My heart drops into a big ball into my stomach when I hear of women allowing unnecessary intervention in pregnancy - but especially more so when I hear that they allow it from a home birth midwife. Women seem to want to trust birth, and want a safe and healthy birth for their baby, but then allow some of the most arbitrary and unnecessary intervention, not realizing that it can completely shape and transform the rest of their pregnancy.
What are the top two interventions I see with homebirthers?
Routine Vaginal Exams
Why is this done, especially by home birth midwives, starting as early as 36 weeks? Does it make the baby come sooner? Does the body not know what to do unless a midwife has a hand inside of her client's vagina and cervix? Do these midwives explain the risk of infection, accidental ( or purposeful, sadly ) membrane strip or artificial rupture of membranes, disappointment when mom "hasn't made any progress", false hope of a labor soon to come? If the midwife is not explaining these risks, then her clients are NOT giving informed consent. It blows me away when women allow this. It saddens me. It makes me wonder just what their midwife is telling them, or why a mom requests this.
"Natural" Induction
Ladies, there is NO such thing as a natural induction. Either you are trying to force labor to begin before it is happening naturally, or you are not. There's really no in between. Having a healthy sex life in the end of pregnancy is wonderful! But if the goal is to get it done as many times as possible in hopes of causing the cervix to ripen...you may be sorely disappointed. A ripening cervix does NOT guarantee a close labor day. It simply means that it is ripening. There is a lot more to the hormonal dance of labor preparation than a ripening cervix. Doing spicy foods may do nothing more than irritate your uterus, cause you to have diarrhea and heartburn. Pineapple needs to be *fresh* pineapple. You have no idea how many women try the out of the can stuff. LOL And even then, it does *nothing* unless your body is ready anyway....so why not wait until labor starts naturally? Nipple stimulation does indeed release oxytocin in the body, but so does some good love from your spouse. A nice massage, a cuddle and nice long kiss. This releases oxytocin as well. Why aren't more couples cuddling, instead of playing with nipples? Evening Primrose Oil *can* help to soften the cervix, but nothing more.
The problem with trying to do things to induce labor, is that it often will not work. When it doesn't work, you've wasted precious last days/weeks of your pregnancy that you could have been simply enjoying with your partner, instead of stressing out over trying to get labor to begin. Or even if not stressing, *thinking* about getting labor going. Your body knows what to do, and knows exactly the right time to do it in. I won't even go into castor oil induction, as I believe this is highly irresponsible and a waste of time unless it's a true last ditch effort. Inducing labor, no matter what label you want to put on it, is putting yourself before the safety and health of your baby...unless of course it is a TRUE medically warranted induction ( example - pre eclampsia, PIH, etc ).
Women, if you've chosen a home birth, you are in a low-risk pregnancy. If you are in a low-risk, normal pregnancy...why are you allowing intervention? It drove me crazy when I watched Pregnant In America, and saw them advocate for normalcy in pregnancy, believing in birth and trusting the body...and then the producer's wife having her midwife strip her membranes at a mere few days after 40 weeks. I was BAFFLED! How can you claim to be a NATURAL pregnancy and labor advocate, if you allow unnecessary induction techniques? There was no problem. She was simply a few days past 40 weeks. Not even to the high end of the normal gestation period, but smack dab in the middle! It was her first baby, and statistically first time moms will go about 8 days past their EDD, IF ALLOWED TO. :sigh:
In our society, we rush through so many things. We want to rush to get to the end of pregnancy, we want to rush to get into labor, we want to rush to birth the baby. We want to rush to see the baby sit up, eat solid food, crawl, talk, walk...
And when you get to the point of understanding how quickly it all goes by, it's too late to take it back.
Choose wisely, for some decisions are irreversible.
Showing posts with label Intervention. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Intervention. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Powerbirth! Start pushing at 5cm!
So recently I became aware of a "Revolutionary" new birthing technique, called "Powerbirth". I watched a video of this technique, by the founder, Lydi Ronka Owen, as well as checked out her website.
