR. I remember how cold it was. It was like walking into a sterile vortex. Bright lights, blue paper sheets everywhere, trays, oxygen devices, and nurses in full face masks and scrubs. It was surreal. I sat down on the operating table, trying to brace for the spinal. I was absolutely terrified beyond my wits that the spinal would not work, and I would feel them cutting into my body. I began to cry as the anesthesiologist prepped my back for the insertion of the catheter, and a nurse stood in front of me in efforts to console me. She made eye contact and told me that everything would be okay. I just cried. I don’t remember a whole lot of the tiny details from here. I remember seeing my husband’s face come into view above me when he entered the room, and felt him touch my hand. I remember my Obstetrician “joking” about how we’d better get the show on the road if he was going to make it to his office in time for furniture to be delivered that evening. I remember slowly falling asleep from the drug cocktail that was placed in my IV, and desperately trying to stay awake. Then, it hit me. The smell of my flesh burning as my OB cauterized at each step. I tried hard to tell myself that it was the oxygen mask on my face. I was smelling the oxygen. I am only smelling the oxygen.
My OB announced that the baby would be here in just a few moments, and that I would feel lots of pressure as the nurses pushed on my fundus to get baby out. I said that it felt like she was sitting on my chest, and they joked and said she was. I heard a suctioning sound as they announced that his head was out. I felt the tugging sensation release when his full body was pulled from mine. I waited to hear him cry. Waiting, waiting…and nothing. I kept asking what was going on, and received no answers. I turned to the side to see people in blue working vigorously on him. I was falling asleep. Then, I finally heard him cry, and let go a little bit. They bundled him up, and put him to my face to kiss quickly, and while he was in front of me, he once again stopped breathing. I have pictures of us in this moment, and he was so very grey. As soon as I had kissed his cheek, they pulled him from me, placing him into an Isolette and whisking him off to the NICU. I fell asleep as I was being sewn back up, and wheeled to recovery.
Then, a moment in time that I will never forget. The neonatologist visited my husband and myself in the recovery room, and stated that my son had experienced two seizures. They needed to find out why. I was asked to sign a consent form for a spinal tap. You’re probably thinking that it’s unforgettable because I learned that he had experienced two seizures, right? Well, it’s unforgettable because I remember thinking that it was no big deal. I was so drugged up, so out of it, that it never even occurred to me to feel worry about my son. To even ask if he was okay. I signed the consent form, and fell back asleep. Later on that afternoon, as I was moved to my post partum room, I remember asking about him and not understanding that he needed to stay in the NICU. I was on the phone telling a friend that he had arrived, and then told her that he was in the NICU being checked out and would be in my room with me later that day. No one told me otherwise. No one told me much of anything, come to think of it. I continued falling asleep off and on throughout the day, sometimes even while my poor husband was mid-sentence. It wasn’t until he went home that night and I sobered up a bit, that I asked about my son. They said he was having some breathing difficulties and that I could see him in the morning. I was again confused, but again didn’t worry much because no one was seeming to make a big deal out of it. I requested a pump to help my milk come in, so that I would be ready the next day. I pumped every 3 hours that night.
The next morning my husband arrived, and I had already had my catheter removed and had the nurses help me up to the bathroom. We prepared to go to the NICU to see our son…for the first time since the surgery. No one did or could have prepared me for what I was going to walk in on. I was under the impression that he had mild breathing issues, and just needed observation. What I walked into was a mother’s worst fears. He was in his own little room, because he needed around the clock observation. When I entered the room, I couldn’t believe what I saw. He was in an open isolette, sedated, horribly swollen, and hooked to many lines and machines. He wasn’t moving. I began to cry as over and over in my head I kept repeating “This isn’t my son. This can’t be my son, they’ve made a mistake. This isn’t my son.” This fragile and broken baby couldn’t possibly be the one who was too big and healthy for me to deliver vaginally. He was swollen…he didn’t look like me or my husband! That couldn’t possibly be our son. I could not hold him, so I touched him and cried quietly. I stayed for a while until I couldn’t stand anymore. My belly was hurting, as was my back and the rest of my body. As my husband and I went back to my room alone, I just cried. He remained strong and just held me and told me that everything would be okay. I wasn’t so sure. After all, they had told me that my son would be big and healthy.
One of the hardest parts of the hospital stay was being the only mom on the floor who was without their baby in their room. I listened as babies cried in the next room, and then were promptly consoled by their mother’s touch. By nursing at the breast. By their mother’s soothing voice. My baby was in another place. He was in darkness induced by drugs. He was listening to the sound of the machine’s beeping, and by the sound of the nurse writing notes in his chart. My arms felt so empty, and I felt so helpless.
Two days after he was delivered, as my husband and I prepared to see him again, we were stopped by a NICU nurse. She explained that they were intubating Noah, and to please wait in the family waiting room for the neonatologist. I was confused, worried, frantic, and crushed. He had been doing just fine on the CPAP. I was so afraid that he wasn’t going to make it. The neonatologist came in after 15 minutes or so of agony, and explained that Noah had taken a turn that morning, and the CPAP was no longer as efficient as it needed to be. We asked questions, mainly why was this happening. He was the biggest baby in the NICU, by far, and was full term. He explained that this is a common side effect of babies delivered by cesarean. Why hadn’t our Obstetrician told us this while he was telling us all of the myriad risks of delivering a large baby vaginally? Why hadn’t we been told? He couldn’t answer those questions for us. We were allowed to go in and see our son a while later, and all I could do was cry. I couldn’t even talk to him, because it made things worse for me. I just stood and stared as I held his tiny little limp hand. There was no reaction, no ability to grasp my finger. Emptiness.
The very next day, we had been told that they took the intubation tubing out overnight. The neonatologist said that he had never heard an intubated newborn scream so loudly, and that Noah had tried pulling at it. They sedated him once again and pulled the tubes out. He was now on a nasal cannula. I still was not allowed to hold him, and it was killing my heart because I was scheduled to be discharged that afternoon. I had continued to pump around the clock to leave colostrum for them to administer through his g-tube. It was heartbreaking having to leave him there under the care of strangers, and head home with empty arms. Beginning at four days post surgery, I was driving myself back and forth to the hospital to visit Noah. Finally, on day four I was allowed to hold him for the very first time. I remember the gut wrenching feeling of placing him back in the isolette because my guts and back were hurting from the surgery. I had waited so long to hold him in my arms, and I then failed to be able to do it for long. I was told that the next day his g-tube would be removed if all was well, and he could begin feeding by mouth. I left explicit instructions for them not to feed him by bottle, that I would be there to breastfeed him. Thankfully, they respected my wishes, and I was able to breastfeed him for his first feeding. The poor baby was choked by my rush of breastmilk, as my milk had already come in. It was awkward to try and breastfeed when my belly was so tender, and he had tubes everywhere. I returned 3 times a day to feed him. I would often call the NICU in the middle of the night during pumping, just to see how he was doing.
It was finally on day 9, Palm Sunday, that we were able to take our son home. During his NICU stay, they had not figured out what had caused his seizures. They did a CT Scan, an ultrasound of his brain, X-rays, blood tests, the spinal tap, and an EEG. They found nothing abnormal. Once he was through with his round of antibiotics and did well on room air, he was cleared to come home. I was nervous, excited, anxious, and scared all at the same time. I had never cared for a sick newborn before. Yes, he was fine when we took him home…but I had images flashing in my mind of the baby that I walked in on the day after the surgery. These images still haunt me.
I know that I will carry guilt with me for the rest of my life. I have taken responsibility for my role in his delivery and his NICU stay, even though it was all done out of ignorance. I firmly believe if my son had been perfectly healthy after the cesarean, that I never would have learned my lesson. Sometimes we have to learn things the hard way, and sometimes God has a reason and a purpose for what He allows us to endure. Had I not found the ICAN support list, I’m sure I wouldn’t be who I am today, and be so passionate about birth today.
So you see, a healthy baby is not all that matters. A healthy mom matters too. A healthy birth matters. Just because a baby is healthy after a delivery, does not make everything that happened during the delivery any better or safer or healthier. And this doesn’t just apply to cesareans.
Oh…for those of you who are wondering…my son only weighed 8.8lbs.
This is my story. My journey. Today is the 4th anniversary of when I was told that my body was incapable of safely delivering my son. And tomorrow is the 4th anniversary of my c-section. Happy Birthday precious Noah. Even though this was written with tears, in a whole host of bittersweet emotions.
There are so many details of my cesarean that I have either left unwritten, or have written in fragments in various locations. A reply back to an online thread regarding the “safety” of a cesarean; or to a mom who is being told that her baby will be too big and she needs to have her baby surgically removed.
But you see, my story doesn’t just end when we brought our son home from the hospital on Palm Sunday in 2004. My journey began when I found out I was pregnant in 2003, and it continues every day. Some days I wish it would all just be over with. Be done with the deeply seated emotional pain, be done with the physical pain of ongoing adhesions and endometriosis from my cesarean – even 4 years later. The ongoing torture of the emotional pain could have been avoided, I suppose. However, in 2005 I made the decision to take the red pill. And for those of you who paid attention during the movie The Matrix, you’ll get my analogy here. The red pill enables us to see truths that we otherwise would have never believed. The red pill takes us out of the “habit” beliefs – simply believing what we are told or what we were raised to believe. On the other hand, the blue pill enables us to live in the “ignorance is bliss” state. Never digging deeper, simply being happy with the things we believe and never questioning the origin or the author. So, in 2005 I made the choice to swallow the red pill. The reality that had been mine in childbirth, was shattered as I learned more. And as I gained more knowledge, my guilt and anger grew over what I had done to my son; and also pain for the vast number of women who do the same to their children unknowingly.
Just before my son turned one, I found the ICAN support list. To this day I don’t remember exactly how I found it, but I did. I was still of the mindset and belief that some babies simply grow too big for mom to deliver safely, inductions are perfectly acceptable, and epidurals should be used by every woman. I joined the support list, totally oblivious to what I was walking into. Women who were totally angry over their cesareans, marriages compromised due to lack of support or differences in birth beliefs between a woman and her spouse. Women having their babies at home, after having undergone a cesarean with a prior pregnancy. Basically, a group of crazy women. Or so I thought at the time. I defiantly challenged their arguments that claimed it was intervention, not size, that caused my very difficult first birth and recovery. The harder I fought it, the more information and resources they flung my way. After a few days of this, I sent out a post calling them all crazy, and then unsubscribed. Six little words posted by a woman who is known for pulling out a wet fish when needed, haunted me and really made me think. “Damn. She took the blue pill.” The nerve! Crazy, fanatic, rude women! Who were they to tell me that my cesarean was unnecessary and avoidable? But it planted a seed…
I began to research all of the things that they had challenged me with. Little by little, that seed began to sprout. Three months later I returned to the list, apologized for calling them all crazy , and asked for help.
So why am I telling you about ICAN and my beginnings with it if I am not writing this about my VBAC? Well, because without ICAN I would have continued to believe that my babies were just too big for my body. I would have continued to believe that there is nothing wrong with cesareans. The day that I re-subscribed to the ICAN list, is the day that I chose the red pill. I no longer wanted to live in ignorance, because after all…ignorance is what led to my son spending 9 days in the NICU.
Ironically, it was my son’s 2nd birthday that hit me the hardest. On his 1st birthday, I was still learning, and not quite convinced yet that the cesarean wasn’t necessary. But by that 2nd birthday, not only did I know from research that it had been unnecessary, just five months earlier I had pushed out my VBAC baby onto my bed. She was 10.10lbs and posterior. By body had never been broken – I was only told that it was. As I began to really process through this, I realized just how alone and misunderstood I was outside of the ICAN list.
“He’s healthy now, that’s all that matters.”
From my friends, my mom, and even my husband. No one knew how damaging those words were, even though they were not meant to harm. I didn’t understand. How is him being relatively healthy now, negate all of the harm that was done to him in his first seconds, minutes, hours, and days of his life? When a woman is trying to heal from a rape trauma, do people essentially tell her to get over it…at least she’s safe now? But people are almost offended when the two are compared. Cesareans take place every single day and are accepted – even CHOSEN. So then, would it be different if many women didn’t mind their rape experience? What would happen as a society if we as women told rape survivors, that their experience was acceptable, because women are raped all the time? How damaging and belittling would this be? Cesareans are major abdominal surgeries. And so many women are lied to, coerced, and convinced to have one. Many occur because of a cascade of intervention during labor that never belonged there to begin with. As a society, we have strayed so far from what birth is – a normal, physiologic process. We’ve turned it into an ugly, scary, medical procedure. No wonder so many women are scared of it. All they hear are horror stories. You have to dig for the beautiful and unhindered birth stories that ARE out there. They are just not as common as the “You’ll be begging for the epidural…” stories. I’m afraid that until women take a stand for their babies, that our daughters are going to have to figure this out for themselves.
So, back to my cesarean.
The story is quite simple. I was young, I had delivered a larger-than-average baby vaginally 2 ½ years prior. The recovery from that birth was long and hard, and I had always been told that it was because she was 9.1lbs. Not the pitocin, AROM, stadol, or the forced pushing that ended up in a large episiotomy and vacuum extraction. I was terrified of another birth and recovery like this.
I met with a new OB late in pregnancy, because my former OB refused to induce me even though my son was showing to be over 8 ½ lbs already, and I did NOT want to go through the hell that I went through with my first. Yes, I warned you…I was completely ignorant. This new OB agreed with me about size, and went on to tell my husband and I stories of large babies and shoulder dystocia, nerve damage, and broken collar bones. He said our best plan of action was a cesarean, and soon, since my son was only putting on weight at this point. We agreed, even though my husband and I both discussed later how we had a slight uneasy feeling about all of this, but shrugged it off as uneasiness over the unknown. The very next morning I went in for an ultrasound and NST. During the NST it was discovered that I was contracting quite regularly. Upon a vaginal exam, I was told that I was 4cm dilated, and would be having the cesarean that afternoon, instead of the next morning. I was nervous, but the thought of finally meeting my son was what I kept focusing on.
