Recent birth news

There has been a lot going on in news about birth in the last couple of weeks.

First there was the mom in Australia who had police show up at her door after she chose not to show up for the induction that her doctors scheduled her for. Her doctors decided to call the police to escort her in.

Later, the hospital issued her an apology. Ironically, they claimed that they were not trying to pressure her into an induction. Right..sending police isn't an intimidation tactic?

If The Birth Survey was available for mothers around the world to take, I'm sure Rochelle would be able to report that she did in fact feel pressure to induce from her providers.

Then there was the mom who is going to court over being court-ordered to remain on bedrest while confined in a hospital and undergo a mandatory C-section.

Both of these stories are disturbing to me because it shows the lengths that medical professionals will take to force women to act according to their recommendations.

I have been on the mothers end of disagreeing with the medical professionals I'm paying to advise me on my health. In the two cases described above I see enough evidence to know that the mothers were informed about the research and known risks of the proposed treatments and in good conscience chose what was actually more evidenced based and better for them personally. My experience fighting to prevent an induction leads me to empathize with these two women who experienced much stronger attempts to manipulate their choices and force them into things that they knew they had the right to refuse.

It may be unfair to expect, but I would not be surprised with either of these women were traumatized by these experiences where they had to fight for their bodily integrity and to make health choices for themselves; without fear of reprisal. I hope that if they are experiencing trauma, that they will find the support they need and know about Solace for Mothers as a resource for women who have been traumatized by experiences relating to childbirth.

To quote directly from an ACOG publication:

"Even if a woman's autonomous decision seems not to promote beneficence-based obligations (of the woman or the physician) to the fetus,...the obstetrician must respect the patient's autonomy, continue to care for the pregnant woman, and not intervene against the patient's wishes, regardless of the consquences."

Consumer Reports Health Condemns Common Obstetric Practices

Consumer Reports Health is a new public service from the well-known Consumer Reports. They are now providing reporting data on medical procedures and treatments in an effort to assist consumers of health care to be more informed. I am impressed, and pleasantly surprised, that they are present the research-based evidence regarding obstetric practice, instead of what the American College of Obstetrics and Gynoecologists is promoting. This is what Consumer Reports Health have to say about basic obstetric practice:

Despite growing evidence of harm, many obstetricians and maternity hospitals still overuse high-tech procedures that can mean poorer outcomes for baby and Mom. Test your knowledge with our quiz below.

T/F: An obstetrician will deliver better maternity care, overall, than a midwife or family doctor.False. Studies show that the 8 percent to 9 percent of U.S. women who use midwives and the 6 to 7 percent who choose family physicians generally experienced just-as-good results as those who go to obstetricians. Those who used midwives also ended up with fewer technological interventions. For example, women who received midwifery care were less likely to experience induced labor, have their water broken for them, episiotomies, pain medications, intravenous fluids, and electronic fetal monitoring, and were more likely to give birth vaginally with no vacuum extraction or forceps, than similar women receiving medical care. Note that an obstetric specialist is best for the small proportion of women with serious health concerns.

Induced labor can halt fetal development.
True. The vital organs (including the brain and lungs) continue to develop beyond the 37th week of gestation. There is also a five-fold increase in the brain's white matter volume between 35 and 41 weeks after conception. Inducing labor (with synthetic oxytocin, for example) might stop this growth if the fetus is not fully developed. Between 1990 and 2005, the number of women whose labor was induced more than doubled.

Due-date estimates can be off by up to two weeks.
True. This inaccuracy can lead to a baby being delivered by induction or Caesarean section up to two weeks earlier than its estimated due-date, cutting off important weeks of fetal development.

"Breaking the waters" helps hasten labor.
False. There is no evidence to support the fact that this common practice (about 47% of women) shortens labor, increases maternal satisfaction, or improves outcomes for newborns.

Induced labor increases the likelihood of Caesarean section in first-time mothers.
True. The cervix may not be ready for labor. Other effects of induced labor include an increased likelihood of an epidural, an assisted delivery with vacuum extraction or forceps, and extreme bleeding postpartum.

