And once again, somebody else says it better than I can.
I know I'm not the most gifted writer. I sometimes border on worrying more about my punctuation, spelling, and grammar than about what I'm actually saying. My homebirth post was healing and therapeutic for me to write, but obviously charged with many emotions and didn't really come across the way I intended. So someone else (once again) wrote out my thoughts better than I did. This woman gives all the reasons, without the emotional charge behind them, of why homebirth has nothing to do with bravery and everything to do with safety.
I'm sure this won't be the last time I write about homebirth, but hopefully it'll be the last time for a while. I have many other topics I want to write about, including one very cute baby, in a post to come soon. :)
Showing posts with label homebirth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homebirth. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Post-edit Homebirth
Apparently I've offended a few with my homebirth post (specifically nurses and other medical professionals). I am truly sorry for this. I really never have the intention to offend, although I understand why my opinions are offensive to some.
I would like to clarify some of my statements and hopefully clear up some things.
In the past, some of my controversial posts have had a bit of humor in them, usually to try to lighten the weight of the heavy emotions that accompany the things I talk about. This is one area that is so close to my heart that I didn't let in much humor, and instead I went too far the other way and was probably too cynical. I apologize for this.
As I stated in the beginning, I am not anti-hospital, nor anti-doctor (male or female), nor anti-Western medicine, and ESPECIALLY not anti-nurse. I have experienced first-hand the difference a good nurse can make on many occasions. Half my family consists of nurses. My sister and 3 sisters-in-law are nurses (and excellent ones at that). I am grateful that there are doctors willing to put so much on the line to help women have babies. My personal opinion is that doctors should only be utilized for high-risk or emergency situations. But I understand not everybody agrees with this. I don't have any ill feelings toward anyone who chooses to have a doctor at their delivery.
I understand that there are many medical professionals who are wonderful at their jobs and always put the patients first. The problem I have is when the hospitals' or doctors' policies conflict with what is best for the patients, which is what I feel happens over and over again during labor and delivery. While the policies may be under the heading "Going to the extreme just in case the worst scenario happens," making it seem like they're going above and beyond to keep mother and baby safe, I don't doubt that MANY of the policies came into effect after lawsuits. After all, while hospitals and doctors are all about saving lives, there's still the bottom line of making money. And they can't stay in business if they're being sued left and right. I don't doubt that our healthcare system would be in a very different place if there wasn't the issue of liability. People expect medical professionals to be gods (and still sometimes treat them as such). But the truth is, they're human. They make mistakes in their jobs just like the rest of us. Only we don't usually cause harm to another person when we make such mistakes. I don't envy them this position.
The other reason for some of the policies, I believe, is to hopefully lessen the amount of lawsuits. If a doctor can say, "Look, I followed procedure, I followed the policies, I'm not at fault." then a parent is less likely going to be able to sue and win. Whereas if a doctor can only say, "I went with my gut." then they're going to be in a world of hurt when a parent decides to sue. The thing is, I'd rather have a doctor who goes with their gut every time.
And I respect any nurse who goes along with the policies, after all, it's his/her job. And since they've been taught that this is what's best for the patient, they usually believe it (there are some nurses who are against a lot of hospital policies....I was lucky enough to get one of them with Lady's birth). But just because they believe it, that doesn't make it true in every case.
Any nurse understands that every patient is different. So why, then, is this not taken into consideration with all of the policies I mentioned? They are one-size-fits-all policies and most of the time not presented to the patient as something about which they have a choice to make. If a policy is presented to a patient as a choice at all, it's usually very one-sided. "Here are your choices, but this one is the right one." This is completely unfair to the patient. Every option should be presented to the patient along with the pros and cons without the underlying message of "this choice is right and this choice is wrong." I presented one side of the issue with regards to each intervention. I'm assuming that most women will find out or have found about the other side of the issue at the hospital.
One of my biggest beefs with doctors (and even hospital midwives as I experienced last week) is that they seem to not take into account that they're the employee. Instead of giving their patients options and letting them decide what's best for themselves, they tell the patient what is going to happen because after all, they know best, right? They may know a heck of a lot more about the medical world than I do, but it's still my body and my baby's body and *I* should get the final say on what happens. I understand there isn't always time for this in life-threatening circumstances, but I'm not talking about those scenarios. I'm talking about the smaller stuff. Like whether or not you get an episiotomy (and like I said in my last post, thank heavens these are rare these days). My (female) doctor didn't ask me if I wanted one, she told me I needed one a half-second before she cut me. This is nothing less than abuse of power and, really, could be seen as assault. Luckily not every doctor is like this. My best doctor-experience was with Tink's birth. My doctor let me be in control and treated me very respectfully. She asked first before doing any procedures and was very respectful of my wishes. I am grateful for that. Unfortunately, in my experience, she is in the minority.
I would like to clarify some of the terms I used. When I referred to myself as a sheep following the herd, it was not meant to put the label of "sheep" on any woman who chooses to have a hospital birth. There are some women who have really thoroughly researched and pondered and prayed about the appropriate place for them to give birth. I would never refer to them as sheep. But let's be honest, there are women who can be called sheep, including myself in the past. I had no idea what childbirth was all about, and I just turned it over to the medical establishment to take care of. I was afraid. I was afraid of childbirth because society told me it was something to be feared. That it was unbearable pain. That I couldn't handle it. That women had lost their ability to give birth without numbing themselves. That science had taken over and made pain-free childbirth available and that it was better than what mother nature (or God) created. That I could possibly be that one out of every 3 women who could not give birth vaginally to her child and the only thing I could do about it was pray that I wouldn't be. There are a lot of women today who can be labeled "sheep." If that's offensive, I'm sorry. I don't blame them. It's scary to take responsibility for something so huge as bringing a life into this world. And when there are doctors and nurses willing to take that responsibility off their shoulders, they give it willingly.
Like I said, there are women who research it out, understand their role as a laboring mother, understand the risks and benefits of each and every intervention, and choose to give birth in a hospital and opt-in or -out of whatever interventions the hospital offers. (My sister was one of these and there aren't very many people in this world I have as much respect for as her.) These are not the women I'm referring to as sheep. But if you believe that these women are the majority, I'd argue that you're very wrong.
Also, by research, I mean more than just listening to stories of homebirths-gone-bad from friends of friends. Because for every homebirth horror story, I can give you many, many more hospital-birth horror stories. The fact is that children have died or been injured during homebirths and children have died or been injured during hospital births. Some of these deaths have been a direct result of where they were giving birth or the skill of their caretaker, and some of these have been the result of nature. Not every baby or mother can be saved, unfortunately. To think that just because you're giving birth at a hospital you're immune from tragedy is incorrect. Also to think that you have the upper-hand should tragedy befall because you're at the hospital is short-sighted. It may very well be the hospital that causes the tragedy.
With regards to the word "idiots" I actually stand by that one. Because I used it in reference to hospitals that continue to offer ice chips as the ONLY means of nourishment during labor besides IV fluids (which have been shown to cause complications of their own during labor and with the baby after). To me, this is pure idiocy. If you're offended by that, I'm sorry, but I stand by my statement. At the very least, juice and water have proven beneficial and are often more helpful/comforting/satisfying than ice chips. (For the record, I'm not calling any one person or medical personnel idiots. The policy is idiotic and any hospital that won't change is, to me, idiotic.)
My use of the term "stupid" was also called into question. And again, I stand by it. If you read the post, it seems clear, but I will further clarify that I was referring to the universal policy of having every baby vaxed against Hep B stupid. I do consider this to be a stupid policy. I don't consider someone who chooses to have their baby vaxed stupid. Again, this is a one-size-fits-all policy, which is what I'm vehemently opposed to. There are babies who absolutely should be vaccinated for Hep B, but there are others (like mine) who there is absolutely no benefit for, and therefore can only be seen as detrimental (for my babies) since there are risks involved with the vaccination.
I'd also like to clarify the "CYA" thing. I don't think that most medical personnel even understand that that's what it's about. (And truly, CYA isn't always what it's about, but even if they do feel a certain policy is best, there's also the added benefit of making them less liable.) They're just following hospital policy and really believing that by doing so they're putting their patient first. Which, for their intents and purposes, they are. So I really have no ill feelings toward nurses just trying to do their jobs. They are doing what they've been taught and I've known my fair share of excellent nurses. One nurse saved my birth experience on one occasion, and another nurse ruined another one. I even don't have ill feelings toward doctors who really believe that they are doing what's right by the patient. The problem is that most doctors believe that they are, even when statistics would suggest otherwise. There really aren't a lot of doctors willing to think outside of the box. So many are stuck in the rut of what's been done for years, they either don't have the willingness or patience or time to consider any other options.
For example, my sister's midwife is currently working on her thesis for her doctorate. It is all about delayed cord-clamping. The benefits are already proven. There are huge benefits and no risks if baby is healthy right after birth. So her thesis wasn't on that. It was on how much time and effort it will take to get the medical establishment (ie doctors) to change the way they do things. Or if they even could get them all to change. Does that tell you anything?
I would now like to clarify a couple of statements made that were either incomplete or incorrect. The first being about the Vitamin K shot. My statement about the shot was incomplete. And for the record, I feel that this is one of the more benign interventions. There is a risk when opting out of it. Some babies may have bleeds internally that could be life-threatening if not stopped. This is a very rare occurrence, as are complications from the shot. My point is mainly to show that this is yet another CHOICE that needs to be weighed and measured before making a decision. But again, it is rarely presented as an option.