A lab technician came in and drew several vials of blood. Then a nurse came in to start my IV, administer Terbutaline to stop my contractions, and to insert a catheter. My mind was in a whirl as I was being prepped for surgery, and trying to get a hold of my husband to get back to the hospital. He had dropped me off, thinking that I was just going in for routine pre-surgery stuff. He arrived, as did my grandmother in law and my mom. My husband was told that he could not go into the OR with me, until my spinal block was in place, and they were ready for the surgery. I was terrified, and I had to leave the one person that I trusted most in this world, behind. The one thing I asked before walking in was that they cover the instruments. I didn’t want to see what they were going to use on my body. They found this a bit strange, as they said that they have never had a patient request this before. Surely I couldn’t have been the only one afraid of being cut open, could I?
The nurse walked me into the OR. I remember how cold it was. It was like walking into a sterile vortex. Bright lights, blue paper sheets everywhere, trays, oxygen devices, and nurses in full face masks and scrubs. It was surreal. I sat down on the operating table, trying to brace for the spinal. I was absolutely terrified beyond my wits that the spinal would not work, and I would feel them cutting into my body. I began to cry as the anesthesiologist prepped my back for the insertion of the catheter, and a nurse stood in front of me in efforts to console me. She made eye contact and told me that everything would be okay. I just cried. I don’t remember a whole lot of the tiny details from here. I remember seeing my husband’s face come into view above me when he entered the room, and felt him touch my hand. I remember my Obstetrician “joking” about how we’d better get the show on the road if he was going to make it to his office in time for furniture to be delivered that evening. I remember slowly falling asleep from the drug cocktail that was placed in my IV, and desperately trying to stay awake. Then, it hit me. The smell of my flesh burning as my OB cauterized at each step. I tried hard to tell myself that it was the oxygen mask on my face. I was smelling the oxygen. I am only smelling the oxygen.
My OB announced that the baby would be here in just a few moments, and that I would feel lots of pressure as the nurses pushed on my fundus to get baby out. I said that it felt like she was sitting on my chest, and they joked and said she was. I heard a suctioning sound as they announced that his head was out. I felt the tugging sensation release when his full body was pulled from mine. I waited to hear him cry. Waiting, waiting…and nothing. I kept asking what was going on, and received no answers. I turned to the side to see people in blue working vigorously on him. I was falling asleep. Then, I finally heard him cry, and let go a little bit. They bundled him up, and put him to my face to kiss quickly, and while he was in front of me, he once again stopped breathing. I have pictures of us in this moment, and he was so very grey. As soon as I had kissed his cheek, they pulled him from me, placing him into an Isolette and whisking him off to the NICU. I fell asleep as I was being sewn back up, and wheeled to recovery.
Then, a moment in time that I will never forget. The neonatologist visited my husband and myself in the recovery room, and stated that my son had experienced two seizures. They needed to find out why. I was asked to sign a consent form for a spinal tap. You’re probably thinking that it’s unforgettable because I learned that he had experienced two seizures, right? Well, it’s unforgettable because I remember thinking that it was no big deal. I was so drugged up, so out of it, that it never even occurred to me to feel worry about my son. To even ask if he was okay. I signed the consent form, and fell back asleep. Later on that afternoon, as I was moved to my post partum room, I remember asking about him and not understanding that he needed to stay in the NICU. I was on the phone telling a friend that he had arrived, and then told her that he was in the NICU being checked out and would be in my room with me later that day. No one told me otherwise. No one told me much of anything, come to think of it. I continued falling asleep off and on throughout the day, sometimes even while my poor husband was mid-sentence. It wasn’t until he went home that night and I sobered up a bit, that I asked about my son. They said he was having some breathing difficulties and that I could see him in the morning. I was again confused, but again didn’t worry much because no one was seeming to make a big deal out of it. I requested a pump to help my milk come in, so that I would be ready the next day. I pumped every 3 hours that night.
The next morning my husband arrived, and I had already had my catheter removed and had the nurses help me up to the bathroom. We prepared to go to the NICU to see our son…for the first time since the surgery. No one did or could have prepared me for what I was going to walk in on. I was under the impression that he had mild breathing issues, and just needed observation. What I walked into was a mother’s worst fears. He was in his own little room, because he needed around the clock observation. When I entered the room, I couldn’t believe what I saw. He was in an open isolette, sedated, horribly swollen, and hooked to many lines and machines. He wasn’t moving. I began to cry as over and over in my head I kept repeating “This isn’t my son. This can’t be my son, they’ve made a mistake. This isn’t my son.” This fragile and broken baby couldn’t possibly be the one who was too big and healthy for me to deliver vaginally. He was swollen…he didn’t look like me or my husband! That couldn’t possibly be our son. I could not hold him, so I touched him and cried quietly. I stayed for a while until I couldn’t stand anymore. My belly was hurting, as was my back and the rest of my body. As my husband and I went back to my room alone, I just cried. He remained strong and just held me and told me that everything would be okay. I wasn’t so sure. After all, they had told me that my son would be big and healthy.
One of the hardest parts of the hospital stay was being the only mom on the floor who was without their baby in their room. I listened as babies cried in the next room, and then were promptly consoled by their mother’s touch. By nursing at the breast. By their mother’s soothing voice. My baby was in another place. He was in darkness induced by drugs. He was listening to the sound of the machine’s beeping, and by the sound of the nurse writing notes in his chart. My arms felt so empty, and I felt so helpless.
Two days after he was delivered, as my husband and I prepared to see him again, we were stopped by a NICU nurse. She explained that they were intubating Noah, and to please wait in the family waiting room for the neonatologist. I was confused, worried, frantic, and crushed. He had been doing just fine on the CPAP. I was so afraid that he wasn’t going to make it. The neonatologist came in after 15 minutes or so of agony, and explained that Noah had taken a turn that morning, and the CPAP was no longer as efficient as it needed to be. We asked questions, mainly why was this happening. He was the biggest baby in the NICU, by far, and was full term. He explained that this is a common side effect of babies delivered by cesarean. Why hadn’t our Obstetrician told us this while he was telling us all of the myriad risks of delivering a large baby vaginally? Why hadn’t we been told? He couldn’t answer those questions for us. We were allowed to go in and see our son a while later, and all I could do was cry. I couldn’t even talk to him, because it made things worse for me. I just stood and stared as I held his tiny little limp hand. There was no reaction, no ability to grasp my finger. Emptiness.
The very next day, we had been told that they took the intubation tubing out overnight. The neonatologist said that he had never heard an intubated newborn scream so loudly, and that Noah had tried pulling at it. They sedated him once again and pulled the tubes out. He was now on a nasal cannula. I still was not allowed to hold him, and it was killing my heart because I was scheduled to be discharged that afternoon. I had continued to pump around the clock to leave colostrum for them to administer through his g-tube. It was heartbreaking having to leave him there under the care of strangers, and head home with empty arms. Beginning at four days post surgery, I was driving myself back and forth to the hospital to visit Noah. Finally, on day four I was allowed to hold him for the very first time. I remember the gut wrenching feeling of placing him back in the isolette because my guts and back were hurting from the surgery. I had waited so long to hold him in my arms, and I then failed to be able to do it for long. I was told that the next day his g-tube would be removed if all was well, and he could begin feeding by mouth. I left explicit instructions for them not to feed him by bottle, that I would be there to breastfeed him. Thankfully, they respected my wishes, and I was able to breastfeed him for his first feeding. The poor baby was choked by my rush of breastmilk, as my milk had already come in. It was awkward to try and breastfeed when my belly was so tender, and he had tubes everywhere. I returned 3 times a day to feed him. I would often call the NICU in the middle of the night during pumping, just to see how he was doing.
It was finally on day 9, Palm Sunday, that we were able to take our son home. During his NICU stay, they had not figured out what had caused his seizures. They did a CT Scan, an ultrasound of his brain, X-rays, blood tests, the spinal tap, and an EEG. They found nothing abnormal. Once he was through with his round of antibiotics and did well on room air, he was cleared to come home. I was nervous, excited, anxious, and scared all at the same time. I had never cared for a sick newborn before. Yes, he was fine when we took him home…but I had images flashing in my mind of the baby that I walked in on the day after the surgery. These images still haunt me.
I know that I will carry guilt with me for the rest of my life. I have taken responsibility for my role in his delivery and his NICU stay, even though it was all done out of ignorance. I firmly believe if my son had been perfectly healthy after the cesarean, that I never would have learned my lesson. Sometimes we have to learn things the hard way, and sometimes God has a reason and a purpose for what He allows us to endure. Had I not found the ICAN support list, I’m sure I wouldn’t be who I am today, and be so passionate about birth today.
So you see, a healthy baby is not all that matters. A healthy mom matters too. A healthy birth matters. Just because a baby is healthy after a delivery, does not make everything that happened during the delivery any better or safer or healthier. And this doesn’t just apply to cesareans.
Oh…for those of you who are wondering…my son only weighed 8.8lbs.
This is my story. My journey. Today is the 4th anniversary of when I was told that my body was incapable of safely delivering my son. And tomorrow is the 4th anniversary of my c-section. Happy Birthday precious Noah. Even though this was written with tears, in a whole host of bittersweet emotions.
Failed Induction Means That Your Body Works!
The concept of failed inductions being a good thing, was brought up on ICAN. The process of labor begins when the baby's lungs secrete a hormone that kickstarts labor. In the absence of labor, it pretty much means that your baby and your body are not ready yet.
How often do you hear of a woman going in for an induction, being stuck on pitocin, epidural, and water broken for "too long" and then "needing" a c-section for fetal distress, CPD, or FTP? It happens a lot. And then, the women are told that their bodies do not function correctly. After all, when you induce labor, it's just going to happen, right? Wrong. Think of it in terms of trying to peel back the petals of a flower before it's ready to bloom. If it's JUST about to bloom, you may have some success with opening the flower. But if it's not ready yet, the petals are just going to fall off and you'll have a ruined flower. It's the same with trying to induce a baby who's not ready, in a body that is not ripe.
When an induction fails to completely dilate a woman, and bring down a baby....the body is doing its job. Our bodies are built to protect the unborn baby while in our womb. God designed it as such, and quite intricately. An induction is the process of adding chemicals to our body to artificially simulate labor. The contractions that are brought on by the use of pitocin are unnatural contractions. They are harder than natural contractions, and pose risks to the baby. Pitocin is actually NOT approved by the FDA for use in pregnancy or labor. Cervadil is a gel that is inserted next to the cervix, to ripen and begin labor. But did you know that cervidil contains pig semen? Cervidil is a prostaglandin...the same type contained in your husband's semen. ; ) I'd much rather have my husband's semen inside of me, than a pig's. There is also the Foley Catheter method of induction. This is where a catheter with a balloon is inserted between the amniotic sac and opening of the cervix. This is means of manually dilating the cervix. Theoretically, it is supposed to fall out after 4cm dilation. However, women have experienced complications with this where the balloon does not disengage. It can also cause cervical swelling, preterm labor for subsequent labors, and often is not JUST a foley induction. Rarely do interventions come individually....they tend to become a slippery slope.
Anyway, back to my point. Our bodies are designed to protect the baby inside of our wombs. When there is something artificial that is added to the body, trying to eject the baby...it's going to hold onto that baby, trying to protect it. When an induction has failed, the body has done its job very efficiently.
Instead of women being told that their bodies are broken, or that their baby was too big...they should be told that their body functioned exactly how it should have. It protected the baby inside. I truly pray that there will be a shift in how pregnancy, labor, and birth are seen. Labor and birth is not a disease that needs to be "handled", it's a beautiful process that was designed by God. I pray that more women begin to trust in God ( or whatever they believe in ) when it comes to childbirth. It's one of the most amazing experiences that we will ever go through, and it's such a shame that women rush it, or numb and drug their bodies ( and babies!!!! ) for it. Should we have an epidural for an orgasm that may be too intense? I should hope not. : )
How often do you hear of a woman going in for an induction, being stuck on pitocin, epidural, and water broken for "too long" and then "needing" a c-section for fetal distress, CPD, or FTP? It happens a lot. And then, the women are told that their bodies do not function correctly. After all, when you induce labor, it's just going to happen, right? Wrong. Think of it in terms of trying to peel back the petals of a flower before it's ready to bloom. If it's JUST about to bloom, you may have some success with opening the flower. But if it's not ready yet, the petals are just going to fall off and you'll have a ruined flower. It's the same with trying to induce a baby who's not ready, in a body that is not ripe.
When an induction fails to completely dilate a woman, and bring down a baby....the body is doing its job. Our bodies are built to protect the unborn baby while in our womb. God designed it as such, and quite intricately. An induction is the process of adding chemicals to our body to artificially simulate labor. The contractions that are brought on by the use of pitocin are unnatural contractions. They are harder than natural contractions, and pose risks to the baby. Pitocin is actually NOT approved by the FDA for use in pregnancy or labor. Cervadil is a gel that is inserted next to the cervix, to ripen and begin labor. But did you know that cervidil contains pig semen? Cervidil is a prostaglandin...the same type contained in your husband's semen. ; ) I'd much rather have my husband's semen inside of me, than a pig's. There is also the Foley Catheter method of induction. This is where a catheter with a balloon is inserted between the amniotic sac and opening of the cervix. This is means of manually dilating the cervix. Theoretically, it is supposed to fall out after 4cm dilation. However, women have experienced complications with this where the balloon does not disengage. It can also cause cervical swelling, preterm labor for subsequent labors, and often is not JUST a foley induction. Rarely do interventions come individually....they tend to become a slippery slope.
