Hi there. Sorry about the sluggish posting lately. Please make sure to post on the message boards if there are any events you want publicized.
Thanks for all the well wishes about our daughter’s birth. We were very lucky to have a fairly easy delivery. Ihad a c-section with our son, two years ago, and was really hoping to avoid a repeat C, and was fortunate in being able to do so. I did a lot more preparation for this birth than I did for our son’s (I’m embarrassed to admit I hadn’t really entertained the idea of a c-section when pregnant with him; I was pretty naive about that.) My friend Patty was our doula and having her support before, during, and after the birth was more helpful than I can explain. I had so many fears, especially in the couple weeks before labor started, and Patty and I talked about them regularly which, in retrospect, was a key part of preparing for labor.
While at TMC, we heard from various people that the hospital was considering changing its policy on VBACs. I know it’s a slightly riskier situation, but still, man, it is so much easier recovering from this birth, and the delivery was really straightforward and pretty easy. I hate to think that a woman wouldn’t have an opportunity to pursue this option if she were interested.
Thoughts?
3 responses so far ↓
1 Jen // Dec 2, 2008 at 11:41 am
Julie, congratulations on your VBAC! I feel that I should know more about this issue, that is — have more facts at my fingertips — because I think it is very important. Please, others who know more, chime in.
I do know that VBACs are a real tipping point in women regaining or maintaining choice and control over their childbirth experience. My cousin-in-law lives in New Jersey and she found that it is impossible to find an OB who will agree to a VBAC. She is partnering with a midwife in hopes of having one for her second child, due this Spring. I know two other women here in Arizona who were bluntly not given the option or scared out of it. I also know several women who delivered their babies vaginally but had other flavors of misdirected care which made their experiences poor.
There was a recent guest lecture at the College of Public Health which discussed the high rates of Cs in the US (over 30%!!!!) in the context of having a negative impact on public health. (The optimal rate is said to be in the 5% range.)
It’s so essential that women are given the informed choice for vaginal birth and then the physical and emotional preparation and support during labor and delivery to enhance and honor our body’s ability to deliver a baby in the best and safest way for mother and child and family. It just makes me want to cry when I hear about the way that some women have been treated during childbirth, this most intense and intimate and challenging of experiences. The VBAC issue is impacted by cultural, educational and not the least economic issues — Cs receive a much greater reimbursement than births without complications.
Again, I’m speaking only from observations and second-hand experience, so forgive me if I am missing important aspects of the discussion. And congratulations again the birth of your daughter!!!
2 meg // Dec 2, 2008 at 8:48 pm
Julie – Congratulations on your VBAC! So glad that you and your daughter had the birth experience you deserved.
3 Julie // Dec 3, 2008 at 10:57 am
Thanks for the congrats…I’m really feeling so good about the whole experience. And I’m bummed that others who wish to try this might not be able to. Though I think UMC will remain an option, right? Yeah, I think so.
Did you read the article in the New Yorker a couple years ago re modern obstetrics?
Link here:
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/10/09/061009fa_fact
It’s fascinating (and came out the week I had L, and my delivery was somewhat similar to the woman’s in the article).
One thing that bothers me about discussion of this issue is that it seems to get–for lack of a better word–rhetorical. What I mean is that I haven’t seen many articles (in mainstream media) about c section rates, medical interventions, etc, that don’t feel like they have an agenda one way or the other. They feel either very anti-medical-establishment, or very fear-mongering/dismissive of people’s desire to minimize intervention.
I am not particularly anti-intervention. I had nonstress tests starting very early, at 32 weeks, because of my age (40), and basically took every test/precaution that was offered to me. So I didn’t approach the VBAC decision from a “crunchy” or anti-intervention standpoint. It was solely a desire to avoid surgery and to experience vaginal delivery if possible. I didn’t want to take any unnecessary risks in order to do so. In the end, my labor was very monitored, and very simple/straightforward. Her heart never did anything scary on the monitors (and yes, I know that many times the “scary” readings don’t amount to anything, are a normal part of labor…but in my case, anything “scary” would lead to a c section, so I had to hope for a very normal heart tracing the whole time). I didn’t have Pitocin. There was nothing that even hinted that a c section would be a good way to go, which is the only reason I avoided it. Going into the birth the docs were very clear that I would be getting a C if anything went awry. And I hated that hanging over my head, but I also knew that’s how it was, and since I err more on the fear/intervention side, it was okay with me in some ways b/c I knew that at no point would my baby’s health be at unusual risk.
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