The other statement was actually made in one of the earlier posts with regards to women aspirating during an emergency c-section when under general anesthesia. In looking up studies about this, I mis-"spoke" what I had read. This has happened. Women have aspirated during a c-section. What hasn't happened is the mother dying because of this. It may have happened at some point in history here in the US, but there have been no deaths reported in the US in the last 20 years. There was one in Australia in the 80's and one in the UK in the 90's. The reports I did find found that, in the US, between 1979 and 1990, the actual incidence of aspiration during birth is 7 per 10 million births. I'd say those are fairly low odds. And the benefit of good, light nutrition during labor has been shown to increase good outcomes. In fact, the WHO (World Health Organization) states that women need increased energy for the requirements of labor and a woman’s desire for food and liquid should not interfere with the natural process of labor and will ensure both fetal and maternal well-being. If there is a higher probability of a women needing a c-section during labor, then she may be wise to abstain from too much food. But again, the one-size-fits-all policy is what gets my goat.
One issue I'd like to clear up is the misinformation that's out there surrounding homebirth and midwives. Doctors aren't the only ones who know what to do if "crap hits the fan." This is one of the areas where people have the most inaccurate ideas about homebirth. They think that my midwife just comes here to provide comfort measures and to clean up the mess. That idea is entirely off-base. My midwife is highly-skilled and highly-trained. She's been through hundreds of labors from beginning to end. How many doctors can say that? She is trained in infant and mother resuscitation and comes prepared with medical supplies should things take a turn for the worse. She's also trained to look for EARLY signs of complications and to transfer to a hospital at the drop of a hat, should the need arise. It's not like she just keeps the mother at home come what may.
A couple of people feel that I was bashing hospital birth. Or the choices that they, themselves, have made. I am absolutely not doing that. I would never have ill feelings toward someone who CHOOSES a different path than me. What I'm doing is trying to show women that there are CHOICES. That just because your doctor says one thing is best, it doesn't always mean it's best for you. I'm calling into question hospital policies and the reasons behind them. I am not trying to call into question people who choose to adhere to those policies. Nothing will ever change if no one questions the way things are done. And since the US's statistics are so horrendous, I don't think it's harmful to call these things into question. Maybe there are things that could be done differently that would make for better outcomes for women and babies. And I am all-for EVERY woman making her OWN decisions regarding her birth experience. What is right for me is not right for everyone. Having women educate themselves about their options and thereby feeling confidence in their choices is my ultimate goal.
In writing that post I was trying to state the reasons *I* chose a homebirth and to hopefully show what it is and help people see what it isn't. And also to show them that even if they choose a hospital birth, that there are choices when it comes to what interventions they get. And that there are risks and benefits associated with every intervention and they shouldn't make these decisions blindly, just trusting the medical personnel to know what's best for them and their baby.
One other area that I haven't touched on, that I'd like to is giving birth in a birthing center. These are becoming more and more popular and therefore more widely available. It's a great medium-ground for anyone who doesn't like the medical-style of a hospital, but has reservations about having a homebirth. There are a lot that are built right next to a hospital so that transfers are quick and easy should something go wrong. Unfortunately there aren't any near me that are attached to the hospitals and my home was about the same distance as the nearest birthing center to the hospital. So there was really no added benefit of going to one. Again, it's all about the choices. :)
I would like to clarify some of my statements and hopefully clear up some things.
In the past, some of my controversial posts have had a bit of humor in them, usually to try to lighten the weight of the heavy emotions that accompany the things I talk about. This is one area that is so close to my heart that I didn't let in much humor, and instead I went too far the other way and was probably too cynical. I apologize for this.
As I stated in the beginning, I am not anti-hospital, nor anti-doctor (male or female), nor anti-Western medicine, and ESPECIALLY not anti-nurse. I have experienced first-hand the difference a good nurse can make on many occasions. Half my family consists of nurses. My sister and 3 sisters-in-law are nurses (and excellent ones at that). I am grateful that there are doctors willing to put so much on the line to help women have babies. My personal opinion is that doctors should only be utilized for high-risk or emergency situations. But I understand not everybody agrees with this. I don't have any ill feelings toward anyone who chooses to have a doctor at their delivery.
I understand that there are many medical professionals who are wonderful at their jobs and always put the patients first. The problem I have is when the hospitals' or doctors' policies conflict with what is best for the patients, which is what I feel happens over and over again during labor and delivery. While the policies may be under the heading "Going to the extreme just in case the worst scenario happens," making it seem like they're going above and beyond to keep mother and baby safe, I don't doubt that MANY of the policies came into effect after lawsuits. After all, while hospitals and doctors are all about saving lives, there's still the bottom line of making money. And they can't stay in business if they're being sued left and right. I don't doubt that our healthcare system would be in a very different place if there wasn't the issue of liability. People expect medical professionals to be gods (and still sometimes treat them as such). But the truth is, they're human. They make mistakes in their jobs just like the rest of us. Only we don't usually cause harm to another person when we make such mistakes. I don't envy them this position.
The other reason for some of the policies, I believe, is to hopefully lessen the amount of lawsuits. If a doctor can say, "Look, I followed procedure, I followed the policies, I'm not at fault." then a parent is less likely going to be able to sue and win. Whereas if a doctor can only say, "I went with my gut." then they're going to be in a world of hurt when a parent decides to sue. The thing is, I'd rather have a doctor who goes with their gut every time.
And I respect any nurse who goes along with the policies, after all, it's his/her job. And since they've been taught that this is what's best for the patient, they usually believe it (there are some nurses who are against a lot of hospital policies....I was lucky enough to get one of them with Lady's birth). But just because they believe it, that doesn't make it true in every case.
Any nurse understands that every patient is different. So why, then, is this not taken into consideration with all of the policies I mentioned? They are one-size-fits-all policies and most of the time not presented to the patient as something about which they have a choice to make. If a policy is presented to a patient as a choice at all, it's usually very one-sided. "Here are your choices, but this one is the right one." This is completely unfair to the patient. Every option should be presented to the patient along with the pros and cons without the underlying message of "this choice is right and this choice is wrong." I presented one side of the issue with regards to each intervention. I'm assuming that most women will find out or have found about the other side of the issue at the hospital.
One of my biggest beefs with doctors (and even hospital midwives as I experienced last week) is that they seem to not take into account that they're the employee. Instead of giving their patients options and letting them decide what's best for themselves, they tell the patient what is going to happen because after all, they know best, right? They may know a heck of a lot more about the medical world than I do, but it's still my body and my baby's body and *I* should get the final say on what happens. I understand there isn't always time for this in life-threatening circumstances, but I'm not talking about those scenarios. I'm talking about the smaller stuff. Like whether or not you get an episiotomy (and like I said in my last post, thank heavens these are rare these days). My (female) doctor didn't ask me if I wanted one, she told me I needed one a half-second before she cut me. This is nothing less than abuse of power and, really, could be seen as assault. Luckily not every doctor is like this. My best doctor-experience was with Tink's birth. My doctor let me be in control and treated me very respectfully. She asked first before doing any procedures and was very respectful of my wishes. I am grateful for that. Unfortunately, in my experience, she is in the minority.
I would like to clarify some of the terms I used. When I referred to myself as a sheep following the herd, it was not meant to put the label of "sheep" on any woman who chooses to have a hospital birth. There are some women who have really thoroughly researched and pondered and prayed about the appropriate place for them to give birth. I would never refer to them as sheep. But let's be honest, there are women who can be called sheep, including myself in the past. I had no idea what childbirth was all about, and I just turned it over to the medical establishment to take care of. I was afraid. I was afraid of childbirth because society told me it was something to be feared. That it was unbearable pain. That I couldn't handle it. That women had lost their ability to give birth without numbing themselves. That science had taken over and made pain-free childbirth available and that it was better than what mother nature (or God) created. That I could possibly be that one out of every 3 women who could not give birth vaginally to her child and the only thing I could do about it was pray that I wouldn't be. There are a lot of women today who can be labeled "sheep." If that's offensive, I'm sorry. I don't blame them. It's scary to take responsibility for something so huge as bringing a life into this world. And when there are doctors and nurses willing to take that responsibility off their shoulders, they give it willingly.
Like I said, there are women who research it out, understand their role as a laboring mother, understand the risks and benefits of each and every intervention, and choose to give birth in a hospital and opt-in or -out of whatever interventions the hospital offers. (My sister was one of these and there aren't very many people in this world I have as much respect for as her.) These are not the women I'm referring to as sheep. But if you believe that these women are the majority, I'd argue that you're very wrong.
Also, by research, I mean more than just listening to stories of homebirths-gone-bad from friends of friends. Because for every homebirth horror story, I can give you many, many more hospital-birth horror stories. The fact is that children have died or been injured during homebirths and children have died or been injured during hospital births. Some of these deaths have been a direct result of where they were giving birth or the skill of their caretaker, and some of these have been the result of nature. Not every baby or mother can be saved, unfortunately. To think that just because you're giving birth at a hospital you're immune from tragedy is incorrect. Also to think that you have the upper-hand should tragedy befall because you're at the hospital is short-sighted. It may very well be the hospital that causes the tragedy.