Anyway, back to my point. Our bodies are designed to protect the baby inside of our wombs. When there is something artificial that is added to the body, trying to eject the baby...it's going to hold onto that baby, trying to protect it. When an induction has failed, the body has done its job very efficiently.
Instead of women being told that their bodies are broken, or that their baby was too big...they should be told that their body functioned exactly how it should have. It protected the baby inside. I truly pray that there will be a shift in how pregnancy, labor, and birth are seen. Labor and birth is not a disease that needs to be "handled", it's a beautiful process that was designed by God. I pray that more women begin to trust in God ( or whatever they believe in ) when it comes to childbirth. It's one of the most amazing experiences that we will ever go through, and it's such a shame that women rush it, or numb and drug their bodies ( and babies!!!! ) for it. Should we have an epidural for an orgasm that may be too intense? I should hope not. : )
Risks and Side Effects of Epidural Anesthesia
It always completely dumbfounds me when I hear someone say that epidurals are harmless. That if you "have" ( I'll comment on this later ) to have one, don't feel bad about it. It's no big deal. Women either don't know ( lack of education surrounding epidurals ) or don't care ( their comfort is more important than baby's safety ) about the risks and side effects of an epidural. After all, why should anyone point it out when it's not PC to do so. When you point out that it carries risk, and the motivation behind getting one is purely selfish...you're being judgemental, not factual. Sorry ladies, I'm not afraid to offend with the truth.
So, let's take a look at the risks and side effects to both mom AND baby, when an epidural is used during labor. This is a summary of a very large, recent study that was done. It has several authors, and was also done by meta-analysis. The full study summary can be found at:
http://www.transitiontoparenthood.com/ttp/foreducators/ceinfo/Side%20Effects%202.htm
Risks and Side Effects of Epidural Anesthesia During Labor:
- Limited Mobility - 100%
- Low Blood Pressure - up to 50%
- Fever, mom - up to 24%
- Urinary Retention - up to 68%
- Post Partum Urinary Incontenence - 27% with an epidural, 13% without
- Shivering - 33%
- Nausea - up to 30%
- Vomiting - up to 13%
- Itching - between 8-100% ( varying degrees )
- Backache Immediately After Birth - 53%
- Incomplete Pain Relief - up to 25%
- Slower 1st Stage of Labor - up to 4.8 hours longer
- Longer 2nd Stage ( pushing ) - up to 55 minutes longer
- Instrumental Delivery - up to 80%. 6 out of 9 studies indicate that less than 50% of women with an epidural had a spontanious vaginal delivery.
- Fever in the baby ( that result in a sepsis work up ) - 30%
- Fetal Distress - 10-15%
- Malpositioned Baby - up to 26%
- Lower Apgar Scores- up to 17%
- Baby Having to Endure Sepsis Work Up ( which includes spinal tap ) - up to 34%
- Baby Being Treated with Antibiotics - up to 15%
- Effects on Breastfeeding - Women who used epidurals were less likely to still be breastfeeding at 6 months. ( 30% vs. 50% )
- Cesarean - 2-3 times as likely with an epidural.
THESE are the reasons that I'm against epidurals. Again, the reasons behind getting an epidural are purely selfish. And why would you put your baby through these risks, just to escape the pain of labor, that only lasts a very short while in the grand scheme of things? God designed childbirth to be so very perfect. After birth, we have the highest amount of endorphins released at one point...unless there have been artificial chemicals added to the body. So we totally miss out on God's fullest blessing in birth, by numbing for labor.
Five Baffling Vaccination Facts
FIVE BAFFLING VACCINATION FACTS
by Lisa K. Jillani
Fact #1:
Approximately 1/3 of Doctors Refuse Vaccinations, yet . . .
Exposure to illness is an occupational hazard for the medical community. Doctors are among the highest risk population groups and most hospitals and practices make it mandatory for physicians to be vaccinated. Researcher and author Neil Z. Miller reports that approximately 66% of pediatricians and obstetricians refused the MMR shot in one study.[1] An equal percentage of doctors refused the Hepatitis B shot, mostly citing safety concerns because of rumors of animal DNA contamination in the shots.[2] The American Medical Association's (AMA) Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine cite a 1994 study where approximately 1/3 of doctors were working without mandatory flu vaccines.[3] Yet the doctors blindly follow national recommendations to vaccinate every child they can round up (sometimes with as many as five vaccines in one visit).
Fact #2:
Vaccine Failures are Well Documented, yet . . .
The AMA reported that "measles is increasingly becoming a disease of adults," admitting that the demographics of this typically childhood disease are shifting to adults as vaccines wear off too early.[4] Almost all childhood illnesses are deemed much more dangerous in adults. Mumps and rubella are also being reported to be shifting toward older children and adults. During epidemics, measles has been known to attack nearly 100% vaccinated populations.[5] Similar statistics have been seen during mumps outbreaks. Rubella, which is very innocuous in childhood, is now threatening women of child-bearing age (the very group the shot was supposed to protect to prevent birth defects).[6] After nearly 55 years of medical hoopla, the Centers for Disease Control reports that pertussis is at the highest levels since 1967. [7] Constant (and profitable) boosters are now the government's only solution for shortsightedly disrupting the natural course of childhood illnesses. Yet, the policymakers are never apologetic.
Fact #3
Vaccine Efficacy is Often Misreported, yet . . .
The medical establishment has always maintained that there is no ethical way to study vaccine efficacy in a random, double-blind environment because of ethical implications. Efficacy is thus measured by blood antibody counts for a particular vaccine. As fact #2 shows with regard to measles in vaccinated populations, antibody titers are extremely unreliable predictors of whether a vaccinated child will contract a disease. Based on the antibody titer logic, the whole-cell pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine, the only product available in the U.S. until recently, was deemed 85 to 90% effective by the U.S. medical community.[8] When the same product was recently tested in Sweden and Italy during a U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) funded study, the vaccine proved only 48 and 36% effective respectively.[9] Searching for a smokescreen, the CDC immediately hailed the newer acellular vaccine as being a safer, more effective product (they had initially blasted this Japanese product as being ineffective, but constant bad press about the safety of whole-cell vaccines changed their minds -- and statistics).
The government's excuse for the miserable efficacy rates was that the kids in the study only got three shots, while American kids get additional boosters at 18 months and 4-6 years. Let's see, pertussis is most dangerous for children under one, who get 3 shots (at 2, 4, and 6 months). Maybe the pertussis bacterium avoids infants fearing those upcoming boosters! As if that wasn't absurd enough, the same official explained that the low efficacy of the vaccine can partially be attributed to the fact that both Sweden and Italy were in the middle of epidemics during the studies. Huh? You mean the product is 85-90% effective unless it comes in contact with the disease, at which point it fails 64% of the time? Yet, the medical community continues to give these products credit for eliminating infectious diseases.
Fact #4
Vaccines Kill and Maim Regularly, yet...
The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP), established in 1986, has paid out over $1 billion in injury awards to date. Thousands of cases are pending, stuck in the federal bureaucracy.[10] This despite the fact that HHS Secretary Donna Shalala recently narrowed the definition of vaccine injury so critically that only immediate and severe reactions can now qualify.[11] Seizure disorders, brain damage, ataxia, aseptic meningitis, paralysis, learning difficulties, and death, that typically occur many days or weeks following these vaccines are now all excluded. And here's the cherry on top: since doctors have little incentive to report themselves to a passive reporting system like the government's Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), former FDA Director David Kessler once admitted that only 10% of vaccine injury cases are ever reported.[12] So the injuries can even conservatively amount to tens of thousands of children every year, while doctors continue to diagnose and treat mysterious new illnesses and maintain the "one in a million" adverse reaction myth taught in med schools (Hint: no drug is that safe).
Actually, the physicians' creed, instead of, "First, do no harm," might as well be, "First, deny causal relationship." Not that a causal relationship matters either. The prestigious and supposedly independent Institute of Medicine (IOM) reported after a thorough review in 1991 that a causal relationship did exist between acute encephalopathy (brain inflammation) and the DPT shot.[13] They also found a causal relationship between the MMR shot and chronic arthritis in women. Yet, they did the obvious when it comes to pampering pharmaceutical giants -- they recommended continuing the suspect products and suggested "further study" (translation: maintain profitable and deceptive status quo).
Fact #5
Vaccines are Not Tested for Long-Term Safety, yet...
After years of controversy the CDC finally admitted in 1996 that the polio vaccine used on millions in the 1950s may have contained the SV-40 monkey retrovirus (which causes cancer in laboratory animals). [14] Of course, they went on to deny that there is any, you guessed it, "causal relationship" between contaminated vaccines and the dramatic increases in many diseases like cancer, chronic fatigue, learning disorders, epilepsy, juvenile diabetes, etc.
The sad fact for the consumer is that vaccines will never be reliably implicated in diseases occurring years or even decades after a shot. Drug companies hardly have the incentive to provide researchers with multi-million dollar grants and risk being held responsible for altering the global gene pool. Vaccine inserts always warn that the mutagenic and carcinogenic potential of the products has not been tested. Forced into our children's bloodstreams without the benefit of the natural defense our organs mount, horse, cow, chicken, monkey, rabbit or even worse, lab-engineered, DNA can have consequences that no scientist can predict with our limited knowledge of the human immune system. (Add to this diseased or lab-created tissue all the adjuvants and stabilizers like formaldehyde, antibiotics, aluminum salts and thimerosal -- a mercury derivative -- and you have a truly toxic witch's brew).
The new breed of chronic illnesses are too profitable for the medical community to sweat over their mysterious causes. While more virulent and drug-resistant forms of infectious diseases manifest themselves, researchers are getting a cold shoulder from the government for discovering potential problems with old and new vaccines.[15] Emerging research into vaccine links to diabetes, arthritis, allergies, asthma, and many crippling autoimmune disorders seems to indicate that the chronic effects of these products can linger undetected for years (generations?) only to explode into our systems later. Chronic diseases are increasing at a staggering rate in the West. Many like Type 1 diabetes, asthma and certain cancers have increased three- to five-fold over the last 50 years. The reasons remain obscure and unresearched as the scientists "speculate" on the causes. We are in a short-sighted world which, in pursuit of a quick buck, shows little concern for contaminating our species with foreign proteins which can permanently alter or even incapacitate our future generations. Yet, we keep bowing to a system whose chief motive is simply profit. We are unsuspectingly handing people our hard earned money so they can sell us a product that has been suspect since its inception -- ineffective, unsafe, and potentially a threat to the survival of our species.
###
Lisa K. Jillani is a mother of two and a writer, editor and publisher who has been researching vaccines for over ten years. She is the founder and president of P.A.V.E.
REFERENCES:
1) JAMA 1981 Feb 20;245(7):711-3 "Rubella vaccine and susceptible hospital employees. Poor physician participation."
2) Mendelsohn, Dr. Robert, "The Drive to Immunize Adults," Herald of Holistic Health Newsletter, Sept.-Oct. 1985.
3) Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, Dec. 1996. (AMA).
4) Science, March 26, 1977.
5) FDA workshop to review warnings, use instructions, and precautionary information [on vaccines], July 18, 1992.
6) Mendelsohn, Dr. Robert, How to Raise a Healthy Child...In Spite of Your Doctor, p.218.
7) Preventing Emerging Infectious Diseases: A Strategy for the 21st Century. (U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services/CDC publication), Oct. 1998, p.22.
8) JAMA, Aug. 8, 1995.
9) JAMA, Aug. 8, 1995.
10) NVICP, Health Resources and Services Administration. (Federal Government)
11) VAERS informational document_ (Federal Government)
12) Severyn, K.M., Ph.D., Dayton Daily News, May 28, 1993.
13) Adverse Effects of Pertussis and Rubella Vaccines, IOM report, 1991.
14) NIH Symposium on Simian Viruses, Jan. 27-28, 1997.
15) The Vaccine Reaction, NVIC newsletter, vol. 1 issue 4.
Trust God with our finances, our cares, our lives...but birth is a different story!
I will begin this post by saying that I am utterly frustrated with a good chunk of Christian women that I have come across in the past 2 1/2 years that I've been studying birth and midwifery. I am almost always let down by the responses, and the utter lack of faith in God when it comes to childbirth. So know that my post comes more from a vent of frustration than a calm, teaching spirit.
So many Christian women that I encounter all wholeheartedly agree that we need to trust in God with all of our hearts when it comes to finances, our troubles and cares, our family, our lives. But then the subject of birth comes up, and it veers from speaking in biblical terms to speaking in politically correct terms. I have been berrated for saying that women are not trusting in God when they induce their labors out of convenience or fear, or when they choose drugs or an epidural for labor. When women believe their doctors when they tell them that their baby is just too big ( and the "me" of 3 years ago is included in this!! ) and they have to have their baby cut out, instead of birthing the way that God designed us to.
Ladies: God designed birth so intricately and perfect. He designed it so that the baby secretes a hormone that initiates labor. He designed labor to be progressive in nature, so that most of us aren't slammed with hard labor before experiencing a more gentle contraction. He designed our bodies to give us a huge reward after birthing the way that He intended...our bodies release the absolute *highest* amount of endorphins after a baby is birthed. How awesome is that!?!?
But here's the catch.