Once you've had a C-section, it's best to do it again.
False. Studies show that, as the number of a woman's previous C-sections increased, so did the likelihood of harmful conditions, including: trouble getting pregnant again, problems delivering the placenta (placenta accreta), longer hospital stays, intensive-care (ICU) admission, hysterectomy, and blood transfusion.

Labor itself can benefit a newborn's immunity.
True. When babies do not experience labor (if the mother has a C-section before entering into labor, for example), they fail to benefit from changes that help to clear fluid from their lungs. That clearance can protect against serious breathing problems outside the womb. Passage through the vagina might also increase the likelihood that the newborn's intestines will be colonized with "good" bacteria after the sterile womb environment.

Epidural anesthesia is a low-risk way to make labor easier.
False. Many women welcome the pain relief, but might not be well-informed about the increased risk of its side-effects, including lack of mobility, sedation, fever, longer pushing, and serious perineal tears.

Epidural anesthesia presents risks to newborns.
True. Babies whose mothers received epidurals during labor are at risk for rapid heart rate, hyperbilirubinemia (the presence of an excess of bilirubin in the blood), need for antibiotics, and poorer performance on newborn assessment tests.

Episiotomies reduce the risk of perineal tearing.
False. Evidence shows that routine use of episiotomy offers no benefits but rather increases women's risk of experiencing perineal injury, stitches, pain and tenderness, leaking stool or gas, and pain during sexual intercourse. Yet in 2005, 25 percent of women with vaginal births continued to experience this intervention. Episiotomy is one of several obstetric practices adopted into common usage before being adequately studied.

Source: "Evidence-Based Maternity Care: What It Is and What It Can Achieve," a detailed review of clinical evidence by Carol Sakala and Maureen P. Corry published by the Childbirth Connection, the Reforming States Group, and the Milbank Memorial Fund, October 2008.

I Birth My Babies...

...Thank you very much.

Its been reported that the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists after issuing a statement deploring homebirth,gave its members a bumper sticker which stated "Home Deliveries are for Pizza."

Clever.

Except I reject their premise that babies are "delivered." In my experience, babies are birthed by mothers, not be obstetricians. And mothers do not need to be "delivered" by their saviors the OB. Also "delivering" babies connotes to me that mothers are delivering a load, or depositing excrement. And babies are far too precious to be termed as a "delivery" like unto one that is deposited and flushed down the toilet. Although it wouldn't be the first time I've thought that OBs would like birth to be equated to a bowel movement (see my blog: POOP on the ACOG)

If we want to follow that logic that normal, psychological process are not supposed to take place at home, then process such as defecation, sexual intercourse and even sleep would have to be carefully observed and assisted by medical professionals. In that birth is a normal psychological event like sleep and pooping, its domain in within the home where a person is able to allow their body to work in a normal, undisturbed, unobserved manner. Home birth is safe, safer than hospital births because the occurance of risky interventions is much less likely in a home environment.

My babies are birthed, by me, through the power of my body which was given life by a Divine Creator. The one person I feel I need to be delivered by is my personal savior Jesus Christ. And whoever is in attendance at a birth, be it husband, midwife, obstetrician or doula, are only there as observers. They do not have the active role of birthing the baby. I take hold of that power and claim it for myself: I Birth My Babies, thank you very much.

Back to Blogging

Its been over a month since I've posted last. I missed the uprorr about AMA's and ACOG's efforts to ban homebirth but I did hear a little mention of it in the times I was able to pull myself away from my work. My brief opinion on that: they will not be successful in lobbying Congress because legislation like that is so blatantly a violation of individual freedom as well as obvious attempts to monopolize their business and shut down their competition. However, the birth community cannot stand by and hope that their efforts will fail. Birth activists have the responsibility to let their collective voice be heard and to state the research in support of homebirth and midwifery.