With regards to the word "idiots" I actually stand by that one. Because I used it in reference to hospitals that continue to offer ice chips as the ONLY means of nourishment during labor besides IV fluids (which have been shown to cause complications of their own during labor and with the baby after). To me, this is pure idiocy. If you're offended by that, I'm sorry, but I stand by my statement. At the very least, juice and water have proven beneficial and are often more helpful/comforting/satisfying than ice chips. (For the record, I'm not calling any one person or medical personnel idiots. The policy is idiotic and any hospital that won't change is, to me, idiotic.)
My use of the term "stupid" was also called into question. And again, I stand by it. If you read the post, it seems clear, but I will further clarify that I was referring to the universal policy of having every baby vaxed against Hep B stupid. I do consider this to be a stupid policy. I don't consider someone who chooses to have their baby vaxed stupid. Again, this is a one-size-fits-all policy, which is what I'm vehemently opposed to. There are babies who absolutely should be vaccinated for Hep B, but there are others (like mine) who there is absolutely no benefit for, and therefore can only be seen as detrimental (for my babies) since there are risks involved with the vaccination.
I'd also like to clarify the "CYA" thing. I don't think that most medical personnel even understand that that's what it's about. (And truly, CYA isn't always what it's about, but even if they do feel a certain policy is best, there's also the added benefit of making them less liable.) They're just following hospital policy and really believing that by doing so they're putting their patient first. Which, for their intents and purposes, they are. So I really have no ill feelings toward nurses just trying to do their jobs. They are doing what they've been taught and I've known my fair share of excellent nurses. One nurse saved my birth experience on one occasion, and another nurse ruined another one. I even don't have ill feelings toward doctors who really believe that they are doing what's right by the patient. The problem is that most doctors believe that they are, even when statistics would suggest otherwise. There really aren't a lot of doctors willing to think outside of the box. So many are stuck in the rut of what's been done for years, they either don't have the willingness or patience or time to consider any other options.
For example, my sister's midwife is currently working on her thesis for her doctorate. It is all about delayed cord-clamping. The benefits are already proven. There are huge benefits and no risks if baby is healthy right after birth. So her thesis wasn't on that. It was on how much time and effort it will take to get the medical establishment (ie doctors) to change the way they do things. Or if they even could get them all to change. Does that tell you anything?
I would now like to clarify a couple of statements made that were either incomplete or incorrect. The first being about the Vitamin K shot. My statement about the shot was incomplete. And for the record, I feel that this is one of the more benign interventions. There is a risk when opting out of it. Some babies may have bleeds internally that could be life-threatening if not stopped. This is a very rare occurrence, as are complications from the shot. My point is mainly to show that this is yet another CHOICE that needs to be weighed and measured before making a decision. But again, it is rarely presented as an option.
The other statement was actually made in one of the earlier posts with regards to women aspirating during an emergency c-section when under general anesthesia. In looking up studies about this, I mis-"spoke" what I had read. This has happened. Women have aspirated during a c-section. What hasn't happened is the mother dying because of this. It may have happened at some point in history here in the US, but there have been no deaths reported in the US in the last 20 years. There was one in Australia in the 80's and one in the UK in the 90's. The reports I did find found that, in the US, between 1979 and 1990, the actual incidence of aspiration during birth is 7 per 10 million births. I'd say those are fairly low odds. And the benefit of good, light nutrition during labor has been shown to increase good outcomes. In fact, the WHO (World Health Organization) states that women need increased energy for the requirements of labor and a woman’s desire for food and liquid should not interfere with the natural process of labor and will ensure both fetal and maternal well-being. If there is a higher probability of a women needing a c-section during labor, then she may be wise to abstain from too much food. But again, the one-size-fits-all policy is what gets my goat.
One issue I'd like to clear up is the misinformation that's out there surrounding homebirth and midwives. Doctors aren't the only ones who know what to do if "crap hits the fan." This is one of the areas where people have the most inaccurate ideas about homebirth. They think that my midwife just comes here to provide comfort measures and to clean up the mess. That idea is entirely off-base. My midwife is highly-skilled and highly-trained. She's been through hundreds of labors from beginning to end. How many doctors can say that? She is trained in infant and mother resuscitation and comes prepared with medical supplies should things take a turn for the worse. She's also trained to look for EARLY signs of complications and to transfer to a hospital at the drop of a hat, should the need arise. It's not like she just keeps the mother at home come what may.
A couple of people feel that I was bashing hospital birth. Or the choices that they, themselves, have made. I am absolutely not doing that. I would never have ill feelings toward someone who CHOOSES a different path than me. What I'm doing is trying to show women that there are CHOICES. That just because your doctor says one thing is best, it doesn't always mean it's best for you. I'm calling into question hospital policies and the reasons behind them. I am not trying to call into question people who choose to adhere to those policies. Nothing will ever change if no one questions the way things are done. And since the US's statistics are so horrendous, I don't think it's harmful to call these things into question. Maybe there are things that could be done differently that would make for better outcomes for women and babies. And I am all-for EVERY woman making her OWN decisions regarding her birth experience. What is right for me is not right for everyone. Having women educate themselves about their options and thereby feeling confidence in their choices is my ultimate goal.
In writing that post I was trying to state the reasons *I* chose a homebirth and to hopefully show what it is and help people see what it isn't. And also to show them that even if they choose a hospital birth, that there are choices when it comes to what interventions they get. And that there are risks and benefits associated with every intervention and they shouldn't make these decisions blindly, just trusting the medical personnel to know what's best for them and their baby.
One other area that I haven't touched on, that I'd like to is giving birth in a birthing center. These are becoming more and more popular and therefore more widely available. It's a great medium-ground for anyone who doesn't like the medical-style of a hospital, but has reservations about having a homebirth. There are a lot that are built right next to a hospital so that transfers are quick and easy should something go wrong. Unfortunately there aren't any near me that are attached to the hospitals and my home was about the same distance as the nearest birthing center to the hospital. So there was really no added benefit of going to one. Again, it's all about the choices. :)
Friday, March 26, 2010
Hypnobirthing and Homebirth Part III
Brent would like me to remind everyone that I am not trying to bash the way other people have given birth or choose to give birth in the future. Everyone needs to choose their own road. It took me having 3 babies before I really educated myself about the birth process and the different options I had relating to childbirth. It took some negative experiences for me to realize that nobody else knew my body better than I do, and that I needed to trust my body to do what it was meant to do. The following are the things I learned in the process and the opinions and conclusions I came to through lots of reading, talking with different women, pondering, and prayer.
I also need to now state that I wrote this post a couple of weeks ago, before my sister had her baby. So none of this was written in response to her birth experience. (By the way, she was AWESOME!)
I want to start by saying that I am not anti-hospital, nor am I anti-doctor, nor am I anti-western-medicine. I am grateful for all of these things, I just feel they have their place and that it should be a lot more limited than it currently is in our society. I have a niece and a nephew who would not be alive today without the amazing advances in modern medicine and the ability that skilled medical personnel now have in regards to saving the lives of micro-preemies.
I've had so many people ask why I had a homebirth. Some ask with disgust and contempt in their voices and others ask with obvious interest. One of my family members, upon finding out we were having a homebirth, said to another family member, "I hope her baby doesn't die." Now I'm fairly good at not getting offended too easily, but I couldn't help myself with that one. By this remark, this family member was implying that I was doing something dangerous.....that I was somehow putting my child at unnecessary risk in choosing a homebirth. That is what hurt and offended. Because anyone who knows me knows that I am nothing if not fiercely protective of my children.
The truth of the matter is that homebirths for low-risk pregnancies are JUST AS SAFE as hospital births for low-risk pregnancies. Here's one of the most comprehensive, unbiased studies done so far. It clearly shows that the outcomes are almost identical, if not BETTER for planned low-risk homebirths compared to low-risk hospital births. And here's another more recent study done in Canada that actually shows better outcomes in all areas with homebirth.
Homebirths are still a very touchy subject in America. Of course, anything not seen as "the norm" tends to be a touchy subject. And homebirths definitely aren't the norm, though I wish they were. One of the most frustrating things for me is that most women don't even know it's an option. And if they do happen to know a friend of a friend of a friend who had a homebirth, they usually don't feel like it's an option for them. Because "everybody" births in a hospital, right? That's where you're "supposed" to do it. But why is this?
Pregnancy and birth have just been handed over to the medical establishment. Women are no longer in control of their pregnancies and births. It started many, many years ago and has a very dark history. When women started having babies in hospitals, it was not a pretty sight. Women would be tied to their beds and have a mask placed over their faces. They'd be left alone on their urine-covered and soiled bedsheets. They'd be drugged up with morphine and put to sleep during labor. They'd also be given a drug to help them not remember anything. Women thought this was "empowering" because they could have their baby "pain free." Maybe they didn't understand that their babies were being ripped from their bodies with the help of forceps while they were completely unconscious. Because that doesn't seem too empowering to me.
I think that when things really went wrong was when we took birth out of the hands of women and their female helpers (midwives) and placed it in the hands of male doctors. Now really, I have no ill feelings toward male doctors. I have had quite a few over the years. I think they have their place, and most of the ones I had were fairly good at their jobs. The problem is, they're MEN! Why in the world would we turn such a womanly experience over to a bunch of male doctors? I really just don't get it.