If we induce, if we add chemicals that are artificial or outside of our bodies, if we add pain meds or an epidural....those things block the blessing that God has allowed us to have after hard work. We don't receive those endorphins. And more so, WHY would you choose to numb your body for something that God has specifically designed us to do? Why would you be so untrusting, and allow an induction to take place because you're past your "ESTIMATED due date", the baby is getting "too big" ( What happened to God knitting our babies together in our wombs? ), or simply because you're sick of being pregnant? Granted, there are legitimate reasons to induce. But right now, there are about 90% unnecessary inductions being done, while only 10% are actually necessary. We need to trust in God for birth as well. Birth is not inherently dangerous. It's what added to it that makes it so. Women long ago were NOT dying from childbirth itself...they were dying from disease, infections, and very unclean conditions.
"Women used to die in childbirth all the time. Now we have wonderful technology that has changed things."
No, technology in childbirth is hurting more than it's saving. Women are now dying more frequently in childbirth because of how high the cesarean rate is. Women, this is MAJOR ABDOMINAL SURGERY. Not just another way to have a baby. There have been 3 deaths in NJ, and one death in NY within the past 5 months...all after cesareans. A woman caught on fire during her cesarean a few months back, and another woman died after an induction. Her uterus was so hyperstimulated, that it could not clamp back down after the birth, and she bled to death. Technology is not making things better...we actually have the highest maternal morbidity and mortality rates that we've had in DECADES.
"What if something happens...I'd just rather be in the hospital, just in case."
Again, what about faith in our creator Who designed the process? The above statement is fear. The bible teaches us to trust and not be afraid. The fact is, if you want to loook at it statistically....home and birth center births are safer and have MUCH better outcomes than the hospitals do. And not only that, but home and birth center births are SO much more peaceful. It's just really what I see when I picture what God had intended for us. Childbirth is one of the most amazing events of our lives. Instead of living in fear, why not trust in God? Yes, sometimes there are bad outcomes. I know this. But I have also personally seen bad outcomes happen more often than not *because* of interventions that were never meant to be introduced.
"I believe that God gave us the intelligence to come up with our medical advances."
So do I. However, by far does it mean that they are all good. Look at abortion. That is definitely "technologically advanced" and some would say that abortion practices have improved. Does it make it any less biblically wrong? Christian women have tried comparing using medication when sick, to using drugs in childbirth. Except there's one HUGE differece.
Childbirth is not an illness. Childbirth is a beautiful process designed by God.
I am trying desperately to get through to my best friend about all of this before she even gets pregnant with her first. My heart would break if she had a bad experience or outcome because of fear. I am trying to get through to her now that birth is amazing and sacred and beautiful, and SAFE...when left to God's design. I have literally had dreams of her following her doctor's instructions and ending up with an epidural, a c-section, and difficulties all around. Some may be sitting here reading, thinking that I'm a nutjob now. LOL Know that my best friend is more of a sister to me. We have been best friends for almost 14 years, and she was my family all through high school. Her house was always a safe haven for me when my family was out of control and too much to bear. My passion for childbirth is like this for all women...but imagine how much more so when it is someone that I love dearly. I would love to see the fear dissolve, and see her have a beautiful birth with her FIRST child ( instead of the old "I'll have a hospital birth with my first and see how it goes, and THEN maybe I'll think about a home birth" ) and know that birth works according to God's plan. I pray that she will know this when the time comes.
So women, instead of being so PC about everything, let's keep each other accountable ( remember that word and act??? ) in our faith when it comes to childbirth. It is no different than our finances, our family, our cares, and our lives. God designed us to do something so precious...let's not defile it with artificiality, drugs, and disconnect.
So many Christian women that I encounter all wholeheartedly agree that we need to trust in God with all of our hearts when it comes to finances, our troubles and cares, our family, our lives. But then the subject of birth comes up, and it veers from speaking in biblical terms to speaking in politically correct terms. I have been berrated for saying that women are not trusting in God when they induce their labors out of convenience or fear, or when they choose drugs or an epidural for labor. When women believe their doctors when they tell them that their baby is just too big ( and the "me" of 3 years ago is included in this!! ) and they have to have their baby cut out, instead of birthing the way that God designed us to.
Ladies: God designed birth so intricately and perfect. He designed it so that the baby secretes a hormone that initiates labor. He designed labor to be progressive in nature, so that most of us aren't slammed with hard labor before experiencing a more gentle contraction. He designed our bodies to give us a huge reward after birthing the way that He intended...our bodies release the absolute *highest* amount of endorphins after a baby is birthed. How awesome is that!?!?
But here's the catch.
If we induce, if we add chemicals that are artificial or outside of our bodies, if we add pain meds or an epidural....those things block the blessing that God has allowed us to have after hard work. We don't receive those endorphins. And more so, WHY would you choose to numb your body for something that God has specifically designed us to do? Why would you be so untrusting, and allow an induction to take place because you're past your "ESTIMATED due date", the baby is getting "too big" ( What happened to God knitting our babies together in our wombs? ), or simply because you're sick of being pregnant? Granted, there are legitimate reasons to induce. But right now, there are about 90% unnecessary inductions being done, while only 10% are actually necessary. We need to trust in God for birth as well. Birth is not inherently dangerous. It's what added to it that makes it so. Women long ago were NOT dying from childbirth itself...they were dying from disease, infections, and very unclean conditions.
"Women used to die in childbirth all the time. Now we have wonderful technology that has changed things."
No, technology in childbirth is hurting more than it's saving. Women are now dying more frequently in childbirth because of how high the cesarean rate is. Women, this is MAJOR ABDOMINAL SURGERY. Not just another way to have a baby. There have been 3 deaths in NJ, and one death in NY within the past 5 months...all after cesareans. A woman caught on fire during her cesarean a few months back, and another woman died after an induction. Her uterus was so hyperstimulated, that it could not clamp back down after the birth, and she bled to death. Technology is not making things better...we actually have the highest maternal morbidity and mortality rates that we've had in DECADES.
"What if something happens...I'd just rather be in the hospital, just in case."
Again, what about faith in our creator Who designed the process? The above statement is fear. The bible teaches us to trust and not be afraid. The fact is, if you want to loook at it statistically....home and birth center births are safer and have MUCH better outcomes than the hospitals do. And not only that, but home and birth center births are SO much more peaceful. It's just really what I see when I picture what God had intended for us. Childbirth is one of the most amazing events of our lives. Instead of living in fear, why not trust in God? Yes, sometimes there are bad outcomes. I know this. But I have also personally seen bad outcomes happen more often than not *because* of interventions that were never meant to be introduced.
"I believe that God gave us the intelligence to come up with our medical advances."
So do I. However, by far does it mean that they are all good. Look at abortion. That is definitely "technologically advanced" and some would say that abortion practices have improved. Does it make it any less biblically wrong? Christian women have tried comparing using medication when sick, to using drugs in childbirth. Except there's one HUGE differece.
Childbirth is not an illness. Childbirth is a beautiful process designed by God.
I am trying desperately to get through to my best friend about all of this before she even gets pregnant with her first. My heart would break if she had a bad experience or outcome because of fear. I am trying to get through to her now that birth is amazing and sacred and beautiful, and SAFE...when left to God's design. I have literally had dreams of her following her doctor's instructions and ending up with an epidural, a c-section, and difficulties all around. Some may be sitting here reading, thinking that I'm a nutjob now. LOL Know that my best friend is more of a sister to me. We have been best friends for almost 14 years, and she was my family all through high school. Her house was always a safe haven for me when my family was out of control and too much to bear. My passion for childbirth is like this for all women...but imagine how much more so when it is someone that I love dearly. I would love to see the fear dissolve, and see her have a beautiful birth with her FIRST child ( instead of the old "I'll have a hospital birth with my first and see how it goes, and THEN maybe I'll think about a home birth" ) and know that birth works according to God's plan. I pray that she will know this when the time comes.
So women, instead of being so PC about everything, let's keep each other accountable ( remember that word and act??? ) in our faith when it comes to childbirth. It is no different than our finances, our family, our cares, and our lives. God designed us to do something so precious...let's not defile it with artificiality, drugs, and disconnect.
"If they did to men what they do to women in hospitals every day, it would be illegal."
(This was a post from back in April. Warning: There is some language in this post. This was definitely more of a venting post than anything else. ;) )
"If they did to men what they do to women in hospitals every day, it would be illegal." ...
... Well, at least they'd get a shot at a lawsuit anyway.
Look at that. A MAN gets assaulted by a physician, and everyone rallies against this travesty. Is he called crazy for then being mistrusting of the medical or legal system? Nope. Outcries are heard from men! "How dare they do a procedure against consent!" In a Law Blog on WSJ.com, Peter Lattman writes:
And the comments for the post?
So then I pose this question. Would it be different if men regularly had things inserted into their rectum? Would it have been different if this man were gay? What I would like to know, is how forced vaginal exams on women do not get the same reaction? Is it not physical assault because things are regularly inserted into the vagina? A tampon, a partner's penis, a speculum, a sex toy? Is it really seen as less of a harm done, if it's done to a woman? It certainly seems so. But maybe the problem lies with the women. I can't say that I've personally EVER seen of a news story where a woman has drawn up a lawsuit for a forced vaginal exam in labor. Or at any point in her life, other than actual sexual rape. And by all means...if someone has a story, *please* email it to me! But back to the point...maybe if women stopped being so damn passive about what happens in the hospitals, or just shrugs it off as "That's what they do", maybe we'd make changes.
But that would take strength. And I don't see that from many childbearing women right now. I see a whole lot of weakness, a whole lot of complacency. Women either not caring what happens, or they're too worried about their drugs in labor to care what happens, or being too afraid of speaking up. WOMEN!!! This is going to get us NOWHERE.
Now. I want to be clear. I am NOT placing the blame solely with women. I personally know that when you contact a lawyer for a case of medical abuse/negligence/etc in the medical setting, that it's pretty much a no-go unless there was permanent "damage". And unfortunately, they don't consider PTSD or anxiety as a result, as "damage". Someone physically has to be damaged. It has to be tangible. I've been there, done that. And it's frustrating as hell. I had my medical records doctored, so that the doctor covered her own ass. *I* was the liar. I'm just wondering if the hundreds of thousands of us to give birth each year actually banded together and took a freaking stand against this stuff...would things possibly change? Would we have hope? But that goes full circle back to women needing to care. With the high c-section rate out there, with as many celebrities that we have opting for this to save their beautiful vaginas, with as many as 85% of women CHOOSING to numb their bodies in childbirth...I just don't see this happening. Until more of us get pissed off enough to stay out of the hospital to begin with ( WHY do women run back to the person who raped them? ) and stay away from trained surgeon for NORMAL birth, I'm afraid not a damn thing will be changed.
I started a birth rape site, in case I haven't mentioned it on here. Go take a look at some of the stories that I've posted...Mary and Jazmin's in particular. www.freewebs.com/birthrape. The thing is, assault happens to women in birth ALL the time. Whether the women who are assaulted, know it or not. A blog that I came across today, Giselle's Total Waste of Bandwidth, she wrote out some of the definitions of physical and sexual assault:
Funny, because isn't one of the leading reasons for vaginal exams done starting at 36 weeks, to see if a woman's body is "working"? "I need to see if your body has begun the process of opening up for the baby.", "I need to make sure your pelvic outlet is big enough to let this baby through WITHOUT HARMING HIM.", "I see your labored breathing, the way your body is swaying, and your inability to speak...but I need to make sure you're actually in labor.", "I don't think you're progressing. We might need to do a c-section."
What does this turn women into?
So because of this, women who actually refuse these exams are seen as crazy, fanatics, or combative. "Not behaving." Why would we be seen as normal, since most other women spread their legs easily without batting an eye?
In Jazmin's story, she had a nurse repeatedly JAM her fingers into Jazmin's clitoris, while Jazmin was screaming "NO!". Jazmin was laboring on her knees, leaning on the back of the lifted hospital bed. In this position, the nurse kept trying because Jazmin was starting to grunt with contractions, and the nurse said she HAD to check her to see if she was complete. Despite Jazmin saying no. Maybe it was the fact that Jazmin was only 16. Maybe this was just a bad day for the nurse. Regardless of what the circumstances were...this was flat out assault. It took Jazmin grabbing the nurses hand and yelling "I SAID NO!" for her to stop. Jazmin cried for weeks over this assault. Her fiance did nothing, because the hospital was the "authority". No one else did anything, because she was seen as being combative.
The man in the forced rectal exam story may not have won the case. But you know what? He caused a stir in people, questioning ethics when it comes to "informed consent". Why aren't women causing a stir? My blog, and the blogs and sites of other women who are sick and tired of the abuse...only reach so far.
When will it stop? When will women stand up? When will they be HEARD?
"If they did to men what they do to women in hospitals every day, it would be illegal." ...
... Well, at least they'd get a shot at a lawsuit anyway.
Forced Rectal Exam Stirs Ethics Questions
By Sewell Chan
Under what circumstances can a patient in an emergency room be forced to submit to a procedure that doctors deem to be medically necessary? That question — and the notion of informed consent — is at the heart of a civil case that is about to go to trial in March in State Supreme Court in Manhattan.
Brian Persaud, a 38-year-old construction worker who lives in Brooklyn, asserts that he was forced to undergo a rectal examination after sustaining a head injury in an on-the-job accident at a Midtown construction site on May 20, 2003. Mr. Persaud was taken to the emergency room at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where he received eight stitches to his head.
According to a lawsuit he later filed, Mr. Persaud was then told that he needed an immediate rectal examination to determine whether he had a spinal-cord injury. He adamantly objected to the procedure, he said, but was held down as he begged, “Please don’t do that.” As Mr. Persaud resisted, he freed one of his hands and struck a doctor, according to the suit. Then he was sedated, the suit says, with a breathing tube inserted through his mouth.