While watching the video, I was horrified. Women are excitedly following this technique, under the false premise that it's what they SHOULD be doing, that it will be faster, and that there is no risk.
In the video, and on the website ( www.powerbirth.com ), Lydi states:
Lydi not only says in a blanket statement that EVERY woman feels the urge to push at 5cm, but that if she DOESN'T do this, then the mom will likely end up in a cesarean section.
This information goes against everything that we ( midwives ) know about the physiology of birth. Those of us who also don't ever tell a woman when it's okay to push ( because we're not in their body ), know for a fact that a woman feeling the complete urge to push at 5cm just doesn't happen. It's very, very rare.
What also bothers me, is that this "technique" is marketed as an EMPOWERING technique for birth, and yet...there is a midwife's hand in mom's vagina quite often. HOW is that empowering? During the video, one can literally see the midwive's hand and arm TREMBLING from the force of manual dilation. Yes, you read that right...manual dilation. Not holding back a lip because mom wanted that done instead of waiting it out...manually causing the cervix to be more open than it is naturally. And quite unnecessarily.
The most dangerous thing about this, is that women are being led to believe that this is SAFE. They are not told of the risks of cervical swelling, cervical tearing, hemorrhage, exhaustion from pushing before the body is 100% ready ( oh wait, according to the powerbirth technique, that's at 5-6cm. ), uterine and/or cervical prolapse.
Nevermind their power being taken away from them by having multiple vaginal checks, being brainwashed to begin pushing at 5-6cm ( how is this ANY different than the hospital staff saying "Okay! You're 10, you can begin pushing now...". Gee thanks for telling me what MY body is ready to do ) and being led to believe that this will lead to much faster births.
An acquaintance had a birth under this technique, and she ended up pushing for hours and hours on end, with the midwife's hand inside of her vagina the whole time, MANUALLY pushing the cervix back. I want to cry when I hear this.
Obstetricians aren't the only ones who are harming women, or putting them in very dangerous situations. Do these midwives believe that they're doing anything intentionally harming? No. But neither do most Obstetricians who believe in Cesarean Sections as whole for safety.
Just because a home birth midwife is a home birth midwife, it doesn't make her safe. Women...know who you're hiring, and thoroughly research what they're selling. There shouldn't be any "technique" for giving birth...women have been giving birth for centuries, without needing a label, a technique, or another woman's hand inside of their vagina, to do her body's job for her.
While watching the video, I was horrified. Women are excitedly following this technique, under the false premise that it's what they SHOULD be doing, that it will be faster, and that there is no risk.
In the video, and on the website ( www.powerbirth.com ), Lydi states:
When a woman reaches 5-6 cm's dilation, she
feels like pushing. This is because the
fetus/baby has completed flexion of his/her
head. The occiput is now the presenting part,
the smallest diameter of the skull that has to
pass through the bony pelvis.
EVERY woman feels like bearing down at this
stage of labor, but is generally told that if she
pushes, she will hurt herself or her baby.
WRONG!!! If she pushes, she will be helping her
baby to make the 1/8 rotation from the Ischial
Spine to the Os Pubis, which will enable her
baby/fetus to pivot and enter the birth canal.
If she doesn't help her unborn to make this
rotation, she will be given an epidural to help
her with the pain she will endure because she
refused to listen to her body, and her baby's
suggestion of- "Give me a little help here, MOM,"
and, ultimately - the CESAREAN!
Lydi not only says in a blanket statement that EVERY woman feels the urge to push at 5cm, but that if she DOESN'T do this, then the mom will likely end up in a cesarean section.
This information goes against everything that we ( midwives ) know about the physiology of birth. Those of us who also don't ever tell a woman when it's okay to push ( because we're not in their body ), know for a fact that a woman feeling the complete urge to push at 5cm just doesn't happen. It's very, very rare.