We are one of the only countries in the world to have SURGEONS attending births. There really is no need for someone trained in cutting people open to be attending a normal, low-risk delivery. Their training is another area that I have a problem with. And I think it's one of the root causes of birth being so medicalized. Do you know of any OBGYNs who have been with a woman from the beginning of her labor clear through to the end? Have any of them even done it once? Let alone over and over and over again like midwives have. And even if they have, was it in a hospital with intervention upon intervention? I don't think most doctors today even know what "normal" birth looks like. They only know what medical birth looks like. They are trained to look for pathology and so often times they see it even when it's not there.
Midwives, on the other hand, are trained to care for the laboring mother and her new babe. They attend births from beginning to end. They know what early signs of complications to look for. They don't need to rely on machines to tell them what's happening. (Thank goodness, because half the time those machines get it all wrong anyway.) They get to know their patients beforehand. They know their personalities, their desires for birth, and they can help them achieve their desired outcome. On the other hand, doctors are trained to read machines and jump in and extract the baby at the first sign the machines give that something might possibly be going wrong (which it often does when a mother is confined to a bed, forbidden nourishment, given meds to make her contractions stronger, and drugged up so that she feels nothing).
It seems almost comical to me (if it weren't so horribly sad) that with all of the science we've allowed into childbirth, all the "medical advancements", that the US is STILL ranked as one of the worst for infant and maternal mortality and morbidity among industrialized nations. Doesn't this tell us something? Maybe Mother Nature does actually know what she's doing!
I just wish it wouldn't have taken me so long to figure that out. But like in other areas of my life at the time, I "went with the flow." I was a sheep following the herd. Even with Lady, after I'd learned that my body was completely capable of giving birth without the help of science, I still listened to all of the other sheep (however well-intentioned they were) and let the "what-ifs" creep in and persuade me to believe that I'd be safer at a hospital. And so she was born at the hospital. And I don't think even 10 minutes had passed after she was born that I looked at Brent and said, "We're doing this again. And it won't be here." And he looked at me and he knew and agreed.
Almost every procedure done at the hospital is all about CYA. For anyone unfamiliar with the acronym, it means "Covering Your.....Butt." A lot of the procedures they do are completely unnecessary in a lot of cases, and some are even harmful. Luckily some of them have been done away with, but not nearly as many as should be done away with. For instance, they no longer shave women's nether regions before birth. They no longer put you into "twilight sleep" while they rip your baby from your body. They no longer strap your legs and arms to the bed.
Unfortunately there are still many things they do that don't ALWAYS need to be done. Here are just a few things routinely done that, I feel, are more about CYA than they are about caring for mother and baby:
- IV placed in your arm as soon as you're admitted. This is "just in case" they need to give you drugs or fluids (since they won't let you get enough nutrition via your mouth).
- No food and little water (some hospitals still prefer ONLY ice chips to water....idiots) while in labor. This is "just in case" they need to put you under general anesthesia and cut your baby out of you. (Luckily there is RARELY need for general anesthesia these days.) Luckily it looks as though word is finally getting out that this is a bad idea. Midwives have known for a long time that the laboring woman needs nourishment to keep up her energy. I ate a Subway sandwich in the middle of my labor with June. And I drank SOOOO MUCH water. It helped immensely.
- Continual fetal monitoring. This is when they strap the monitor around your belly to keep track of the baby's heart rate. Seems like a good idea, right? But what it does is confine mom to the bed where she is completely uncomfortable and studies have shown that it really doesn't improve the outcome at all anyway. Just listening with the Doppler every now and again serves the same purpose without the negative effects on mom. (I will put the caveat that if mom is confined to a bed anyway because of an epidural, this probably isn't such a big deal and might even be a good thing since she's most likely also being given pitocin and the baby should DEFINITELY be more closely watched with pitocin-contractions since they are MUCH stronger than natural contractions.)
- Episiotomies. There are still a lot of doctors and hospitals that believe that these are necessary in most women. I had one of those idiot doctors when AJ was born. Now they've found that most times even if a women tears a bit, it heals much more quickly and comfortably than if she's cut.
- Taking baby immediately after s/he is born and rubbing him/her down with a towel. The vernix is actually quite good for baby's skin and should be allowed to be absorbed.
- Taking baby away from mom immediately after s/he is born to "check him/her over." This is completely unnecessary in most cases and, in my opinion, harmful to the mother-baby bond. The first thing that baby should see when s/he is born is the woman who carried him/her for the last 9 months. The Apgar test can be done with baby on mom's chest and there is absolutely no reason why weights/measurements should come before mom gets to meet baby and have time to start nursing and bonding. Also, whisking baby away to be suctioned out because of meconium (baby poop) in the amniotic fluid is also unnecessary. They did this with AJ and Roo. Had me scared to death because NICU nurses were in there to suction them out and they made me believe this was a serious thing. I came to find out later that it's really unnecessary to freak out like that and that meconium isn't something worth getting worked up over. It needs to be addressed, occasionally, but in most cases, isn't cause for alamrm. Again, it's all about CYA.
- Immediately clamping and cutting the cord. They've now found that leaving the cord attached is extremely beneficial to the baby. The cord blood is rich with nutrients and also oxygen which helps the baby with the transition of receiving oxygen via the lungs. There's no need for urgently getting the cord cut. Let the baby get all the nutrients s/he can! If baby is up on mom's chest where s/he should be, then there's no problem with leaving the cord intact for a long time. With June, even after the placenta came out, we still left the cord intact. I think it was well over an hour or so before we cut the cord. Here's a good article about it.
- Pulling the placenta out prematurely. I'm fairly sure that my doctors did this with my first 2 births. And I suffered the consequences. I tend to bleed a lot after birth anyway, but to have the doctors pull the placenta out before it's ready only makes things worse. So what do they do? They give you more pitocin to make the uterus contract harder again to try to stop the bleeding (that they caused). Anyone who's ever had pitocin given to them post-partum understands the pain. It was MUCH worse after the birth. I was crying it was so bad. And I hadn't cried during labor. There is no reason to pull the placenta out early. The only reason they do it is because the doctors don't have time to sit and wait for it. (At least they don't think they do.....remember how much more important their time is than yours?)
* I should note that it's also not best to leave the placenta in for a super-long time, but there are other ways of getting it to release.
* One more note is that if you do leave the placenta attached after it comes out, it should be held above the baby so that the blood doesn't flow from the baby to the placenta. We want all the blood to go into the baby, not the other way around. :)
- Baby's first bath. You may laugh, but really there's no reason to give the baby a bath in those first 24-48 hours. I think June was at least a couple of days old before we gave her her first bath. Lady's was a few hours before we left the hospital. I went with her. :) If there's meconium on their skin, it can easily be wiped off with a baby wipe.
- Vitamin K shot. What is this for? Here is what I found about it in doing research before June's birth.
"Vitamin K is a substance the body produces naturally for blood clotting and protects against hemorrhagic disease, which is extremely rare, but serious. Baby’s don’t produce vitamin K for a few days, but colostrum and breastmilk, although deficient in Vitamin K, contain factors which help the baby’s gut produce it’s own vitamin K. Be aware that the injection has been associated with rare childhood cancers, such as leukemia, in British studies due to the carcinogens Phenol contained in the shot . Signs of Hemorrhagic disease are bleeding out the orifices (nose, mouth, ears, bottom, etc.) When bleeding is noticed get a Vitamin K shot within 24 hours to remedy the disease."
post-edit: Like any other procedure, the risks and benefits of having the Vit K injection and NOT having the Vit K injection should be fully considered before making a choice. There are pros and cons to both sides.
*Note: It is necessary if you are going to have your son circumcised. And only then if it's done before he's about 8 days old. (There will be an entire post dedicated to this in the future.) ;)
- Hep B vaccine. Again, completely unnecessary. They don't trust mothers to tell them if they have Hep B, and even though a baby born to a mother without Hep B is really at zero risk of contracting it, someone somewhere along the way decided to give all babies this injection at the hospital. Stupid. (Vaccines are another future blog post.) There are some hospitals that no longer practice this because of the effects it's had on newborns, but there are a lot that still do.
- Eye gunk. (At least that's what I call it.) I actually didn't research this one before June's birth and I totally forgot to ask my midwife about it. Not until Brent's parents got all worried about the fact that she hadn't received the goop did I think to ask my midwife. She laughed and assured me June was just fine without it. Why? Because it's an antibiotic to prevent eye infections caused by the mother having gonorrhea or chlamydia. Since I have never had either of those STDs, June was safe. At the hospital, they don't trust mothers to tell them, or even to know for themselves if they've had either STD, so they just put the goop in every baby's eyes. Again, CYA. There are circumstances where it may be best to use the goop as added prevention, even if the mother doesn't have an STD. For example, if the mother is Group B Strep positive, she might choose to get the goop as an added measure of protection for the baby. Again, it's a choice that should be presented as such.
Some of these things may not seem like a very big deal to many of you, but added up, for me, it was too much to fight with. I didn't like being made to feel like a wacko when I refused unnecessary procedures. And the hospitals around here just don't have a great support system for mothers birthing naturally. And since I'm extremely low-risk, there really was no benefit to birthing at a hospital over birthing at home. And after my wonderful experience with June, I won't ever go back to a hospital unless there's a compelling reason.
I also need to now state that I wrote this post a couple of weeks ago, before my sister had her baby. So none of this was written in response to her birth experience. (By the way, she was AWESOME!)
