The Trouble with Repeat Cesareans

Time Magazine has an article about women being forced into having repeat cesareans. It's eye-opening and a fair portrayal of the reality. You can read the article here. I have some things to point out after reading it.

The last line of the piece quotes a doctor saying, "When the problems with multiple C-sections start to mount, we're going to look back and say, 'Oh, does anyone still know how to do VBAC?'"

What?! A doctor doesn't do a VBAC. A VBAC is simply a vaginal birth. Women do that. And we've known how to do it since Eve, thankyouverymuch.

I also want to point out the sobering numbers mentioned in the article. Of the hospitals with a labor and delivery unit, 28% of those have outright VBAC bans and 21% have de facto bans, meaning that though the hospital doesn't prohibit VBACs there are no doctors who will attend them. That's 49%! Almost half of the hospitals in this country force women into surgery. Half of them force women to allow their babies to be cut from their wombs. HALF--that's a large number.

Someone wrote on my facebook wall today, “I love the link that you posted about VBACs-- I would hate to be forced to have another operation”

See, a huge part of this problem is twofold: first, most women don’t realize that doctors are forcing mothers into operations and second, women don’t know they don’t have to be forced into surgery!

Mothers, it’s time we realize that we are not only consumers of Big Macs, Britax carseats, diapers and breast pumps. We are consumers in the health care industry as well! The control lies in our hands. We make the demands and call the shots, if we believe we do. Our mothers are the reason we are no longer knocked out and “delivered” of our babies by forceps. Let our daughters be the ones to say that their mothers are the reason they are no longer bullied into unnecessary, unwanted surgeries, tied to metal tables, drained of blood and motherhood.

I am pregnant, not pathology. Refuse to be a womb pod!

Welcome to the Mad Hatter's Tea Party

Hello, Alice! Welcome to the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, where everything that is, isn't, everything that isn't, may be, and everything you think you know is absolute nonsense.


Would you like a cup of tea?


(Too) much press has been given to the mother who recently gave birth to octuplets. I don't care why she wanted more children. I don't care about anything relating to this story except this: why would a doctor allow or enable this mother to make such a potentially life-threatening choice for herself and her babies, but women all over this country are not allowed to make the far less dangerous decision of having a VBAC?


Switch seats! Move down, move down!


Jill found this study. I won't post the abstract because Jill has already done that. I will say that what it shows is that it's not only the VBAC mothers who are at risk for uterine rupture. Will ACOG admit this? Issue a new practice bulletin, perhaps? Will OBs stop the near-universal use of Pitocin? Probably not. What will probably happen is that mothers will continue to be told that Pitocin is safe, that their risk of uterine rupture is zero if they haven't had a cesarean, and that it's too risky to have a VBAC.


Your glass isn't empty, clean cup! Clean cup! Move down!


Now for the grand finale. It seems as though the state of California has suspended state regulations in order for Nurse Midwives, Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners to be trained to perform abortions. From the article:


According to State Sen. Sam Annestad, a Republican from Grass Valley, the goal of the abortion program that carefully was concealed behind the description "expanding early pregnancy care" apparently is to train medical assistants to do abortions.

In a website commentary about his discoveries, Aanestad said it apparently was begun in 2006 without legislative oversight and involves the state and several foundations contributing financially to the "pilot program" at Planned Parenthood abortion businesses in three cities.

He said not only has the abortion-training program been concealed behind a "pregnancy care" label, state regulations have been suspended in order to allow "Nurse Midwives, Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants" to do procedures for which they would not ordinarily be considered qualified.

So, in many states we won't allow midwives to attend normal, healthy births...why? Because of the risk that mother or baby might die? However, in California midwives are being trained to (depending on your views of when life begins) end the life of a baby or prevent that life from ever beginning.


If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary-wise; what it is it wouldn't be, and what it wouldn't be, it would. You see? ~from Alice in Wonderland

HOW did I know?

I just got home from my ultrasound and baby is definitely a girl (or a very, very unfortunate little boy). This means I'm 3 for 3 in knowing the gender of my child before an ultrasound tech tells me. For some reason that makes me feel very confident in knowing my body and my children. She's measuring perfectly-yay! We're planning on a very normal-sized baby this time. As one of my sisters said, "that's a huge accomplishment!" I gained 3lbs in the last 4 weeks, which puts me at 10lbs under my pre-pregnancy weight. It's nice to not have to worry about my weight gain anymore!

Oh, and as you can see in my sidebar, our new little girl's name is Anna Lily! She will join her big sister, Sarah Elizabeth and her big brother, Caleb Joshua sometime at the end of June.

Just for fun!

My children have become enamored with Mary Poppins ("Poppins" to my 2 year old), so the songs have been playing non-stop for days. This morning I payed closer attention to the song "Sister Suffragette" and thought it would make a nice song with a little tweaking. You can find the original lyrics here.

We're clearly soldiers prepared to fight
And dauntless crusaders for mothers’ rights
Though we adore OBs individually
We agree that as a group they're rather stupid!

Cast off the shackles of yesterday!
Shoulder to shoulder into the fray!
Our daughters' daughters will adore us
And they'll sing in grateful chorus"
Well done, Sister Birthragette!"

From West Coast to East Coast
One hears the restless cries!
From ev'ry corner of the land:
"Motherkind, arise!"
Birth choice equality, down with ACOG and then
Take heart! For mama midwives have been clapped in irons again!

No more the meek and mild subservients we!
We're fighting for our rights, militantly!
Never you fear!So, cast off the shackles of yesterday!
Shoulder to shoulder into the fray!
Our daughters' daughters will adore us
And they'll sing in grateful chorus
"Well done! Well done! Well done Sister Birthragette!"