After Mr. Persaud regained consciousness, he was arrested, then taken — still in his hospital gown — to be booked on a misdemeanor assault charge. Gerard M. Marrone, who was Mr. Persaud’s lawyer, got the criminal charges dropped, then helped Mr. Persaud file a civil lawsuit against the hospital.
“Psychologically, it changed his life completely,” Mr. Marrone said of the episode. “He hasn’t been able to work. He has absolutely no trust in the system at all: doctors or the police. He has post-traumatic stress syndrome.” Mr. Persaud has been under the care of a psychiatrist who made the diagnosis, Mr. Marrone said.
Look at that. A MAN gets assaulted by a physician, and everyone rallies against this travesty. Is he called crazy for then being mistrusting of the medical or legal system? Nope. Outcries are heard from men! "How dare they do a procedure against consent!" In a Law Blog on WSJ.com, Peter Lattman writes:
The question presented deals with the sticky issue of informed consent: “Under what circumstances can a patient in an emergency room be forced to submit to a procedure that doctors deem to be medically necessary?”
And the comments for the post?
-This is a horrible story, and I hope I never ever have to go to a hospital for any reason other than to visit a sick friend. Who do these doctors think they are?
-this guy was just plain assaulted by the arrogant doctors and should be compensated for that.
-I hope Mr. Persaud wins his lawsuit. He was the victim of battery.
-I am so appalled by this situation. I hate frivolous lawsuits, but I am totally behind this guy and hope he wins by a landslide.He voluntarily walked into a hospital to get stitches in his head. He had every right to refuse a rectal exam, and the hospital should have had him sign a release form saying he refused a recommended treatment (standard procedure).
-Can you imagine going into a doctors office or hospital and then finding yourself held down and forced to undergo some procedure? Even if it was less invasive, it’s completely outrageous.
-what happened to “informed consent”??
-the fact is, if someone does not want a medical procedure (even if it will save their life) then they should have the option to refuse that medical procedure and die on their own terms.
So then I pose this question. Would it be different if men regularly had things inserted into their rectum? Would it have been different if this man were gay? What I would like to know, is how forced vaginal exams on women do not get the same reaction? Is it not physical assault because things are regularly inserted into the vagina? A tampon, a partner's penis, a speculum, a sex toy? Is it really seen as less of a harm done, if it's done to a woman? It certainly seems so. But maybe the problem lies with the women. I can't say that I've personally EVER seen of a news story where a woman has drawn up a lawsuit for a forced vaginal exam in labor. Or at any point in her life, other than actual sexual rape. And by all means...if someone has a story, *please* email it to me! But back to the point...maybe if women stopped being so damn passive about what happens in the hospitals, or just shrugs it off as "That's what they do", maybe we'd make changes.
But that would take strength. And I don't see that from many childbearing women right now. I see a whole lot of weakness, a whole lot of complacency. Women either not caring what happens, or they're too worried about their drugs in labor to care what happens, or being too afraid of speaking up. WOMEN!!! This is going to get us NOWHERE.
Now. I want to be clear. I am NOT placing the blame solely with women. I personally know that when you contact a lawyer for a case of medical abuse/negligence/etc in the medical setting, that it's pretty much a no-go unless there was permanent "damage". And unfortunately, they don't consider PTSD or anxiety as a result, as "damage". Someone physically has to be damaged. It has to be tangible. I've been there, done that. And it's frustrating as hell. I had my medical records doctored, so that the doctor covered her own ass. *I* was the liar. I'm just wondering if the hundreds of thousands of us to give birth each year actually banded together and took a freaking stand against this stuff...would things possibly change? Would we have hope? But that goes full circle back to women needing to care. With the high c-section rate out there, with as many celebrities that we have opting for this to save their beautiful vaginas, with as many as 85% of women CHOOSING to numb their bodies in childbirth...I just don't see this happening. Until more of us get pissed off enough to stay out of the hospital to begin with ( WHY do women run back to the person who raped them? ) and stay away from trained surgeon for NORMAL birth, I'm afraid not a damn thing will be changed.
I started a birth rape site, in case I haven't mentioned it on here. Go take a look at some of the stories that I've posted...Mary and Jazmin's in particular. www.freewebs.com/birthrape. The thing is, assault happens to women in birth ALL the time. Whether the women who are assaulted, know it or not. A blog that I came across today, Giselle's Total Waste of Bandwidth, she wrote out some of the definitions of physical and sexual assault:
For instance, here's some definitions from The U.S. Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women. One specific definition of sexual assault includes "Unwanted vaginal, anal, or oral penetration with any object".
Here's some comments from the above site about consent. "In general, state law assumes that a person does not consent to sexual activity if he or she is forced, threatened, unconscious, drugged, a minor, developmentally disabled, chronically mentally ill, or believe they are undergoing a medical procedure." "Perpetrators of sexual assault can be strangers, friends, acquaintances, or family members. Often, perpetrators commit sexual assault by way of violence, threats, coercion, manipulation, pressure, or tricks." And my favorite: "More often, however, sexual assault involves psychological coercion and taking advantage of an individual who is incapacitated or under duress and, therefore, is incapable of making a decision on his or her own."
Funny, because isn't one of the leading reasons for vaginal exams done starting at 36 weeks, to see if a woman's body is "working"? "I need to see if your body has begun the process of opening up for the baby.", "I need to make sure your pelvic outlet is big enough to let this baby through WITHOUT HARMING HIM.", "I see your labored breathing, the way your body is swaying, and your inability to speak...but I need to make sure you're actually in labor.", "I don't think you're progressing. We might need to do a c-section."
What does this turn women into?
Please doctor, put your hand inside of my vagina. Can you please tell me if my body is working? Can you please tell me if my body is big enough to birth the baby that I've spent 10 months growing? I'm having contractions, that I know don't fit the pattern of TRUE preterm labor, but please put your hand in my vagina to find out if I'm right about my own body or not.
So because of this, women who actually refuse these exams are seen as crazy, fanatics, or combative. "Not behaving." Why would we be seen as normal, since most other women spread their legs easily without batting an eye?
In Jazmin's story, she had a nurse repeatedly JAM her fingers into Jazmin's clitoris, while Jazmin was screaming "NO!". Jazmin was laboring on her knees, leaning on the back of the lifted hospital bed. In this position, the nurse kept trying because Jazmin was starting to grunt with contractions, and the nurse said she HAD to check her to see if she was complete. Despite Jazmin saying no. Maybe it was the fact that Jazmin was only 16. Maybe this was just a bad day for the nurse. Regardless of what the circumstances were...this was flat out assault. It took Jazmin grabbing the nurses hand and yelling "I SAID NO!" for her to stop. Jazmin cried for weeks over this assault. Her fiance did nothing, because the hospital was the "authority". No one else did anything, because she was seen as being combative.
The man in the forced rectal exam story may not have won the case. But you know what? He caused a stir in people, questioning ethics when it comes to "informed consent". Why aren't women causing a stir? My blog, and the blogs and sites of other women who are sick and tired of the abuse...only reach so far.
When will it stop? When will women stand up? When will they be HEARD?
10 Childbirth Myths Revisited
One thing to understand, is that I often write my blog posts out of frustration with mainstream pregnancy/labor/birth ideals and beliefs. Now that I know my blog isn't private, I will be a little more careful with my tone, and make sure to clarify my thoughts. I understand 100% that often my tone comes out as judgemental and headstrong. I am definitely a headstrong person, and very passionate about what I believe...but I don't want to come off as unapproachable or unwilling to learn from others. I have learned so much from so many other people in my journey, that I hope to eventually offer the same, without someone being concerned about my tone. I'm an honest person, and my words often come out quite blunt. I'm working on buffering that, and learning how to tone it down a bit, without losing my honesty. ; )
I wanted to revamp my "10 Myths" post. Not because I feel that the information is wrong now, but to clarify a bit. Again, this post was originally created out of frustration for the gaggle of women out there who don't research their options, their rights, or anything beyond what their doctor tells them to do. Right now we have such a fear surrounding birth. I would be fearful too, if I didn't know what I know, because currently 1 out of 3 women end up walking out of the hospital having to recover from major abdominal surgery. Or they are told that they'll never make it through the "hell" of labor without an epidural. We've got a generation ( that goes far back, not just this one alone ) that doesn't believe in their body's ability to give birth. We've got so many women afraid of the process, and who aren't willing to research anything beyond what their doctor tells them, or beyond what "What to Expect..." tells them. It's really sad. And beyond that, an incredible number of women end up with a cesarean, and are convinced by their doctor, their friends, their family...that it was necessary. Now, before anyone jumps on that one...YES, there ARE necessary and life-saving cesareans. For those reasons, I am incredibly grateful that we have them. And YES, I have held the hands of women who have had to have a cesarean for medical reasons. It can be an amazing tool. But unfortunately, many of the cesareans that are performed today are vastly unnecessary, and totally avoidable. There are so many interventions involved in birth now, that LEAD to a cesarean section. If we avoided those interventions, we could avoid a good number of those unnecessary cesareans. The WHO, as well as ACOG, as well as CIMS has put the "safe" percentage for cesareans at 10-15% on average. Right now as a nation, we have a 31% cesarean rate. This is double to triple the rate that has been deemed the safe CUT OFF.
Anyway, before I go on more about the cesarean rate ( close to home )...I will go ahead and post the revamped "10 Myths" post. : ) I'm sure there will be negative comments. Just know that you will be ignored. I will not delete, but I will ignore. You don't have to believe what I'm writing. Birth doesn't require you to believe them. ; )
1. "Before cesareans, women were dying all the time in childbirth."
* Yes, there were high maternal and infant mortality rates before we had the tools for a "safe" cesarean. But the main factors that contributed to this, are often unknown or not researched by women. "In the early 19th century, doctors would go catch babies without first washing their hands and, worse, would do so after performing autopsies on patients who had died from childbirth fever. This not only assured transmission, but biased that transmission so that the most virulent forms of the organism (i.e., those that killed women while they were still in the hospital) would be transmitted." ( Germ Theory of Disease ) The first antibiotic wasn't created until the 1920's. Even then, the use of penicillin didn't become widespread until the 1940's. So if the Aseptic Technique didn't become known until the late 19th century, and we didn't have access to antibiotics until the 1940's, how is it hard to understand that women and babies were dying more so because of the spread of disease, rather than the inability to birth safely without a cesarean. I have no doubt that some women and babies died because of not being able to get the baby out fast enough...but that really does take a back seat to disease, if you look at things correctly according to the history of medicine and what we've learned. It wasn't just women and newborns dying...it was a widespread thing during that time. Older children were lost to disease, men, and non-pregnant women alike. In Wales in 1838, the death rate from the Measles was 70.49 per 100,000. By 1968 when the Measles Vaccine came to use, the death rate was down to 0.11 per 100,000. My point in bringing up the measles? To show that the GENERAL death rates were very high before we had the Aseptic Technique, Antibiotics, and Vaccinations. Should we be afraid to go out in public where other people will be coughing, sneezing, and breathing around us because the disease rate was very high over a century ago? Of course not. Same reason that women should not be afraid to give birth because the maternal and infant mortality rates were high.
In my previous posting of this, I also mentioned pelvic deformities from the use of corsets. This WAS a factor in women's inability to pass the very baby she grew, because when girls began binding their waists and hips from a young age, it DID change their pelvic structures. This may have been seen in the prominent families only, but it was still a factor. I can't help but believe as well ( and feel free to write me off on a person belief, lol ) that labor and birth would be a hell of a lot more painful if your pelvis suffered from years of binding.
2. "I have to be induced because my baby is getting too big."
* The accuracy of ultrasound for detecting macrosomia seems to run between 50% to 65% or so. This is VERY low accuracy to be telling a woman that her baby is getting too big to birth safely. From Kmom's Website:
Late in pregnancy, ultrasonography just isn't an accurate way of estimating the size of the baby, when it comes down to the decision of forcing a baby out before he's ready, or heading to the OR. And regardless of baby's size, you'll never know what you can do until you try. ; ) Had someone told me 4 years ago, when I was scared into my c-section for "suspected macrosomia" ( he was only 8.8lbs and spent 9 days in the NICU for severe respiratory distress from the c-section ), that I would go on to deliver a 10.10 posterior baby ( in my home no less, no meds )...I would have told them that they were crazy. That it is impossible to deliver a baby that big without a cesarean, or major damage in the least. ( I had only one stitch, by the way )
I also think that women don't know that the pelvic girdle is NOT a fixed, solid structure. During pregnancy and labor, a hormone called Relaxin softens the ligaments that join the surrounding pelvic bones. The degree of pelvic expansion achieved will vary depending on the factors in an individual woman's labor. For example, squatting increases the opening of the pelvic outlet considerable, compared with the lithotomy position. It will also depend on whether or not mom was induced. ( The hormone is still there, but an induction is a mean of trying to evict a baby who is not ready ) There are factors that come into play, but there are ways of increasing the pelvic outlet size to facilitate a vaginal delivery. Baby's heads are made to mold as well.
3. "I had to have a c-section because my baby's cord was around his neck, and he could have DIED!"
* I am saddened to hear this from women. Obstetricians are doing a great job of justifying the reason for the cesarean, by throwing in things like this. Approximately 1 in 3 babies are born with at least a 1x nuchal cord ( wrapped around the neck ). I personally have been present for the delivery of a baby who had a 3x nuchal cord, wrapped not only around the neck, but across the shoulders as well. She was born quite safely at home. While studies DO show a higher incidence of fetal bradycardia ( heartbeat of less than 100bpm ), they show no significant difference in the APGAR scores in babies with a nuchal cord, compared to those without. Interesting. ; )
From The Journal Of Family Practice:
4. "Once your water breaks, you HAVE to deliver within 24 hours."