I want to start by saying that I am not anti-hospital, nor am I anti-doctor, nor am I anti-western-medicine. I am grateful for all of these things, I just feel they have their place and that it should be a lot more limited than it currently is in our society. I have a niece and a nephew who would not be alive today without the amazing advances in modern medicine and the ability that skilled medical personnel now have in regards to saving the lives of micro-preemies.
I've had so many people ask why I had a homebirth. Some ask with disgust and contempt in their voices and others ask with obvious interest. One of my family members, upon finding out we were having a homebirth, said to another family member, "I hope her baby doesn't die." Now I'm fairly good at not getting offended too easily, but I couldn't help myself with that one. By this remark, this family member was implying that I was doing something dangerous.....that I was somehow putting my child at unnecessary risk in choosing a homebirth. That is what hurt and offended. Because anyone who knows me knows that I am nothing if not fiercely protective of my children.
The truth of the matter is that homebirths for low-risk pregnancies are JUST AS SAFE as hospital births for low-risk pregnancies. Here's one of the most comprehensive, unbiased studies done so far. It clearly shows that the outcomes are almost identical, if not BETTER for planned low-risk homebirths compared to low-risk hospital births. And here's another more recent study done in Canada that actually shows better outcomes in all areas with homebirth.
Homebirths are still a very touchy subject in America. Of course, anything not seen as "the norm" tends to be a touchy subject. And homebirths definitely aren't the norm, though I wish they were. One of the most frustrating things for me is that most women don't even know it's an option. And if they do happen to know a friend of a friend of a friend who had a homebirth, they usually don't feel like it's an option for them. Because "everybody" births in a hospital, right? That's where you're "supposed" to do it. But why is this?
Pregnancy and birth have just been handed over to the medical establishment. Women are no longer in control of their pregnancies and births. It started many, many years ago and has a very dark history. When women started having babies in hospitals, it was not a pretty sight. Women would be tied to their beds and have a mask placed over their faces. They'd be left alone on their urine-covered and soiled bedsheets. They'd be drugged up with morphine and put to sleep during labor. They'd also be given a drug to help them not remember anything. Women thought this was "empowering" because they could have their baby "pain free." Maybe they didn't understand that their babies were being ripped from their bodies with the help of forceps while they were completely unconscious. Because that doesn't seem too empowering to me.
I think that when things really went wrong was when we took birth out of the hands of women and their female helpers (midwives) and placed it in the hands of male doctors. Now really, I have no ill feelings toward male doctors. I have had quite a few over the years. I think they have their place, and most of the ones I had were fairly good at their jobs. The problem is, they're MEN! Why in the world would we turn such a womanly experience over to a bunch of male doctors? I really just don't get it.
We are one of the only countries in the world to have SURGEONS attending births. There really is no need for someone trained in cutting people open to be attending a normal, low-risk delivery. Their training is another area that I have a problem with. And I think it's one of the root causes of birth being so medicalized. Do you know of any OBGYNs who have been with a woman from the beginning of her labor clear through to the end? Have any of them even done it once? Let alone over and over and over again like midwives have. And even if they have, was it in a hospital with intervention upon intervention? I don't think most doctors today even know what "normal" birth looks like. They only know what medical birth looks like. They are trained to look for pathology and so often times they see it even when it's not there.
Midwives, on the other hand, are trained to care for the laboring mother and her new babe. They attend births from beginning to end. They know what early signs of complications to look for. They don't need to rely on machines to tell them what's happening. (Thank goodness, because half the time those machines get it all wrong anyway.) They get to know their patients beforehand. They know their personalities, their desires for birth, and they can help them achieve their desired outcome. On the other hand, doctors are trained to read machines and jump in and extract the baby at the first sign the machines give that something might possibly be going wrong (which it often does when a mother is confined to a bed, forbidden nourishment, given meds to make her contractions stronger, and drugged up so that she feels nothing).
It seems almost comical to me (if it weren't so horribly sad) that with all of the science we've allowed into childbirth, all the "medical advancements", that the US is STILL ranked as one of the worst for infant and maternal mortality and morbidity among industrialized nations. Doesn't this tell us something? Maybe Mother Nature does actually know what she's doing!
I just wish it wouldn't have taken me so long to figure that out. But like in other areas of my life at the time, I "went with the flow." I was a sheep following the herd. Even with Lady, after I'd learned that my body was completely capable of giving birth without the help of science, I still listened to all of the other sheep (however well-intentioned they were) and let the "what-ifs" creep in and persuade me to believe that I'd be safer at a hospital. And so she was born at the hospital. And I don't think even 10 minutes had passed after she was born that I looked at Brent and said, "We're doing this again. And it won't be here." And he looked at me and he knew and agreed.
Almost every procedure done at the hospital is all about CYA. For anyone unfamiliar with the acronym, it means "Covering Your.....Butt." A lot of the procedures they do are completely unnecessary in a lot of cases, and some are even harmful. Luckily some of them have been done away with, but not nearly as many as should be done away with. For instance, they no longer shave women's nether regions before birth. They no longer put you into "twilight sleep" while they rip your baby from your body. They no longer strap your legs and arms to the bed.
Unfortunately there are still many things they do that don't ALWAYS need to be done. Here are just a few things routinely done that, I feel, are more about CYA than they are about caring for mother and baby:
- IV placed in your arm as soon as you're admitted. This is "just in case" they need to give you drugs or fluids (since they won't let you get enough nutrition via your mouth).
- No food and little water (some hospitals still prefer ONLY ice chips to water....idiots) while in labor. This is "just in case" they need to put you under general anesthesia and cut your baby out of you. (Luckily there is RARELY need for general anesthesia these days.) Luckily it looks as though word is finally getting out that this is a bad idea. Midwives have known for a long time that the laboring woman needs nourishment to keep up her energy. I ate a Subway sandwich in the middle of my labor with June. And I drank SOOOO MUCH water. It helped immensely.
- Continual fetal monitoring. This is when they strap the monitor around your belly to keep track of the baby's heart rate. Seems like a good idea, right? But what it does is confine mom to the bed where she is completely uncomfortable and studies have shown that it really doesn't improve the outcome at all anyway. Just listening with the Doppler every now and again serves the same purpose without the negative effects on mom. (I will put the caveat that if mom is confined to a bed anyway because of an epidural, this probably isn't such a big deal and might even be a good thing since she's most likely also being given pitocin and the baby should DEFINITELY be more closely watched with pitocin-contractions since they are MUCH stronger than natural contractions.)
- Episiotomies. There are still a lot of doctors and hospitals that believe that these are necessary in most women. I had one of those idiot doctors when AJ was born. Now they've found that most times even if a women tears a bit, it heals much more quickly and comfortably than if she's cut.
- Taking baby immediately after s/he is born and rubbing him/her down with a towel. The vernix is actually quite good for baby's skin and should be allowed to be absorbed.
- Taking baby away from mom immediately after s/he is born to "check him/her over." This is completely unnecessary in most cases and, in my opinion, harmful to the mother-baby bond. The first thing that baby should see when s/he is born is the woman who carried him/her for the last 9 months. The Apgar test can be done with baby on mom's chest and there is absolutely no reason why weights/measurements should come before mom gets to meet baby and have time to start nursing and bonding. Also, whisking baby away to be suctioned out because of meconium (baby poop) in the amniotic fluid is also unnecessary. They did this with AJ and Roo. Had me scared to death because NICU nurses were in there to suction them out and they made me believe this was a serious thing. I came to find out later that it's really unnecessary to freak out like that and that meconium isn't something worth getting worked up over. It needs to be addressed, occasionally, but in most cases, isn't cause for alamrm. Again, it's all about CYA.
- Immediately clamping and cutting the cord. They've now found that leaving the cord attached is extremely beneficial to the baby. The cord blood is rich with nutrients and also oxygen which helps the baby with the transition of receiving oxygen via the lungs. There's no need for urgently getting the cord cut. Let the baby get all the nutrients s/he can! If baby is up on mom's chest where s/he should be, then there's no problem with leaving the cord intact for a long time. With June, even after the placenta came out, we still left the cord intact. I think it was well over an hour or so before we cut the cord. Here's a good article about it.
- Pulling the placenta out prematurely. I'm fairly sure that my doctors did this with my first 2 births. And I suffered the consequences. I tend to bleed a lot after birth anyway, but to have the doctors pull the placenta out before it's ready only makes things worse. So what do they do? They give you more pitocin to make the uterus contract harder again to try to stop the bleeding (that they caused). Anyone who's ever had pitocin given to them post-partum understands the pain. It was MUCH worse after the birth. I was crying it was so bad. And I hadn't cried during labor. There is no reason to pull the placenta out early. The only reason they do it is because the doctors don't have time to sit and wait for it. (At least they don't think they do.....remember how much more important their time is than yours?)
* I should note that it's also not best to leave the placenta in for a super-long time, but there are other ways of getting it to release.
* One more note is that if you do leave the placenta attached after it comes out, it should be held above the baby so that the blood doesn't flow from the baby to the placenta. We want all the blood to go into the baby, not the other way around. :)
- Baby's first bath. You may laugh, but really there's no reason to give the baby a bath in those first 24-48 hours. I think June was at least a couple of days old before we gave her her first bath. Lady's was a few hours before we left the hospital. I went with her. :) If there's meconium on their skin, it can easily be wiped off with a baby wipe.
- Vitamin K shot. What is this for? Here is what I found about it in doing research before June's birth.