What also bothers me, is that this "technique" is marketed as an EMPOWERING technique for birth, and yet...there is a midwife's hand in mom's vagina quite often. HOW is that empowering? During the video, one can literally see the midwive's hand and arm TREMBLING from the force of manual dilation. Yes, you read that right...manual dilation. Not holding back a lip because mom wanted that done instead of waiting it out...manually causing the cervix to be more open than it is naturally. And quite unnecessarily.
The most dangerous thing about this, is that women are being led to believe that this is SAFE. They are not told of the risks of cervical swelling, cervical tearing, hemorrhage, exhaustion from pushing before the body is 100% ready ( oh wait, according to the powerbirth technique, that's at 5-6cm. ), uterine and/or cervical prolapse.
Nevermind their power being taken away from them by having multiple vaginal checks, being brainwashed to begin pushing at 5-6cm ( how is this ANY different than the hospital staff saying "Okay! You're 10, you can begin pushing now...". Gee thanks for telling me what MY body is ready to do ) and being led to believe that this will lead to much faster births.
An acquaintance had a birth under this technique, and she ended up pushing for hours and hours on end, with the midwife's hand inside of her vagina the whole time, MANUALLY pushing the cervix back. I want to cry when I hear this.
Obstetricians aren't the only ones who are harming women, or putting them in very dangerous situations. Do these midwives believe that they're doing anything intentionally harming? No. But neither do most Obstetricians who believe in Cesarean Sections as whole for safety.
Just because a home birth midwife is a home birth midwife, it doesn't make her safe. Women...know who you're hiring, and thoroughly research what they're selling. There shouldn't be any "technique" for giving birth...women have been giving birth for centuries, without needing a label, a technique, or another woman's hand inside of their vagina, to do her body's job for her.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Pregnant In America
I had a great time this past weekend. I was finally able to get out to Southern Utah, to visit a very dear friend of mine. I was supposed to go this past October, and then had to cancel. It was a wonderful weekend, and a total adventure. ;)
While there, we sat and watched the new documentary, Pregnant In America ( I'll put the trailer at the end of this post )
Over all, it was a great film. It was a bit more in depth than The Business of Being Born, covering more topics, and even traveling to other countries to see how babies are born there. It covered the topic of Cyotec, and the unwillingness of the FDA to offer more help to stop the use of Cytotec in labor, which has caused multiple maternal and fetal deaths. It covered a small bit on breech births, and how Obstetricians are not being trained in this art anymore. It covered VBAC bans, insurance problems, and Obstetricians pushing for more cesarean sections.
Steve ( the producer and husband of the wife being followed in pregnancy ) randomly interviewed both men and women on the streets of California and New York, to see where there beliefs were in childbirth. Many of the men said, hands down, that the hospital was certainly the safest place to be, but couldn't pinpoint why. Women said that they couldn't have done labor without an epidural, even though a few admitted that the epidural was likely to have caused some of the problems that either they faced, or friends had faced. It was all very interesting, and yet I found myself saddened, and even outraged at the utter lack of education by women in childbirth. The utter lack of power that they had, by statements like "I don't have any choice". I hear this all the time, but this struck more with me in this film for some reason.
It stated, and kept reiterating, that pregnancy, labor, and childbirth are natural processes. What was said a few times was "Mother Nature knows best". I was SO happy to hear this being said over and over...hoping that any viewers would have this sink in.
To my utter frustration, anger, sadness, and confusion....the producers wife had her membranes stripped by her midwife at a mere 3 days past her due date.
Wait, what? Didn't we just spend over an hour speaking about leaving labor and birth alone? Allowing it to continue naturally? Speaking of "Guess Date" instead of "DUE Date", and saying that pregnancy was normal two weeks before AND two weeks AFTER said guess date?
They researched everything else mentioned in the film, and yet failed to speak of the risks of stripping membranes. Or did they not research that? Granted, the risks are small. But it's highly confusing seeing this, when they spoke over and over again about NATURAL labor being best, sans intervention. Did they NOT understand that stripping membranes is not only an intervention, but a form of induction?
