The gentlebirth.org website is provided courtesy of
Ronnie Falcao, LM MS,
a homebirth midwife in Mountain View, CA
An interactive resource for moms on easy steps they can take to reduce exposure to chemical toxins during pregnancy. Other excellent resources about avoiding toxins during pregnancy These are easy to read and understand and are beautifully presented. |
My C/S was 15 months ago for "failure to progress". I will have my VBAC in 6 months. I didn't think I was upset about the C/S until I read "Open Season" this past weekend. Now I am furious. I wrote the following article for myself, but my husband was impressed enough that I have decided to share it.
This woman volunteered for this experience. It happens thousands of times a day, every day in the US alone. This is a C-section, 25% of all births. It can be a life saving surgery, or it can be the result of a woman's worst fears being encouraged by the hospital birthing mentality. It seems in maternity wards across our nation, Murphy's Law does not apply. If you prepare for the worst, it will happen. How else can you explain that most of homebirths are normal (don't require transfer to a hospital), while practically all hospital births "require" electronic fetal monitors, pitocin, epidurals, narcotics, forceps, vacuum extractors, episiotomies, or c-sections? It can't be blamed on the complicated labors being done in hospitals because most women never even try to give birth at home. Most hospital staff have never witnessed a "normal" birth. It seems impossible for the hospital staff to just stand around and watch a woman have a baby. They have to do "something". Usually this "something" causes something else to be done and eventually the woman ends up in the operating room.
For example, the mother is confined to her bed because of the fetal monitor, this confinement slows labor so pitocin is given, pitocin makes contractions harder, so mother needs pain relief, pain relief slows down labor so more pitocin is needed. Because of the risks of pitocin, they must use an internal monitor, so the water is broken. Because the water is broken there is a time limit on how long the mother can labor. Because the mother and uterus is exhausted from the unnaturally strong contractions, the baby is pulled out, rather than pushed. If at any point, labor doesn't progress according to their time table, the mother is labeled CPD (pelvis too small) or "failure to progress" and she is off to the operating room.
Of course, this scenario doesn't happen every time, but it happens often enough that it has convinced OB's that birth is dangerous.
Also, consider the emotional state of the woman being manipulated. Even
if she just has one of the interventions listed, it means she was not able
to birth on her own. This can undermine her parenting confidence. After
a natural birth, the mother typically feels such exhilaration that she
can conquer the world. Caring for a newborn is easy compared to what she
just went through. She has faith in her body and her instincts. She won't
ask silly questions like, "Should I pick up a crying baby?"
About the Midwife Archives / Midwife Archives Disclaimer |