"Vitamin K is a substance the body produces naturally for blood clotting and protects against hemorrhagic disease, which is extremely rare, but serious. Baby’s don’t produce vitamin K for a few days, but colostrum and breastmilk, although deficient in Vitamin K, contain factors which help the baby’s gut produce it’s own vitamin K. Be aware that the injection has been associated with rare childhood cancers, such as leukemia, in British studies due to the carcinogens Phenol contained in the shot . Signs of Hemorrhagic disease are bleeding out the orifices (nose, mouth, ears, bottom, etc.) When bleeding is noticed get a Vitamin K shot within 24 hours to remedy the disease."
post-edit: Like any other procedure, the risks and benefits of having the Vit K injection and NOT having the Vit K injection should be fully considered before making a choice. There are pros and cons to both sides.
*Note: It is necessary if you are going to have your son circumcised. And only then if it's done before he's about 8 days old. (There will be an entire post dedicated to this in the future.) ;)
- Hep B vaccine. Again, completely unnecessary. They don't trust mothers to tell them if they have Hep B, and even though a baby born to a mother without Hep B is really at zero risk of contracting it, someone somewhere along the way decided to give all babies this injection at the hospital. Stupid. (Vaccines are another future blog post.) There are some hospitals that no longer practice this because of the effects it's had on newborns, but there are a lot that still do.
- Eye gunk. (At least that's what I call it.) I actually didn't research this one before June's birth and I totally forgot to ask my midwife about it. Not until Brent's parents got all worried about the fact that she hadn't received the goop did I think to ask my midwife. She laughed and assured me June was just fine without it. Why? Because it's an antibiotic to prevent eye infections caused by the mother having gonorrhea or chlamydia. Since I have never had either of those STDs, June was safe. At the hospital, they don't trust mothers to tell them, or even to know for themselves if they've had either STD, so they just put the goop in every baby's eyes. Again, CYA. There are circumstances where it may be best to use the goop as added prevention, even if the mother doesn't have an STD. For example, if the mother is Group B Strep positive, she might choose to get the goop as an added measure of protection for the baby. Again, it's a choice that should be presented as such.
Some of these things may not seem like a very big deal to many of you, but added up, for me, it was too much to fight with. I didn't like being made to feel like a wacko when I refused unnecessary procedures. And the hospitals around here just don't have a great support system for mothers birthing naturally. And since I'm extremely low-risk, there really was no benefit to birthing at a hospital over birthing at home. And after my wonderful experience with June, I won't ever go back to a hospital unless there's a compelling reason.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Hypnobirthing and Homebirth Part II
I wanted to talk just a little bit more about hypnosis during childbirth and natural birth before I go into homebirth.
My friend, Misty, that I mentioned in the last post reminded me that using hypnosis is a good option for people even if they're planning to get an epidural or even for women having c-sections. It's a great way to help yourself feel joyful and excited about the experience rather than fear or even nervous anticipation. Our society is so backwards sometimes, it amazes me. Why on earth do we fear childbirth? It's something that's an everyday, natural occurrence and yet we get so hung up over it. It should be the most exciting time of the pregnancy...not the dreaded part.
There are so many benefits to natural childbirth. For one thing, if a mother is able to labor the way her body tells her to, it helps the labor progress on its own, without the need for pitocin (which has got to be the most over-used drug today). Every woman is different and has different needs. To put every laboring woman in bed and expect her labor to progress well is, well....pretty stupid. There are some women who labor well laying down on their side, but usually only for a short while. And I've never heard of any woman who was comfortable laboring on their back in bed. And yet what do they have you do the moment you walk into the hospital?
I have one friend who needed to walk through her contractions. Another friend needed to rock back and forth, standing up. Another loved rocking back and forth on her hands and knees. I loved laboring in the water. I was able to do whatever felt right to my body at the moment. I climbed stairs, I lay down on the bed on my side for 30 minutes and took a nap, I went for a walk down by the river with Brent and AJ, I sat in the jetted tub and the birthing tub, I was able to go to the bathroom anytime I needed to (no catheter)....ALL of this was done while in hypnosis. I was completely comfortable because I was able to do what my body wanted and needed to do.
Here is a blog post from Misty about her last birth. There is a video of her having a contraction. Notice how calm and relaxed she is. Notice her smiling and laughing. This is what labor SHOULD be like.
So why have a natural birth when "God gave us the gift of epidurals"? (Yes, I've heard those words numerous times now.)
Natural births have far less cesarian rates than medical births.
Babies born without medication are more alert and have an easier time nursing and bonding with Mom.
When there's no epidural, pushing time is lessened since Mom can actually feel what she's doing.
Without medication, a mother can feel where she's laboring most. If it's in her back, that's the first clue that her baby is posterior (face-up) and she can get into positions and do exercises to help the baby turn.
Recovery time is faster and easier without medication.
Endorphins secreted during a natural childbirth have been found in the placenta and umbilical cord. This may serve a purpose to help the baby adjust to life outside as well as make the journey more comfortable for baby.
Once a mother gets an epidural, there are sacrifices made. It requires more intervention than just the epidural itself. She then needs IV fluids and she's restricted to the bed which increases her need for pitocin. And once she has pitocin, she needs constant fetal-monitoring, restricting movement even more.
Epidurals also increase a mother's need for instruments to be used like vacuum extractors or forceps since pushing is inhibited.
Having an epidural means that the laboring woman is lying on her back (or somewhere between her back and her side) for the duration of the labor. This is the WORST position possible to get baby to descend. And also pretty much the WORST position possible to push the baby out. (The only one I can think of that might be worse is a woman standing on her head.) Lying on one's back causes the birth canal to close by up to 30%! No wonder so many babies get stuck these day.
(Horrible position for pushing)One of the biggest reasons to have a natural birth, for me anyway, is the lower rate of cesarian sections. Every intervention used brings a mother one step closer to having a c-section. It starts with inductions. I could go on and on about inductions. I think it's ridiculous that they've become the "norm" these days. And one of the problems is they're getting earlier and earlier. It used to be that inductions weren't done until AT LEAST 41 weeks if the mother was still healthy and everything was still going well. Now more and more mothers are being induced by 38-39 weeks. Studies have shown that even these last extra days can be vitally important for the infant to remain in-utero. But women like to plan. And doctors seem ever-so-willing to help them plan because it gives them one less patient that might need to be seen "after hours." For me, this borders on malpractice. But it's so commonly practiced these days that it is rarely seen as such.
There are medical reasons for induction, but they are truly few and far between. A doctor seems to freak out if a patient's blood pressure goes up by 2 points. I believe that it's partly because of selfish doctors who want to schedule as many births as they can, and partly because this country is so sue-happy that doctors will do most anything to cover their butts. If it looks like they're "saving" the mother or baby, then the mother is less likely to sue if something goes wrong.
Doctor: "It could be dangerous to let you go much longer with your blood pressure going up by 2 points. We should induce you."
Mother: "Oh, thank you, Doctor! I don't want to endanger myself or my child."
When in reality, inductions are quite dangerous in and of themselves. It's been shown that between 50%-75% of women who are induced will end up with a cesarian section. I strongly believe that it's best to let the baby decide his or her birthday.
Once induction is started, it so easily leads to other interventions and it becomes a snowball effect. Pitocin is a powerful drug. It causes contractions MUCH stronger than a woman's body normally produces. So women almost always end up with an epidural. Then they get the IV, and the continual fetal monitoring (which, by the way, hasn't been shown to add any benefit or raise the survival rates of infants), and the catheter, and they're pretty much chained to the hospital bed. (Again, NOT the best place to labor.) Being induced also means that the woman is in the hospital for her entire labor, meaning she can't eat or drink for however long her labor lasts. (This has got to be one of the stupidest rules ever concocted. A woman in labor NEEDS nourishment and fluids to give her the energy to get that baby out. There's also no medical reason to restrict it. They say it's so that if a woman ends up needing a c-section, she won't have any food in her belly to aspirate if she's unconscious. Guess what....this scenario has never happened. Another example of covering rear ends.)
Once a woman has been started on pitocin, it's as though someone sets a timer and if she hasn't progressed this far by this time, up the pitocin. WHY? Why do all labors need to be over in a set amount of time? All women labor differently and have different lengths of labor-time. It's NORMAL! But if, heaven forbid, a woman is in labor for longer than about 8-12 hours, it somehow becomes an emergency and they need to GET THAT BABY OUT as if something bad will happen if a woman labors for longer than that. My sister-in-law gave birth in April. She labored (naturally) for 30 hours! That's actually pretty normal for a lot of women. And guess what, her baby came out healthy and happy. No cause for alarm.
One reason for the rush could be that pitocin is notoriously bad for the baby. It causes contractions so strong that the baby goes into distress. This then leads to the doctor playing the "dead baby card." (ie: "If we don't get that baby out now, it could die.") Every good mother is then going to do whatever the doctor says because no one wants to risk a child dying. But in reality, it was the doctor who put the baby into this situation. I don't know how many times I've heard, "I could've never had a homebirth. My baby almost died. I had to have an emergency c-section." This always makes me sad. Mostly because a lot of times it could've been prevented.