Risks, albeit small, of membrane stripping are:
Risk of infection
Risk of weakening Amniotic Sac, leading to PROM
Risk of PROM
Risk of beginning false labor that will exhaust mom, only to stop when she's now emotionally ready to have baby
Risk of causing a longer labor, because the body wasn't in labor on it's own before this induction technique
And sadly, her labor was pretty long, and she sounded to be in more pain than what is typical for most home births that I see.
What angered me about this, was wondering if they understood / understand what message this may send to women. "Pregnancy and labor is natural, and should be left alone....unless you get past your due date.", despite the admittance that pregnancy is normal two weeks before AND two weeks AFTER a given "Guess Date". She was 3 *days* past, and allowed intervention.
Is this "Homebirth Lite", or "Mainstream Homebirth"?
It was said at the end of the film that she is pregnant again, and that they will be using the same midwife. I only hope that this time they will follow their own words of wisdom, and let this baby come when he/she is absolutely ready, and not add any interventions or "natural" ( don't get me started on this! ) induction techniques.
While there, we sat and watched the new documentary, Pregnant In America ( I'll put the trailer at the end of this post )
Over all, it was a great film. It was a bit more in depth than The Business of Being Born, covering more topics, and even traveling to other countries to see how babies are born there. It covered the topic of Cyotec, and the unwillingness of the FDA to offer more help to stop the use of Cytotec in labor, which has caused multiple maternal and fetal deaths. It covered a small bit on breech births, and how Obstetricians are not being trained in this art anymore. It covered VBAC bans, insurance problems, and Obstetricians pushing for more cesarean sections.
Steve ( the producer and husband of the wife being followed in pregnancy ) randomly interviewed both men and women on the streets of California and New York, to see where there beliefs were in childbirth. Many of the men said, hands down, that the hospital was certainly the safest place to be, but couldn't pinpoint why. Women said that they couldn't have done labor without an epidural, even though a few admitted that the epidural was likely to have caused some of the problems that either they faced, or friends had faced. It was all very interesting, and yet I found myself saddened, and even outraged at the utter lack of education by women in childbirth. The utter lack of power that they had, by statements like "I don't have any choice". I hear this all the time, but this struck more with me in this film for some reason.
It stated, and kept reiterating, that pregnancy, labor, and childbirth are natural processes. What was said a few times was "Mother Nature knows best". I was SO happy to hear this being said over and over...hoping that any viewers would have this sink in.
To my utter frustration, anger, sadness, and confusion....the producers wife had her membranes stripped by her midwife at a mere 3 days past her due date.
Wait, what? Didn't we just spend over an hour speaking about leaving labor and birth alone? Allowing it to continue naturally? Speaking of "Guess Date" instead of "DUE Date", and saying that pregnancy was normal two weeks before AND two weeks AFTER said guess date?
They researched everything else mentioned in the film, and yet failed to speak of the risks of stripping membranes. Or did they not research that? Granted, the risks are small. But it's highly confusing seeing this, when they spoke over and over again about NATURAL labor being best, sans intervention. Did they NOT understand that stripping membranes is not only an intervention, but a form of induction?
Risks, albeit small, of membrane stripping are:
Risk of infection
Risk of weakening Amniotic Sac, leading to PROM
Risk of PROM
Risk of beginning false labor that will exhaust mom, only to stop when she's now emotionally ready to have baby
Risk of causing a longer labor, because the body wasn't in labor on it's own before this induction technique
And sadly, her labor was pretty long, and she sounded to be in more pain than what is typical for most home births that I see.
What angered me about this, was wondering if they understood / understand what message this may send to women. "Pregnancy and labor is natural, and should be left alone....unless you get past your due date.", despite the admittance that pregnancy is normal two weeks before AND two weeks AFTER a given "Guess Date". She was 3 *days* past, and allowed intervention.
Is this "Homebirth Lite", or "Mainstream Homebirth"?
It was said at the end of the film that she is pregnant again, and that they will be using the same midwife. I only hope that this time they will follow their own words of wisdom, and let this baby come when he/she is absolutely ready, and not add any interventions or "natural" ( don't get me started on this! ) induction techniques.
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