The Family Journey

Check out Kristen’s “Letter to a VBAC-ing Stranger“. She makes excellent points about the many factors that go into deciding whether a VBAC is the right option for each woman. I love that she recommends approaching the issue with a “healthy fear” – after all, this is not a decision to be made lightly. However, she does not advocate approaching it with pessimism, inappropriate scare tactics, or incorrect information. Thank you, Kristen!

Baltimore ICAN is looking for art pieces on cesarean birth. See their site for details!

For Monitoring Labor, Is Inside the Uterus Better Than Outside? – Women’s Health

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It’s so intriguing to me that the woman who created such powerful images considers herself a ‘cautionary tale’ about cesarean section. A traumatic birth catalyzes us (or not) in many different directions. See a recent interview with the artist on the BirthCut Blog.

She did it! CNN has a surprisingly informed article about it. This is a nice change from the negative.

While cleaning out a hope chest that used to be my grandma’s, I found several books and articles on birth, breastfeeding, sex and even circumcision, with copyrights ranging from 1919 to the 1950s. Over the coming weeks I’ll be posting some excerpts and asking for your thoughts about what’s changed, what hasn’t, and whether we’re better off in 2009 than we were 60 years ago.

Here’s a teaser from Expectant Motherhood, by Nicholson J. Eastman, (c) 1951 (original copyright 1940). Eastman was Professor of Obstetrics at Johns Hopkins University and Obstetrician-in-Chief to the Johns Hopkins Hospital.

On Cesarean Section: “During the past quarter of a century the incidence of cesarean section in this country has increased more than fivefold and today approximately one American baby in fifty is delivered by this means. So common has the operation become that a number of women have gained the impression that this is the easiest way of having a baby and even ask the doctor if it is not possible for them to be delivered in this fashion. Such implicit faith in cesarean section is based on misinformation. Although it is true that modern surgical methods have greatly reduced the seriousness of the procedure, it is not as safe for the mother as normal delivery through the birth canal; cesarean section is a major abdominal operation and such operative procedures are always associated with a certain small risk which is somewhat greater than that of ordinary childbirth.”

UPDATE: According to PVH, the policy is being changed but does not specifiy that someone with multiple cesareans is restricted from having a VBAC. The language in the policy leaves the discretion up to the provider.

According to this same source at PVH, the success rate is high for attempted VBACs. I am still trying to secure exact statistics.

This leads to so many more questions… Why would this OB tell his or her patient that PVHS is restricting VBA2Cs? Is the provider choosing not to attend this type of birth? Has it become too costly for OBs to insure themselves against litigation? Was the provider trying to pass the buck? Did the OB have misinformation?

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We just heard through the proverbial grapevine that our local hospital network, Poudre Valley Health System, no longer permits a woman who has had two or more cesareans to have a vaginal birth in their facilities.

If you are currently pregnant, ask your provider detailed questions about your specific situation, and how or if this policy will affect you.

Women who have had two cesareans without a vaginal birth in their history do not have the option of choosing a homebirth attended by a Certified Professional Midwife in Colorado due to legal regulations. If choosing a VBA2C at the local hospitals is not available, a woman in this situation will be left with the “option” of having a potentially unnecessary c-section, or she may “choose” an unassisted birth at home. This is the birth climate we will be facing should a ban be put in place.

If this policy were to go into effect, northern Colorado birth culture would be taking a huge step backward. Let’s get in contact with PVHS and figure out just what is going on, why, and change what we can. Please take a few minutes over the next couple of days to do some research and share what you find out.

Please contact
Public Relations (970) 495-7427 or (970) 237-7003
Director of Women & Family Care, Pat Bohling Smith, (970) 495-8252.
And for general questions regarding Women’s Health, please call (970) 495-7000 or 1-800-252-5784

We had a wonderful reaction to sharing our birth art at last year’s BOLD event and we still have a few spaces to fill for this year’s art display on September 26th. Whether your piece is complete or in progress, raw or polished, please share! We’ll be displaying artwork in the lobby at Lory Student Center during our vendor fair and throughout the performance of Karen Brody’s play, Birth.

For questions about submitting a piece, contact Stephanie, our art coordinator ASAP at (970)988-6306 or steph.r.rayburn@gmail.com.

If you’ve been waiting to purchase your tickets to Northern Colorado BOLD, your day has come!

Heather Janssen, editor of get born magazine, led us through a variety of exercises and urged us to explore what being a writer means, and how writing is important to us. Our final assignment was to write a tabloid article announcing the end to one of the major problems with maternity care. Here’s what one participant wrote:

Who: Doctors, Midwives.

What: C-sections are performed less than 5% of the time. As a result, mothers are breastfeeding longer, children are becoming more attached, mothers are recovering faster. etc.

When: For the year 2010.

Where: Hospitals, Birthing Center, Home.

How: The prevalence of interventions (i.e., drugs, induction, etc.) have become highly discouraged in recent years.

Why: Because of the negative effects on mom and baby.