(C-section = Surgery)Don't get me wrong, there are definitely times when a c-section is needed and it's a huge blessing that it's an option these days. But the c-section rates in this country have sky-rocketed. People see it as a normal, everyday thing. But it's SURGERY! Surgery is a serious thing! The c-section rate is currently around 30%. That means that 1 in 3 women can't deliver their own babies. Has something happened to the modern-woman's body that she's now somehow unable to birth the babies she creates? I seriously doubt it. But modern medicine would have us believe such. They'd have us believe that they're "saving" all of these babies, when in reality the current medical establishment is the driving force behind putting these babies and mothers in a position to need a c-section in the first place.
Another horrible trend is repeat c-sections. It has come to be accepted as truth (because so many doctors push it) that once you have a c-section, it's safest to continue having c-sections thereafter. This is false. It is thought that having a VBAC (vaginal birth after c-section) raises the odds of a woman's uterus rupturing. It does, in fact, raise the odds, but not by the amount doctors would have you believe. And statistics show that maternal death rates are higher when VBAC rates are lower (which is the current trend). So really, repeat c-sections are what's killing mothers, not VBACs.
Again, doctors come into play with all of the covering-of-their-butts that they have to do. There are even doctors who refuse to accept patients who wish to have a VBAC. I have to wonder what the reasoning is behind this. Since statistics show that VBACs are safe, why continue to push c-sections? Could it possibly be for the money? Could this also possibly be why the c-section rate is so high? C-sections cost a heck of a lot more than vaginal births. And they take up a LOT less of the doctors' time. Sounds like a win-win for the doctors to me.
The risks of having a VBAC are that the mother's uterus could rupture, putting the mother and baby at risk of death. There is less than 1% risk of something serious happening during a VBAC. What doctors usually don't tell their patients is that there are risks to repeat c-sections also. These risks include:
-thinning of the uterus
-possible uterine rupture prior to labor
-scarring
-pain
-potential risk of increased blood loss
-damage to the bladder
-bowel obstruction
-placenta growing into the uterine wall, causing the need for a possible hysterectomy at the time of the c-section
If you've had a cesarian section and are interested in having a VBAC in the future, this is a great website to check out.
I guess my biggest frustration with childbirth today is that it has been taken out of the hands of the mothers. Women no longer "own" their pregnancies and births. We've just handed it over the the medical community and really bad things have come out of it. The horror stories are real. And unfortunately, they're expected. What would happen if women reclaimed their right and responsibility to take charge of their pregnancies and births? What if all women were educated about normal pregnancy and childbirth? What if women helped each other and supported each other instead of propagating the fear and horror stories?
I think we'd see a huge decrease in maternal and infant morbidity and mortality.
More to come about homebirth in Part III.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Hypnobirthing and Homebirth Part I
I was first introduced to hypnobirthing by my friend, Misty, when we were living in Michigan. She'd just had her 3rd (I think?) baby using hypnosis and raved about it. She told us she was in control and that the contractions didn't hurt. At the time I remember thinking, "No way!" I mean, she HAD to be lying, right? My whole life, every woman I know told me how awful childbirth is and how labor is the bane of women's existence. AND I'd already felt it twice and it HURT, gosh darn it!!!
Somewhere deep inside of me, though, I knew there had to be a better way. I'm not one of those who believes that this is Eve's curse that was passed on to all women. I don't believe God wants childbirth to be one of the worst experiences of our lives up until the baby pops out. I believe it's meant to be serene and joyful and filled with good feelings.
Unfortunately I didn't get that experience up until my 4th and 5th children.
I had the opportunity a couple of weeks ago to go to my midwife's house for a party. She and the other midwife who works with her invited all their clients who'd had babies this year or are currently pregnant. It was awesome. It was so nice to be in the company of other women telling birth stories without drama and that didn't resemble horror stories.
The only time I ever felt bad at the party was when I divulged that I'd had 3 medical births before I "figured it out." None of the women there made me feel bad, I just felt kind of silly that it took so long for me to realize there was a better way. A lot of these women had their first babies at home. At first I was jealous of them, but then I realized that maybe I wasn't supposed to. Maybe I was supposed to have the experiences I did because they did teach me something. (Or maybe I'm just a slow learner.)
Now for all of you thinking I must have had some horrific labors and deliveries for my first 3, you're wrong. Actually, mine were fairly standard, if not above standard, for hospital births. I went in to the hospital when I realized I was in labor, got an epidural and had a baby. Of course, there were a lot of other things that happened that made each experience less than ideal, but all-in-all the outcome was fine. I went home with healthy babies.
But each time I left feeling like, "That didn't feel right. It didn't feel the way my heart and body tell me it's supposed to feel."
I determined I was going to do some learning and figure out what I was missing.
The first thing I figured out was that I for SURE wanted to have a natural birth the next time. After Tink, I knew I could do it if I just had the right tools. This is when I remembered Misty and I started researching using hypnosis during childbirth. There was so much information and it all just "clicked" with me. At first I was a little skeptical, but after reading so many birth stories and after watching lots and lots of youtube videos of women laboring with hypnosis, I realized that THIS is what birth is supposed to be like. I believe Heavenly Father gave us the tools to have wonderful, beautiful births without all the drama and hours and hours of pain. But because our society and culture have lost their trust in the female body, birth has become about the horror stories and women one-upping their friends with what terrible experiences they have to tell.
Interruption of my own thoughts here: Seriously...when did the birth horror stories come into popularity? And WHY ON EARTH did it ever become the "norm" for the sharing of these stories to be told at all baby showers of first-time moms? What could be a worse gift for the soon-to-be-mom? Why don't we tell her how wonderful it is? And how it can be the most empowering, fulfilling, enlightening experience she'll ever go through? Oh yeah, because our culture has made it so that this is NOT the experience of most women. Instead we have the horror stories.
/rant over
Have you heard the stories of women in Asia who work all day in the rice fields while in labor, then they pause to give birth, wrap the baby up on their chest and get back to work? I know I was amazed the first time I heard about such women. After researching, I found that it's because of their culture. They aren't taught to fear childbirth from a young age. They don't grow up wanting babies, but agonizing over the worry of getting those babies out of their bodies. They are raised without the horror stories. They are raised knowing that a woman's body is capable. That's why this gift was given to women.
While women may not have the most muscular bodies, I believe we have much stronger bodies than men. The hormone changes we go through in one month alone would bring most men to their knees.
Back to the fear. Fear is what starts the cycle of pain. Fear causes tension, which causes muscle tightening, which causes pain. ESPECIALLY in a laboring woman. It's so interesting to look back at my first labor experiences. I made it so much harder on myself than it had to be. As soon as the contractions started I tensed up, holding my breath (big "duh" on my part), trying to climb out of my skin. I can tell you IT DIDN'T WORK! I was in so much pain by the time we got to the hospital. I was begging for the epidural with the first 2 babies.
By my 3rd baby, I thought I'd just be able to handle it. I knew if I could just get past 6 or 7 cm dilated, I'd make it the rest of the way. The trouble was I did nothing else to prepare myself. I didn't educate myself about labor or relaxation techniques (after all, I'd been through it twice already, right? What more was there to learn?). I just went in feeling confident that I could handle it. But then they made me lay down on the bed, put a monitor on, put on a blood pressure cuff, and put an IV in my arm. Any chance I had of having a natural birth flew out the window. But I didn't know that yet.
No, I lay there on the bed as the contractions got harder and harder and I tensed up and the pain began to get worse. I had the doctor check me a number of times.....still at a 6. Forever at a 6. I finally gave in and had them call the anesthesiologist. Tink was born about 20 minutes later.
It was after that I determined to learn as much as I could about natural childbirth. And luckily there is a LOT of information out there. I learned about so many advantages to natural childbirth that I knew I'd never go back to a medicated birth again. The other thing I learned (thanks for the heads-up from Misty) was that it didn't have to be painful! It didn't have to be torture! That was the revelation I was seeking and finally ready for!
I also educated myself much more about childbirth itself: the process of it, what's normal, what's not normal, the meaning of different cues a woman's body gives during labor. Most importantly I educated myself enough so that I was absolutely confident in myself and my body and it's ability to labor and deliver my child without the help of medication.
I signed up for a hypnobirthing class. Brent was completely skeptical at first. But after the first couple of lessons, he quickly realized it wasn't hokey. It's absolutely NOT like the hypnosis you see performed on stage. It's self-hypnosis-- getting yourself into a state of deep relaxation. I was completely aware of what was going on around me the entire time I was in labor. I was completely aware of every contraction and of my cervix stretching. But it didn't hurt! It was beautiful.
I can honestly say I didn't feel pain with either of my last 2 births right up until transition. And then it gets a bit harder, but really it's still not terribly painful....just EXTREMELY intense. It's a very, very intense feeling when your body takes over to push the baby out. Although some women remain completely calm during transition, just like the rest of their labor. I wasn't able to do that with either of them, but I also wasn't "out of control." I was just working hard to push the baby out. :)
It was such an awesome, amazing, empowering, spiritual experience. It's hard to describe how I felt. And I'm not trying to put down my other 3 births. They were beautiful and lovely also, once the baby was out. I guess the difference was that I was so much more involved and educated and in control of what was happening the entire time with the natural births. I didn't let nurses or doctors tell me what to do. I didn't leave them in charge. I didn't let them make all the decisions. I knew what to do. I knew my body and what it was capable of.
Part II coming soon. :)
Somewhere deep inside of me, though, I knew there had to be a better way. I'm not one of those who believes that this is Eve's curse that was passed on to all women. I don't believe God wants childbirth to be one of the worst experiences of our lives up until the baby pops out. I believe it's meant to be serene and joyful and filled with good feelings.