*
A HUGE factor in acquiring an infection when premature rupture of membranes has occured, is the number of vaginal exams done after the water has broken. With each exam done, the risk of infection is increased. In keeping the risk of infection at it's lowest, it is important to keep everything out of the vagina - even gloved hands. Unfortunately, this doesn't happen often in the hospital.
Morales WJ and Lazar AJ. Expectant management of rupture of membranes at term. South Med J 1986; 79(8): 955–958.
5. "Once a Cesarean, Always a Cesarean."
* This used to be true, but mainly because doctors were using classical incisions ( vertical ) during cesareans, instead of the low transverse that is done now. With a classical incision, the incision stems upward into the uterus, where it contracts. The lower segment usually does not contract as hard as the upper segment. The main risk in a VBAC ( Vaginal Birth After Cesarean ) is a Uterine Rupture ( where the uterus opens ). This risk is approximately 0.3-0.7%. Which means that in a VBAC, you have a 99.3-99.7% chance of NOT rupturing, if you don't induce labor. When you induce, the risk of rupture is increased. The risk of a cord prolapse, which is a life-threatening emergency for baby, in ANY labor is up to 2%. Does that mean that no woman should take the risk of ANY vaginal birth, and all should be c-sections? Of course not. So then why do women believe that the *LESS THAN 1%* risk is too high? Mostly because their doctors ( One thing that many women don't know - OBs are trained *surgeons* ) play up the risks of VBAC, and underplay the risks of cesareans. A VBAC is not only a viable option to consider, but one that is encouraged by all of the major health organizations, including ACOG ( American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology ).
6. "It's not a big deal to induce, as long as you're 'term'".
* Well, this depends on what you consider to be a big deal. According to every recommendation there is, induction of labor SHOULD NOT be done unless the risk of remaining pregnant FAR outweigh the many risks that come with an induction...and suspected macrosomia doesn't fall into this category, not even according to ACOG. Sadly, the majority of women induce out of convenience ( wanting to have baby by a certain date, wanting to get an additional tax credit before the new year - and YES...I've heard this more times than I can count! ) or because they have been told their baby is getting "too big", or because they're tired of being pregnant.
From the AAFP:
Technically and Ethically, care providers are NOT supposed to be inducing for ANY reason other than true medical necessity. But an induction of labor is more convenient for them as well, because it can be scheduled according to their liking, and it's much easier to proceed to a cesarean if the induction is taking too long.
Elective inductions also increase the risk of Iatrogenic Prematurity ( Physician caused prematurity ).
From PubMed:
7. "Epidurals don't pass to the baby, they're not risky."
* Dentists usually will not administer anesthetics to pregnant women. Doctors caution against using even the most mild of medications. Doctors warn against smoking in pregnancy, drinking in pregnancy, and consuming unhealthy food. Babies who are born after epidural births are more likely to need resuscitation, more likely to be lethargic, more likely to have lower apgar scores, and LESS likely to be breastfeeding at 6 months of age. Epidurals have a very high risk of causing BP problems in mom - causing the need for a c-section. Epidurals often cause labor to slow or stall completely, which then facilitates the need for pitocin. Pitocin often causes the baby to go into distress, along with the cocktail in the epidural, and then facilitates the need for a c-section. Epidurals lead to the interventions of an IV, continuous monitoring ( which have up to a 95% error rate...meaning that up to 95% of the babies who were c-sectioned for "fetal distress" were perfectly fine and not in distress at all. ), pitocin. Epidural births often end in the need for an instrumental delivery. Epidurals often take away the ability to push effectively, combined with the fact that you're on your back, or in a half-sitting position, pushing a baby UP over the pubic bone.
Risks of Epidurals ( The full summary can be found HERE ):
* Limited Mobility - 100%
* Low Blood Pressure - up to 50%
* Fever, mom - up to 24%
* Urinary Retention - up to 68%
* Post Partum Urinary Incontenence - 27% with an epidural, 13% without
* Shivering - 33%
* Nausea - up to 30%
* Vomiting - up to 13%
* Itching - between 8-100% ( varying degrees )
* Backache Immediately After Birth - 53%
* Incomplete Pain Relief - up to 25%
* Slower 1st Stage of Labor - up to 4.8 hours longer
* Longer 2nd Stage ( pushing ) - up to 55 minutes longer
* Instrumental Delivery - up to 80%. 6 out of 9 studies indicate that less than 50% of women with an epidural had a spontanious vaginal delivery.
* Fever in the baby ( that result in a sepsis work up ) - 30%
* Fetal Distress - 10-15%
* Malpositioned Baby - up to 26%
* Lower Apgar Scores- up to 17%
* Baby Having to Endure Sepsis Work Up ( which includes spinal tap ) - up to 34%
* Baby Being Treated with Antibiotics - up to 15%
* Effects on Breastfeeding - Women who used epidurals were less likely to still be breastfeeding at 6 months. ( 30% vs. 50% )
* Cesarean - 2-3 times as likely with an epidural.
8. "I had to be induced because they found low fluid."
* The modern route of action for this is completely backwards. Amniotic fluid is essentially the baby's urine after the 36 week mark. ( http://gynob.com/amniotic.htm ) If you're not drinking enough water, the baby is not able to process the amniotic fluid. When low fluid is found via u/s the practice is SUPPOSED to be to have the woman go home, drink at least 2 liters of water, and have the fluid levels re-checked by a *different* technician ( readings can be off depending on who's doing it as well! ) within 24 hours. Studies have shown that oral re-hydration is a perfectly acceptable method of increasing amniotic fluid, as well as effective. of the time, the fluid levels will have gone up. In those that don't, the practice is SUPPOSED to be to have her repeat above, and see what levels are again, by a diff. technician. If the levels still ARE low ( under 5 ), then it should be left up to the mom, will FULL INFORMED consent to make a decision. She should have time to go home and research, without being pressured. Sometimes this will necessitate an induction, but there are better ways to go about an induction without bombarding your baby with drugs. ( Foley catheter induction, no drugs, no pain meds...go from there ).
From PubMed:
9. "Stripping Membranes is perfectly harmless."
* During a membrane sweep, the care provider inserts his/her fingers into the cervix, hooks the finger in between the cervix and the amniotic sac ( if even possible...most women that request this aren't barely a fingertip dilated ), and sweeps all around in between the two. On top of being EXTREMELY uncomfortable, and often painful, this does NOT guarantee induction of labor. This poses the risk of infection, because the care provider is pushing vaginal bacteria up INTO the cervix, and in between the cervix and sac. There is also the added risk of weakening the lining of the amniotic sac, causing the waters to break prematurely. If *this* happens, which is not uncommon, then you're on the clock. Your body wasn't naturally ready for labor, so it'll probably take the longer of the scenarios described a few paragraphs above regarding the time limit on water breaking...and your care provider usually WILL be quicker to add intervention. After all, it *started* with intervention. ; )
10. "I pushed for hours and my baby would not come out. I NEEDED a c-section."
* Unfortunately, Cephalopelvic Disproportion ( CPD ) is widely misdiagnosed. According to the American College of Nurse Midwives( for those of you who believe that you don't count as a midwife unless you're a CNM ), CPD occurs in only 1 out of 250 pregnancies. If you have been diagnosed with CPD, this does not automatically mean that you will have this problem in future deliveries. According to a study published by the American Journal of Public Health, over 65 % of women who had been diagnosed with CPD in previous pregnancies, were able to deliver vaginally in subsequent pregnancies. And as seen in many, many women on the ICAN list...often go on to deliver *LARGER* babies than the baby that was sectioned out of them for "CPD". ; ) ( A beautiful montage from the women of ICAN...although not scientific I know. ) But with an epidural rate of as high as 85-95% in some hospitals...you're not often going to see a woman be able to get up and get into a good squat, or into the hands and knees position. Some with a "Walking Epidural", but not the average woman with an epidural.
Another issue brought up ( Thank you Heather! ) is a malposition in the baby. This isn't often talked about when you're under the care of an OB, because unfortunately palpation seems to be a lost art. I ask women ALL THE TIME who are under the care of an OB, what position their baby is in. They say "Head down". I ask if they know which way the baby is facing, etc...and they say no and look at me like I've got two heads. Malposition can be a HUGE factor in a woman unable to push her baby out. Malpositions are usually more common with induced labors - especially when AROM is involved, and labor where mom is in bed with an epidural instead of up and moving around. I think that Optimal Fetal Positioning ( OFP ) should be a part of EVERY pregnant woman's education prenatally. There are women who have done everything "right" ( IMO, and the opinion of many midwives ) - made sure that their diet was nutritious, planned a natural birth with minimal to none intervention, avoided drugs, stayed mobile, pushed with the urge....and STILL ended up pushing for hours and ending in a cesarean. Malposition can play a serious role in a cesarean becoming necessary, but is often simply labeled "CPD".
A wonderful site to learn about OFP is Spinning Babies.
There are so many, many other myths that can and should be dispelled. So many women believe what they are told, instead of doing the research for themselves. If you'd like to learn more about Obstetrical myths, there is an EXCELLENT book by Henci Goer. "Obstetrical Myths Versus Research Realities". Every myth dispelled is referenced by medical study. These are not opinions, they are backed my medical research. Maybe sometime soon I will add to this list. : )
References:
1. From the CDC ( Center for Disease Control ) : At the beginning of the 20th century, for every 1000 live births, six to nine women in the United States died of pregnancy-related complications, and approximately 100 infants died before age 1 year (1,2). From 1915 through 1997, the infant mortality rate declined greater than 90% to 7.2 per 1000 live births, and from 1900 through 1997, the maternal mortality rate declined almost 99% to less than 0.1 reported death per 1000 live births (7.7 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1997) (3) (Figure 1 and Figure 2). Environmental interventions, improvements in nutrition, advances in clinical medicine, improvements in access to health care, improvements in surveillance and monitoring of disease, increases in education levels, and improvements in standards of living contributed to this remarkable decline (1). Despite these improvements in maternal and infant mortality rates, significant disparities by race and ethnicity persist. This report summarizes trends in reducing infant and maternal mortality in the United States, factors contributing to these trends, challenges in reducing infant and maternal mortality, and provides suggestions for public health action for the 21st century. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwR/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4838a2.htm
http://www.mansfield.ohio-state.edu/~sabedon//biol2007.htm#pasteur
2. From Obstetrics and Gynecology: Conclusion: Because elective induction of labor increased the cesarean rate and did not prevent shoulder dystocia, we conclude that mothers with macrosomic fetuses can safely be managed expectantly unless there is a medical indication for induction. http://www.greenjournal.org/cgi/content/abstract/81/4/492
3. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0689/is_n4_v34/ai_12185823
4. http://www.compleatmother.com/prom.htm
http://www.collegeofmidwives.org/legal_legislative01/OBnews%20induction%20vs%20expt%20mang%20Oct01.html
5.Overall, attempted vaginal birth for women with a single previous low transeverse cesarean section is associated with a lower risk of complications for both mother and baby than routine repeat cesarean section. The morbidity associated with successful vaginal birth is about one-fifth that of elective cesarean.
http://www.childbirthconnection.org/article.asp?ck=10210
http://www.vbac.com/chapter38.html
6. Preterm Birth Late in Gestation Triples Infant Mortality
http://www.medpagetoday.com/OBGYN/Pregnancy/tb/7347
http://www.medpagetoday.com/OBGYN/Pregnancy/dh/4334
http://www.transitiontoparenthood.com/ttp/parented/pregnancy/induction.htm
http://parenting.ivillage.com/pregnancy/plabor/0,,midwife_4888,00.html
7. The incidence of cesarean section for dystocia was significantly greater (p < 0.005) in the epidural group (10.3%) than in the nonepidural group (3.8%).
http://www.healing-arts.org/mehl-madrona/mmepidural.htm
http://www.collegeofmidwives.org/safety_issues01/EpidurIncreaseNBtests1997.htm
http://www.mothering.com/articles/pregnancy_birth/birth_preparation/hidden-risks-epidurals.html
http://www.oyston.com/anaes/local/muir.html
http://www.kimjames.net/epidural_risks_and_side_effects.htm
8. These findings suggest that maternal oral hydration increases AF volume in women with decreased fluid levels.
http://www.greenjournal.org/cgi/content/abstract/78/6/1098
http://pregnancy.about.com/cs/amnioticfluid/a/aaoligo.htm
9. http://www.transitiontoparenthood.com/ttp/parented/pregnancy/induction.htm
http://www.pregnancy.org/article.php?sid=1528
10. http://pregnancychildbirth.suite101.com/article.cfm/pushing_techniques
http://www.collegeofmidwives.org/ObGynNews%2001a/OBN%20no%20purple%20pushing%20Mar03.html
I wanted to revamp my "10 Myths" post. Not because I feel that the information is wrong now, but to clarify a bit. Again, this post was originally created out of frustration for the gaggle of women out there who don't research their options, their rights, or anything beyond what their doctor tells them to do. Right now we have such a fear surrounding birth. I would be fearful too, if I didn't know what I know, because currently 1 out of 3 women end up walking out of the hospital having to recover from major abdominal surgery. Or they are told that they'll never make it through the "hell" of labor without an epidural. We've got a generation ( that goes far back, not just this one alone ) that doesn't believe in their body's ability to give birth. We've got so many women afraid of the process, and who aren't willing to research anything beyond what their doctor tells them, or beyond what "What to Expect..." tells them. It's really sad. And beyond that, an incredible number of women end up with a cesarean, and are convinced by their doctor, their friends, their family...that it was necessary. Now, before anyone jumps on that one...YES, there ARE necessary and life-saving cesareans. For those reasons, I am incredibly grateful that we have them. And YES, I have held the hands of women who have had to have a cesarean for medical reasons. It can be an amazing tool. But unfortunately, many of the cesareans that are performed today are vastly unnecessary, and totally avoidable. There are so many interventions involved in birth now, that LEAD to a cesarean section. If we avoided those interventions, we could avoid a good number of those unnecessary cesareans. The WHO, as well as ACOG, as well as CIMS has put the "safe" percentage for cesareans at 10-15% on average. Right now as a nation, we have a 31% cesarean rate. This is double to triple the rate that has been deemed the safe CUT OFF.