And now to update on my goings-on. In early June, I was busy packing and getting ready for our summer of learning. I then spent three weeks in Hawaii taking the last two classes for my M.Ed. program. The topics covered were policy making, advocacy and collaboration within the field of early childhood education. Since I started the program and my experiences of becoming a mother, my focus has shifted to earlier in child development to the perinatal and infancy period. The information covered in my classes were helpful to me as a birth advocate because I could apply the lessons to needed policy changes and my efforts to work with the birth community to improve the way birth is treated and respected in our country.

While in Hawaii, I was in class 8 hours a day. Willem stayed with my best friend since fourth grade and they went to the beach often and bussed around Honolulu with each other. After class, I would go join them wherever they were so I was lucky to go to the beach at least 3 or 4 times a week.

When we first got there, Willem was afraid of the waves and the ocean. I can understand that fear. Being short like he is and rushing water that has the power to knock him over, he clung to me like the little koala I frequently call. That fear lasted all of 2 days. The next time he went to the beach, the waves were a little calmer and he discovered how good the water felt. It was soon after that he discovered that he could run into the ocean, kick the waves and splash. Within a couple of days, he started walking out as far as he could go, up to his chin. He also noticed the older children playing around them as they floated on inflatable rafts, body boarded and swam with boogie boards. He wanted to be like them. One day he noticed a three year old with the inflatable arm rings and tried to swim like her. It was then I decided to invest the $0.89 for the floaties. That's when he took off. He was an independent kid with those. He would only get out of the water when it started getting dark, or he was hungry or tired. He took a few naps on the beach. Needless to say my little beach baby got tanner and blonder through his play.

As for me, I still have plenty of work to do to finish my degree. To complete my classes, I need to write two research papers. I also need to finish writing up my thesis. I'm on track for graduation. I plan to defend my thesis in time for my birthday and then return to Hawaii in December to walk with my class and be hooded.

The Birth Survey is also getting close to its national launch, so I will be working on preparations for that. Between my graduate program, the Birth Survey, Solace and Willem, I will be a busy mama this summer. I will make efforts to keep up to date with the birth world and post my thoughts here as I have time.

POOP on the ACOG!

The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology just released a new statement regarding home birth. It basically full of contradictions, lies, half-truths and propaganda regarding a topic they are opposed to on the sole reason is that home birth provides competition to a service that currently serves 98-99% of American women. That's pretty dang close to a monopoly, and of course, they want to protect it and their paychecks.

In order to not restate completely, I will refer my readers to a blog from the House of Harris that eloquently and comprehensively covers the contractions within ACOG's statement.

Rixa from the True Face of Birth also shows how ACOG is changing its own party line, without making offical statements that they are changing it. Like changing its verbage about freestanding birth centers. They used to be opposed, but without coming out and saying that they now consider ABCs (alternative birth centers) safe alternatives, they are lumping it into a statement reinforcing previous claims that they do not support home birth. They're so transparent (sarcasm intended).

And to conclude I will share an analogy. (Please remember that analogies are not perfect but can be used to figuratively illustrate a point).

The ACOG states that "while childbirth is a normal physiologic process that most women experience without problems, monitoring...is essential because complications can arise with little or no warning."

Let's compare this logic to the act of eliminating, emptying the bowel, or what I like to call pooping.

Pooping is a normal physiologic process where solid waste is eliminated from the body that is commonly occuring, most of the time without complications. Except for those unfortunate who experience hemmoriods. Sometimes, pooping is really hard and prolonged which is a complication known as constipation. Maybe we should start calling it "failure to progress" or "defecation dystocia." Death can also occur when a unsafe rise in blood pressure caused by defecation can cause an anueryism or blood clot to burst. Fecal incontinence or a fecal fistula are also complications that can arise from defecation.

With that list of complications that arise from a "normal physiologic process" why isn't our every bowel movement carefully monitorred in case these complications arise?

From now on, I would like a medical attendant to carefully monitor me during every bowel movement as to not put my "health and life at unnecessary risk."