Unfortunately I didn't get that experience up until my 4th and 5th children.
I had the opportunity a couple of weeks ago to go to my midwife's house for a party. She and the other midwife who works with her invited all their clients who'd had babies this year or are currently pregnant. It was awesome. It was so nice to be in the company of other women telling birth stories without drama and that didn't resemble horror stories.
The only time I ever felt bad at the party was when I divulged that I'd had 3 medical births before I "figured it out." None of the women there made me feel bad, I just felt kind of silly that it took so long for me to realize there was a better way. A lot of these women had their first babies at home. At first I was jealous of them, but then I realized that maybe I wasn't supposed to. Maybe I was supposed to have the experiences I did because they did teach me something. (Or maybe I'm just a slow learner.)
Now for all of you thinking I must have had some horrific labors and deliveries for my first 3, you're wrong. Actually, mine were fairly standard, if not above standard, for hospital births. I went in to the hospital when I realized I was in labor, got an epidural and had a baby. Of course, there were a lot of other things that happened that made each experience less than ideal, but all-in-all the outcome was fine. I went home with healthy babies.
But each time I left feeling like, "That didn't feel right. It didn't feel the way my heart and body tell me it's supposed to feel."
I determined I was going to do some learning and figure out what I was missing.
The first thing I figured out was that I for SURE wanted to have a natural birth the next time. After Tink, I knew I could do it if I just had the right tools. This is when I remembered Misty and I started researching using hypnosis during childbirth. There was so much information and it all just "clicked" with me. At first I was a little skeptical, but after reading so many birth stories and after watching lots and lots of youtube videos of women laboring with hypnosis, I realized that THIS is what birth is supposed to be like. I believe Heavenly Father gave us the tools to have wonderful, beautiful births without all the drama and hours and hours of pain. But because our society and culture have lost their trust in the female body, birth has become about the horror stories and women one-upping their friends with what terrible experiences they have to tell.
Interruption of my own thoughts here: Seriously...when did the birth horror stories come into popularity? And WHY ON EARTH did it ever become the "norm" for the sharing of these stories to be told at all baby showers of first-time moms? What could be a worse gift for the soon-to-be-mom? Why don't we tell her how wonderful it is? And how it can be the most empowering, fulfilling, enlightening experience she'll ever go through? Oh yeah, because our culture has made it so that this is NOT the experience of most women. Instead we have the horror stories.
/rant over
Have you heard the stories of women in Asia who work all day in the rice fields while in labor, then they pause to give birth, wrap the baby up on their chest and get back to work? I know I was amazed the first time I heard about such women. After researching, I found that it's because of their culture. They aren't taught to fear childbirth from a young age. They don't grow up wanting babies, but agonizing over the worry of getting those babies out of their bodies. They are raised without the horror stories. They are raised knowing that a woman's body is capable. That's why this gift was given to women.
While women may not have the most muscular bodies, I believe we have much stronger bodies than men. The hormone changes we go through in one month alone would bring most men to their knees.
Back to the fear. Fear is what starts the cycle of pain. Fear causes tension, which causes muscle tightening, which causes pain. ESPECIALLY in a laboring woman. It's so interesting to look back at my first labor experiences. I made it so much harder on myself than it had to be. As soon as the contractions started I tensed up, holding my breath (big "duh" on my part), trying to climb out of my skin. I can tell you IT DIDN'T WORK! I was in so much pain by the time we got to the hospital. I was begging for the epidural with the first 2 babies.
By my 3rd baby, I thought I'd just be able to handle it. I knew if I could just get past 6 or 7 cm dilated, I'd make it the rest of the way. The trouble was I did nothing else to prepare myself. I didn't educate myself about labor or relaxation techniques (after all, I'd been through it twice already, right? What more was there to learn?). I just went in feeling confident that I could handle it. But then they made me lay down on the bed, put a monitor on, put on a blood pressure cuff, and put an IV in my arm. Any chance I had of having a natural birth flew out the window. But I didn't know that yet.
No, I lay there on the bed as the contractions got harder and harder and I tensed up and the pain began to get worse. I had the doctor check me a number of times.....still at a 6. Forever at a 6. I finally gave in and had them call the anesthesiologist. Tink was born about 20 minutes later.
It was after that I determined to learn as much as I could about natural childbirth. And luckily there is a LOT of information out there. I learned about so many advantages to natural childbirth that I knew I'd never go back to a medicated birth again. The other thing I learned (thanks for the heads-up from Misty) was that it didn't have to be painful! It didn't have to be torture! That was the revelation I was seeking and finally ready for!
I also educated myself much more about childbirth itself: the process of it, what's normal, what's not normal, the meaning of different cues a woman's body gives during labor. Most importantly I educated myself enough so that I was absolutely confident in myself and my body and it's ability to labor and deliver my child without the help of medication.
I signed up for a hypnobirthing class. Brent was completely skeptical at first. But after the first couple of lessons, he quickly realized it wasn't hokey. It's absolutely NOT like the hypnosis you see performed on stage. It's self-hypnosis-- getting yourself into a state of deep relaxation. I was completely aware of what was going on around me the entire time I was in labor. I was completely aware of every contraction and of my cervix stretching. But it didn't hurt! It was beautiful.
I can honestly say I didn't feel pain with either of my last 2 births right up until transition. And then it gets a bit harder, but really it's still not terribly painful....just EXTREMELY intense. It's a very, very intense feeling when your body takes over to push the baby out. Although some women remain completely calm during transition, just like the rest of their labor. I wasn't able to do that with either of them, but I also wasn't "out of control." I was just working hard to push the baby out. :)
It was such an awesome, amazing, empowering, spiritual experience. It's hard to describe how I felt. And I'm not trying to put down my other 3 births. They were beautiful and lovely also, once the baby was out. I guess the difference was that I was so much more involved and educated and in control of what was happening the entire time with the natural births. I didn't let nurses or doctors tell me what to do. I didn't leave them in charge. I didn't let them make all the decisions. I knew what to do. I knew my body and what it was capable of.
Part II coming soon. :)
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
This is really happening! (Well, not right this minute)
My midwife, C, came again this morning and things are progressing well. Baby's descending and is "in position." She seems to be a bit on the small side, which is just great with me! None of my kids have been very big, though. I'm pretty lucky that way. I'm 38 weeks and measuring just under that. (Sorry about the crappy picture.....it was the best I could get in front of my (apparently dirty) bathroom mirror.) Notice that she's low enough now that it looks like I have to pee when I'm holding the bottom of my stomach! :)
Last week C brought the birthing tub and all of my supplies for the birth (she brings HER supplies when she comes for the delivery).
The kids were asking all about what it was going to be like and I apparently didn't explain everything well enough to them. I did tell them that Daddy was going to "catch" the baby. Roo was very excited when Brent came home and saw it all. He exclaimed, "Yeah, and you can catch the baby with the net!" He's got it all figured out!
Here's my preparation for this new little one.
We are all getting very excited for this baby's arrival, but we're hoping she holds out another week or so since AJ is getting baptized on Saturday. We really don't want to have to postpone that.
And this baby is coming just in time. Because just this morning I decided to put Lady in pigtails for the first time. And yep, it's official. She's not a baby anymore.
Where in the world does the time go? And how do they grow up so fast? Are there any vitamins I can give them to slow down just a bit?
Last week C brought the birthing tub and all of my supplies for the birth (she brings HER supplies when she comes for the delivery).
The kids were asking all about what it was going to be like and I apparently didn't explain everything well enough to them. I did tell them that Daddy was going to "catch" the baby. Roo was very excited when Brent came home and saw it all. He exclaimed, "Yeah, and you can catch the baby with the net!" He's got it all figured out!Here's my preparation for this new little one.
We are all getting very excited for this baby's arrival, but we're hoping she holds out another week or so since AJ is getting baptized on Saturday. We really don't want to have to postpone that.
And this baby is coming just in time. Because just this morning I decided to put Lady in pigtails for the first time. And yep, it's official. She's not a baby anymore.
Where in the world does the time go? And how do they grow up so fast? Are there any vitamins I can give them to slow down just a bit?
Friday, January 2, 2009
One more piece of evidence to prove that I'm not crazy.....at least in this aspect of my life
Thank you to my sister for passing on this article. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!
This country needs to be more supportive of midwives and realize that normal birth does NOT belong in a hospital, and that OBGYNs should NOT be overseeing normal, healthy pregnant women. There's just no reason. Put maternity care back into the hands of midwives and our newborn and maternal death rate (along with cesarians and other interventions) will plummet. It's not only safer, it's BETTER! Anyone I've ever talked to (along with my own experience) who has ever switched from a DR to a midwife has wondered why they didn't do it sooner.
Yay for midwives! Yay for birthing centers and home-births! And Yay for women being in charge of their bodies and their births!
This country needs to be more supportive of midwives and realize that normal birth does NOT belong in a hospital, and that OBGYNs should NOT be overseeing normal, healthy pregnant women. There's just no reason. Put maternity care back into the hands of midwives and our newborn and maternal death rate (along with cesarians and other interventions) will plummet. It's not only safer, it's BETTER! Anyone I've ever talked to (along with my own experience) who has ever switched from a DR to a midwife has wondered why they didn't do it sooner.
Yay for midwives! Yay for birthing centers and home-births! And Yay for women being in charge of their bodies and their births!
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