Anyway, before I go on more about the cesarean rate ( close to home )...I will go ahead and post the revamped "10 Myths" post. : ) I'm sure there will be negative comments. Just know that you will be ignored. I will not delete, but I will ignore. You don't have to believe what I'm writing. Birth doesn't require you to believe them. ; )
1. "Before cesareans, women were dying all the time in childbirth."
* Yes, there were high maternal and infant mortality rates before we had the tools for a "safe" cesarean. But the main factors that contributed to this, are often unknown or not researched by women. "In the early 19th century, doctors would go catch babies without first washing their hands and, worse, would do so after performing autopsies on patients who had died from childbirth fever. This not only assured transmission, but biased that transmission so that the most virulent forms of the organism (i.e., those that killed women while they were still in the hospital) would be transmitted." ( Germ Theory of Disease ) The first antibiotic wasn't created until the 1920's. Even then, the use of penicillin didn't become widespread until the 1940's. So if the Aseptic Technique didn't become known until the late 19th century, and we didn't have access to antibiotics until the 1940's, how is it hard to understand that women and babies were dying more so because of the spread of disease, rather than the inability to birth safely without a cesarean. I have no doubt that some women and babies died because of not being able to get the baby out fast enough...but that really does take a back seat to disease, if you look at things correctly according to the history of medicine and what we've learned. It wasn't just women and newborns dying...it was a widespread thing during that time. Older children were lost to disease, men, and non-pregnant women alike. In Wales in 1838, the death rate from the Measles was 70.49 per 100,000. By 1968 when the Measles Vaccine came to use, the death rate was down to 0.11 per 100,000. My point in bringing up the measles? To show that the GENERAL death rates were very high before we had the Aseptic Technique, Antibiotics, and Vaccinations. Should we be afraid to go out in public where other people will be coughing, sneezing, and breathing around us because the disease rate was very high over a century ago? Of course not. Same reason that women should not be afraid to give birth because the maternal and infant mortality rates were high.
In my previous posting of this, I also mentioned pelvic deformities from the use of corsets. This WAS a factor in women's inability to pass the very baby she grew, because when girls began binding their waists and hips from a young age, it DID change their pelvic structures. This may have been seen in the prominent families only, but it was still a factor. I can't help but believe as well ( and feel free to write me off on a person belief, lol ) that labor and birth would be a hell of a lot more painful if your pelvis suffered from years of binding.
2. "I have to be induced because my baby is getting too big."
* The accuracy of ultrasound for detecting macrosomia seems to run between 50% to 65% or so. This is VERY low accuracy to be telling a woman that her baby is getting too big to birth safely. From Kmom's Website:
Pollack et al. (1992) found that only 64% of the babies estimated to be macrosomic (big) actually were. Levine et al. (1992) found that HALF of the ultrasound predictions of fetal weight were incorrect. Delpapa and Mueller-Heubach (1991) found that 77% of ultrasound fetal weight predictions exceeded actual birthweight and only 48% were even within 500g (about one pound) of the actual birth weight. Furthermore, 23% were more than 1 pound overestimated, and 50% of the babies predicted to be macrosomic weren't macrosomic at all.
Late in pregnancy, ultrasonography just isn't an accurate way of estimating the size of the baby, when it comes down to the decision of forcing a baby out before he's ready, or heading to the OR. And regardless of baby's size, you'll never know what you can do until you try. ; ) Had someone told me 4 years ago, when I was scared into my c-section for "suspected macrosomia" ( he was only 8.8lbs and spent 9 days in the NICU for severe respiratory distress from the c-section ), that I would go on to deliver a 10.10 posterior baby ( in my home no less, no meds )...I would have told them that they were crazy. That it is impossible to deliver a baby that big without a cesarean, or major damage in the least. ( I had only one stitch, by the way )
I also think that women don't know that the pelvic girdle is NOT a fixed, solid structure. During pregnancy and labor, a hormone called Relaxin softens the ligaments that join the surrounding pelvic bones. The degree of pelvic expansion achieved will vary depending on the factors in an individual woman's labor. For example, squatting increases the opening of the pelvic outlet considerable, compared with the lithotomy position. It will also depend on whether or not mom was induced. ( The hormone is still there, but an induction is a mean of trying to evict a baby who is not ready ) There are factors that come into play, but there are ways of increasing the pelvic outlet size to facilitate a vaginal delivery. Baby's heads are made to mold as well.
3. "I had to have a c-section because my baby's cord was around his neck, and he could have DIED!"
* I am saddened to hear this from women. Obstetricians are doing a great job of justifying the reason for the cesarean, by throwing in things like this. Approximately 1 in 3 babies are born with at least a 1x nuchal cord ( wrapped around the neck ). I personally have been present for the delivery of a baby who had a 3x nuchal cord, wrapped not only around the neck, but across the shoulders as well. She was born quite safely at home. While studies DO show a higher incidence of fetal bradycardia ( heartbeat of less than 100bpm ), they show no significant difference in the APGAR scores in babies with a nuchal cord, compared to those without. Interesting. ; )
From The Journal Of Family Practice:
Several studies have shown that this cord compression results in reduced blood flow to the fetus and subsequent changes in the umbilical artery blood gases.[3,25,31-33] If compression is high enough to occlude the artery, the fetus is unable to exchange carbon dioxide adequately, resulting in hypercapnia and subsequent acidosis. Acidosis is significantly more common in newborns with nuchal cords.[33] This acidosis is of a "mixed" (68%) or a pure respiratory (23%) type and is corrected quickly by prompt ventilation of the newborn.
Paradoxically, despite the higher incidence of bradycardia and acidosis, the Apgar score is not dramatically affected. The present study was unable to demonstrate a significant difference in the mean 1-minute Apgar score between the two groups, although the nuchal cord group did tend to have a larger percentage of infants born with a score of less than 7. This difference was absent at 5 minutes after birth when the second Apgar score was given, suggesting that any possible effect is only transient. Similar findings by other suggest that nuchal cords are not a major cause of fetal asphyxia.
It is interesting to note that the Apgar scores in the nuchal cord group of this study were comparable to those of the control group, despite the much higher occurrence of fetal distress noted during labor. It may be that the Apgar score is a better indicator of the newborn's health at the time of birth than the fluctuations in heart rate noted during labor.
4. "Once your water breaks, you HAVE to deliver within 24 hours."
*
A retrospective cohort study of women delivering at two New York City hospitals between 1988 and 1990 was conducted to assess the outcomes of two kinds of management for PROM. The patient populations of the two hospitals were similar. One institution practiced induction of labor if spontaneous labor had not begun within 12 hours of rupture of the bag of waters; the other hospital, with nurse-midwifery management ( not ignorant DEMs we're talking about! ;) ), admitted the women but did not induce unless signs of infection occurred.
The records of 909 women with PROM at term were reviewed. Those who were managed conservatively experienced one-third the rate of cesarean sections, with no increase in intrauterine or neonatal infections. Though the expectant management women spent as long as five days in the hospital, the average hospital stay was only a half-day longer than those who were managed with early induction. -Journal of Nurse-Midwifery, Vol. 38 No. 3, May/June 1993
A HUGE factor in acquiring an infection when premature rupture of membranes has occured, is the number of vaginal exams done after the water has broken. With each exam done, the risk of infection is increased. In keeping the risk of infection at it's lowest, it is important to keep everything out of the vagina - even gloved hands. Unfortunately, this doesn't happen often in the hospital.
Morales WJ and Lazar AJ. Expectant management of rupture of membranes at term. South Med J 1986; 79(8): 955–958.
Women with term uncomplicated pregnancies (including women with previous cesarean) and PROM who were not in labor were randomly assigned to expectant management (monitoring for infection or fetal distress) (N=167) or induction (N=150). No digital exams were done until active labor. Most (85%) began labor within 48 hours. Women randomized to induction had internal electronic fetal monitoring and pressure catheter. "Failed induction" was defined as failure to enter active-phase labor after 12 hours of regular contractions.
The cesarean rate was 7% for women managed expectantly compared with 21% for induced women. No cesarean was done for failure to progress in expectantly managed multiparas versus a 15% cesarean rate for this cause in induced multiparas. Infection rates after cesarean section (24% versus 5% [no p value]) reflected the "well-documented significant increase in postpartum endometritis after abdominal delivery." Intrapartum infection and endometritis rates after vaginal birth were increased in the induced population (12% versus 4%, p <0.01). No infant in either group was infected. "These findings...support the observation that, contrary to previously accepted belief, prolonged interval between rupture of membranes and delivery does not increase the maternal and neonatal infection rate. Rather, with PROM the interval from digital examination to delivery is the critical parameter in the incidence of infection."
5. "Once a Cesarean, Always a Cesarean."
* This used to be true, but mainly because doctors were using classical incisions ( vertical ) during cesareans, instead of the low transverse that is done now. With a classical incision, the incision stems upward into the uterus, where it contracts. The lower segment usually does not contract as hard as the upper segment. The main risk in a VBAC ( Vaginal Birth After Cesarean ) is a Uterine Rupture ( where the uterus opens ). This risk is approximately 0.3-0.7%. Which means that in a VBAC, you have a 99.3-99.7% chance of NOT rupturing, if you don't induce labor. When you induce, the risk of rupture is increased. The risk of a cord prolapse, which is a life-threatening emergency for baby, in ANY labor is up to 2%. Does that mean that no woman should take the risk of ANY vaginal birth, and all should be c-sections? Of course not. So then why do women believe that the *LESS THAN 1%* risk is too high? Mostly because their doctors ( One thing that many women don't know - OBs are trained *surgeons* ) play up the risks of VBAC, and underplay the risks of cesareans. A VBAC is not only a viable option to consider, but one that is encouraged by all of the major health organizations, including ACOG ( American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology ).
6. "It's not a big deal to induce, as long as you're 'term'".
* Well, this depends on what you consider to be a big deal. According to every recommendation there is, induction of labor SHOULD NOT be done unless the risk of remaining pregnant FAR outweigh the many risks that come with an induction...and suspected macrosomia doesn't fall into this category, not even according to ACOG. Sadly, the majority of women induce out of convenience ( wanting to have baby by a certain date, wanting to get an additional tax credit before the new year - and YES...I've heard this more times than I can count! ) or because they have been told their baby is getting "too big", or because they're tired of being pregnant.
From the AAFP:
The Epidemiology of Induction Has Changed. The increase in the frequency of term labor induction has been well established,2-4 yet the change in incidence rates varies considerably by indication. Macrosomia has increased the most as an indication, 22.5-fold since 1980, despite evidence that induction for suspected macrosomia has shown potential benefit only in women with type 1 diabetes mellitus.5,6 Post-term pregnancy, the most common reason for labor induction (10 percent of live births), had only a 2.3-fold increase. Of note, induction rates have shown large variations across maternal classes, with higher induction rates being found in white, non-Hispanic women (25.3 percent), women with more than 12 years of education (24.6 percent), and women with private insurance (24.5 percent).2 Higher induction rates are found in community hospital settings (increased elective inductions), compared with university or federally controlled hospitals (increased inductions because of medical conditions).8
Elective Induction of Labor Is More Common. The rationale for elective induction is mutual convenience, allowing a pregnant woman to handle logistic issues such as child care and transportation, and to know that her expected birth attendant will be present for delivery. Given that most induced births occur between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m., it is reasonable to presume that the physician and staff will be alert and better able to respond to an emergency. However, elective induction is not without potential risks, including iatrogenic prematurity, uterine hyperstimulation, nonreassuring fetal heart rate tracing, and greater likelihood of operative delivery, shoulder dystocia, and postpartum hemorrhage. While these complications are rare in multiparous women, nulliparous women have significantly higher rates of cesarean delivery, instrumented delivery, epidural analgesia, and neonatal intensive care unit admission.9,10 Because the risk of cesarean delivery with elective induction is potentially as high as 2.8 times that for spontaneous labor, it is difficult to advocate elective induction in a nulliparous woman.10-12
Technically and Ethically, care providers are NOT supposed to be inducing for ANY reason other than true medical necessity. But an induction of labor is more convenient for them as well, because it can be scheduled according to their liking, and it's much easier to proceed to a cesarean if the induction is taking too long.
Elective inductions also increase the risk of Iatrogenic Prematurity ( Physician caused prematurity ).
From PubMed:
Flaksman RJ, Vollman JH, Benfield DG.
In a series of 1,000 newborn infants referred to a regional neonatal center, 32 iatrogenically preterm infants were identified. All had been delivered following elective termination of uncomplicated, apparently term pregnancies, without prior documentation of fetal lung maturity or ultrasonic determination of fetal biparietal diameter. Associated acute morbidity included asphyxia neonatorum in 10, respiratory distress syndrome in 24, and pneumothorax or pneumomediastinum in nine patients. One infant died. Hospital costs totaled $150,643, for a mean of $4,701 per patient. The unexpected premature births were associated with major parental grief reactions and alterations in their daily activities, Iatrogenic prematurity is a major regional health care problem which, when viewed on a national basis, may affect thousands of newborn infants and their families annually. Our data suggest the need for more accurate assessment of fetal maturity, before elective termination of pregnancy, by well-established techniques.
7. "Epidurals don't pass to the baby, they're not risky."
* Dentists usually will not administer anesthetics to pregnant women. Doctors caution against using even the most mild of medications. Doctors warn against smoking in pregnancy, drinking in pregnancy, and consuming unhealthy food. Babies who are born after epidural births are more likely to need resuscitation, more likely to be lethargic, more likely to have lower apgar scores, and LESS likely to be breastfeeding at 6 months of age. Epidurals have a very high risk of causing BP problems in mom - causing the need for a c-section. Epidurals often cause labor to slow or stall completely, which then facilitates the need for pitocin. Pitocin often causes the baby to go into distress, along with the cocktail in the epidural, and then facilitates the need for a c-section. Epidurals lead to the interventions of an IV, continuous monitoring ( which have up to a 95% error rate...meaning that up to 95% of the babies who were c-sectioned for "fetal distress" were perfectly fine and not in distress at all. ), pitocin. Epidural births often end in the need for an instrumental delivery. Epidurals often take away the ability to push effectively, combined with the fact that you're on your back, or in a half-sitting position, pushing a baby UP over the pubic bone.
Risks of Epidurals ( The full summary can be found HERE ):
* Limited Mobility - 100%
* Low Blood Pressure - up to 50%
* Fever, mom - up to 24%
* Urinary Retention - up to 68%
* Post Partum Urinary Incontenence - 27% with an epidural, 13% without
* Shivering - 33%
* Nausea - up to 30%
* Vomiting - up to 13%
* Itching - between 8-100% ( varying degrees )
* Backache Immediately After Birth - 53%
* Incomplete Pain Relief - up to 25%
* Slower 1st Stage of Labor - up to 4.8 hours longer
* Longer 2nd Stage ( pushing ) - up to 55 minutes longer
* Instrumental Delivery - up to 80%. 6 out of 9 studies indicate that less than 50% of women with an epidural had a spontanious vaginal delivery.
* Fever in the baby ( that result in a sepsis work up ) - 30%
* Fetal Distress - 10-15%
* Malpositioned Baby - up to 26%
* Lower Apgar Scores- up to 17%
* Baby Having to Endure Sepsis Work Up ( which includes spinal tap ) - up to 34%
* Baby Being Treated with Antibiotics - up to 15%
* Effects on Breastfeeding - Women who used epidurals were less likely to still be breastfeeding at 6 months. ( 30% vs. 50% )
* Cesarean - 2-3 times as likely with an epidural.
8. "I had to be induced because they found low fluid."
* The modern route of action for this is completely backwards. Amniotic fluid is essentially the baby's urine after the 36 week mark. ( http://gynob.com/amniotic.htm ) If you're not drinking enough water, the baby is not able to process the amniotic fluid. When low fluid is found via u/s the practice is SUPPOSED to be to have the woman go home, drink at least 2 liters of water, and have the fluid levels re-checked by a *different* technician ( readings can be off depending on who's doing it as well! ) within 24 hours. Studies have shown that oral re-hydration is a perfectly acceptable method of increasing amniotic fluid, as well as effective. of the time, the fluid levels will have gone up. In those that don't, the practice is SUPPOSED to be to have her repeat above, and see what levels are again, by a diff. technician. If the levels still ARE low ( under 5 ), then it should be left up to the mom, will FULL INFORMED consent to make a decision. She should have time to go home and research, without being pressured. Sometimes this will necessitate an induction, but there are better ways to go about an induction without bombarding your baby with drugs. ( Foley catheter induction, no drugs, no pain meds...go from there ).
From PubMed:
One approach to treating oligohydramnios during labor is to perform an amniotomy followed by amnioinfusion to increase the fluid inside the uterus.[5] However, if expectant management is desired, maternal hydration can increase the AFI. Oral or IV maternal hydration has been studied as a treatment for oligohydramnios in women with otherwise healthy term pregnancies.[5] In the second trimester of pregnancy, the majority of the amniotic fluid is produced through fetal urine production and is reabsorbed through fetal swallowing. Amniotic fluid is also reabsorbed via the fetal lungs and by the placenta.[15,16] Maternal hydration and maternal osmolarity affect the amount of amniotic fluid available to the fetus for urine production and reabsorption near term.[15,17] In a systematic review, Hofmeyr[5] found that amniotic fluid volume is increased in women who have reduced or normal AFI and who drank 2 liters of water or who received IV hypotonic hydration; isotonic IV hydration had no measurable effect.[5] The amniotic fluid volume, assessed 6 hours later, was shown to increase by an average effect size of 2.01 (95% CI, 1.43-2.60) with oral hydration, and 2.3 (95% CI, 1.36-3.24) with a hypotonic IV solution. While no clinically important outcomes were assessed in any of these trials, hydration is a simple, inexpensive, and noninvasive method that may apply to clinical situations. Leeman and Almond[3] reported an increase of 30% in the AFI in women who consumed 2 liters of water 2 to 5 hours before repeat ultrasound, compared to women who were not orally hydrated. They recommend that maternal hydration should be considered before retesting the AFI 2 to 6 hours later, in cases of isolated oligohydramnios.
9. "Stripping Membranes is perfectly harmless."
* During a membrane sweep, the care provider inserts his/her fingers into the cervix, hooks the finger in between the cervix and the amniotic sac ( if even possible...most women that request this aren't barely a fingertip dilated ), and sweeps all around in between the two. On top of being EXTREMELY uncomfortable, and often painful, this does NOT guarantee induction of labor. This poses the risk of infection, because the care provider is pushing vaginal bacteria up INTO the cervix, and in between the cervix and sac. There is also the added risk of weakening the lining of the amniotic sac, causing the waters to break prematurely. If *this* happens, which is not uncommon, then you're on the clock. Your body wasn't naturally ready for labor, so it'll probably take the longer of the scenarios described a few paragraphs above regarding the time limit on water breaking...and your care provider usually WILL be quicker to add intervention. After all, it *started* with intervention. ; )
10. "I pushed for hours and my baby would not come out. I NEEDED a c-section."
* Unfortunately, Cephalopelvic Disproportion ( CPD ) is widely misdiagnosed. According to the American College of Nurse Midwives( for those of you who believe that you don't count as a midwife unless you're a CNM ), CPD occurs in only 1 out of 250 pregnancies. If you have been diagnosed with CPD, this does not automatically mean that you will have this problem in future deliveries. According to a study published by the American Journal of Public Health, over 65 % of women who had been diagnosed with CPD in previous pregnancies, were able to deliver vaginally in subsequent pregnancies. And as seen in many, many women on the ICAN list...often go on to deliver *LARGER* babies than the baby that was sectioned out of them for "CPD". ; ) ( A beautiful montage from the women of ICAN...although not scientific I know. ) But with an epidural rate of as high as 85-95% in some hospitals...you're not often going to see a woman be able to get up and get into a good squat, or into the hands and knees position. Some with a "Walking Epidural", but not the average woman with an epidural.
Another issue brought up ( Thank you Heather! ) is a malposition in the baby. This isn't often talked about when you're under the care of an OB, because unfortunately palpation seems to be a lost art. I ask women ALL THE TIME who are under the care of an OB, what position their baby is in. They say "Head down". I ask if they know which way the baby is facing, etc...and they say no and look at me like I've got two heads. Malposition can be a HUGE factor in a woman unable to push her baby out. Malpositions are usually more common with induced labors - especially when AROM is involved, and labor where mom is in bed with an epidural instead of up and moving around. I think that Optimal Fetal Positioning ( OFP ) should be a part of EVERY pregnant woman's education prenatally. There are women who have done everything "right" ( IMO, and the opinion of many midwives ) - made sure that their diet was nutritious, planned a natural birth with minimal to none intervention, avoided drugs, stayed mobile, pushed with the urge....and STILL ended up pushing for hours and ending in a cesarean. Malposition can play a serious role in a cesarean becoming necessary, but is often simply labeled "CPD".
A wonderful site to learn about OFP is Spinning Babies.
There are so many, many other myths that can and should be dispelled. So many women believe what they are told, instead of doing the research for themselves. If you'd like to learn more about Obstetrical myths, there is an EXCELLENT book by Henci Goer. "Obstetrical Myths Versus Research Realities". Every myth dispelled is referenced by medical study. These are not opinions, they are backed my medical research. Maybe sometime soon I will add to this list. : )
References:
1. From the CDC ( Center for Disease Control ) : At the beginning of the 20th century, for every 1000 live births, six to nine women in the United States died of pregnancy-related complications, and approximately 100 infants died before age 1 year (1,2). From 1915 through 1997, the infant mortality rate declined greater than 90% to 7.2 per 1000 live births, and from 1900 through 1997, the maternal mortality rate declined almost 99% to less than 0.1 reported death per 1000 live births (7.7 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1997) (3) (Figure 1 and Figure 2). Environmental interventions, improvements in nutrition, advances in clinical medicine, improvements in access to health care, improvements in surveillance and monitoring of disease, increases in education levels, and improvements in standards of living contributed to this remarkable decline (1). Despite these improvements in maternal and infant mortality rates, significant disparities by race and ethnicity persist. This report summarizes trends in reducing infant and maternal mortality in the United States, factors contributing to these trends, challenges in reducing infant and maternal mortality, and provides suggestions for public health action for the 21st century. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwR/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4838a2.htm
http://www.mansfield.ohio-state.edu/~sabedon//biol2007.htm#pasteur
2. From Obstetrics and Gynecology: Conclusion: Because elective induction of labor increased the cesarean rate and did not prevent shoulder dystocia, we conclude that mothers with macrosomic fetuses can safely be managed expectantly unless there is a medical indication for induction. http://www.greenjournal.org/cgi/content/abstract/81/4/492
3. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0689/is_n4_v34/ai_12185823
4. http://www.compleatmother.com/prom.htm
http://www.collegeofmidwives.org/legal_legislative01/OBnews%20induction%20vs%20expt%20mang%20Oct01.html
5.Overall, attempted vaginal birth for women with a single previous low transeverse cesarean section is associated with a lower risk of complications for both mother and baby than routine repeat cesarean section. The morbidity associated with successful vaginal birth is about one-fifth that of elective cesarean.
http://www.childbirthconnection.org/article.asp?ck=10210
http://www.vbac.com/chapter38.html
6. Preterm Birth Late in Gestation Triples Infant Mortality
http://www.medpagetoday.com/OBGYN/Pregnancy/tb/7347
http://www.medpagetoday.com/OBGYN/Pregnancy/dh/4334
http://www.transitiontoparenthood.com/ttp/parented/pregnancy/induction.htm
http://parenting.ivillage.com/pregnancy/plabor/0,,midwife_4888,00.html
7. The incidence of cesarean section for dystocia was significantly greater (p < 0.005) in the epidural group (10.3%) than in the nonepidural group (3.8%).
http://www.healing-arts.org/mehl-madrona/mmepidural.htm
http://www.collegeofmidwives.org/safety_issues01/EpidurIncreaseNBtests1997.htm
http://www.mothering.com/articles/pregnancy_birth/birth_preparation/hidden-risks-epidurals.html
http://www.oyston.com/anaes/local/muir.html
http://www.kimjames.net/epidural_risks_and_side_effects.htm
8. These findings suggest that maternal oral hydration increases AF volume in women with decreased fluid levels.
http://www.greenjournal.org/cgi/content/abstract/78/6/1098
http://pregnancy.about.com/cs/amnioticfluid/a/aaoligo.htm
9. http://www.transitiontoparenthood.com/ttp/parented/pregnancy/induction.htm
http://www.pregnancy.org/article.php?sid=1528
10. http://pregnancychildbirth.suite101.com/article.cfm/pushing_techniques
http://www.collegeofmidwives.org/ObGynNews%2001a/OBN%20no%20purple%20pushing%20Mar03.html
OBs are Surgeons
One thing that I don't think a lot of women realize, is that OBs are trained surgeons. They are not trained in the art of natural childbirth, nor do they often know how to just let labor "be". I wonder, if things were worded differently, would the birthing climate change?
Instead of "My doctor delivered my son...."
- "I delivered my son...."
Instead of "Well, I am going to have this done because my doctor said....."
- "I am going/not going to have this done because I have researched this thoroughly..."
Instead of "My doctor said this baby is getting very big..."
- "I am going to eat healthy during my pregnancy, and I believe that God has given me the ability to birth whatever size baby grows in my womb."
So going back to it....
"You don't go to a Chinese Food Restaurant if You Don't Want Chinese Food!" ~ Nancy Wainer-Cohen.
You don't go to a surgeon if you don't want surgery. You don't go to a place for the ill and dying if you want to give life. The hospital is not for healthy people. The hospital is, again, for the sick and dying. Why would a perfectly healthy woman go to a place like that to deliver a perfectly healthy baby? Not always do both walk out in the same condition. Read this.
And what always makes me laugh....why do women go to male OBs? They will never know what it's like to give birth. They will never physically understand the physiological aspects of birth. The emotional aspects, or the psychological aspects. That would be like taking driving instructions from a mechanic who knew *everything* about the car, inside and out, but who had never driven before. Umm....
Women, unless changes are made NOW....birth will be the same or worse with our daughters. Why not open the path to them growing up knowing that birth is NORMAL, rather than a medical event? Why not teach them that they have been given an extremely honorable task and privilege by God in giving birth? It's a wonderful experience, and it far outweighs any labor pains.
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