When signing onto the Connecticut Post this morning, I clicked on an article about St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport being deemed a “Baby Friendly” hospital in Connecticut. The standards for becoming a “baby friendly” hospital revolve around breastfeeding for new mothers and babies.
But what is not being discussed in this article are several factors that should be impacting mothers choices on having their babies at St. Vincent’s Medical Center. First being that St. V’s has the highest surgical birth rate in Connecticut. At 44.5% of all babies being born by cesarean section they hold the highest c-section rate in all of Connecticut. That is also accompanied by a ban on vaginal birth after cesarean. Meaning women cannot choose the kind of birth they may want if they have had a previous cesarean section. While their ban is not an official ban on vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) it is what people in the birth community call a “defacto ban”. No provider on staff at St. Vincents will allow a mother a trial of labor after a previous surgical birth.
Why is this alarming for local women?
For several reasons. The World Health Organization recommends a cesarean birth rate for a hospital to be no higher than 15% including their high risk patients. St. Vincent’s exceeds this by nearly four times. Along with the fact that they are not allowing women to make medical decisions based on evidence based medicine which shows that VBAC or Vaginal Birth after Cesarean is safer for mother and baby than elective repeat cesarean sections.
Birth advocates in the state planned a protest in front of St. Vincents medical center earlier this spring but were unable to obtain a permit to stand on public sidewalks. With threats of arrest or tickets, local mothers opted not to exercise their first amendment right to assembly.
I hope women will take the time to research St. Vincent’s Medical Center more, and make an informed choice on where to give birth to their baby, rather than jumping at the chance to visit a “baby friendly” hospital.
Looking for something fun to do with your family this weekend? The Hartford Courant published some deals for families to have fun around the state, so I wanted to share a couple with my readers.
The Mark Twain House & Museum On Saturday local cultural arts organizations will be partnering up with the museum for a day of activities, including storytelling, music, and activities for the whole family. Tours of the house will be offered at regular admission prices. For more details visit http://www.marktwainhouse.org/
The Beardsley Zoo Bridgeport’s Beardsley Zoo will be offering 15% off regular admission for up to 4 tickets all day on Saturday. Bring your family to visit the animals on a beautiful summer day! For more details visit http://www.beardsleyzoo.org/
Mystic Aquarium Saturday Mystic Aquarium will be offering Free rides on the XD Theater Motion Ride and a Free Fountain Drink from the Penguin Cafe to the first customers through the gate. For more information visit http://www.mysticaquarium.org/
CoCo Key Water Resort Saturday the newest indoor water park in the North East will be offering free admission to the first 100 visitors to the indoor water park located in Waterbury. For more information on CoCo Key visit http://www.cocokeywaterresort.com/
A new research study I stumbled across in the Health Day Medical News recently suggests that babies born via cesarean section may be more likely to suffer from Celiac disease later on in life.
“Researchers analyzed data on almost 2,000 children seen at gastrointestinal outpatient clinics for celiac disease, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and other gastrointestinal diseases, and compared their rates of C-section vs. vaginal delivery to children who had not been diagnosed with any gastrointestinal conditions.
Compared to children born vaginally, children delivered by C-section were 80 percent more likely to develop celiac disease.”
As a mother of two boys both born by a surgical delivery, this is more alarming because of their clearly increased risk. While researchers are not certain why this is happening, they speculate that the children born by cesarean section may be more likely to suffer from this disease because they are not being exposed to the different healthy bacterias they should be in the vaginal canal during a vaginal delivery.
“This alters the infant’s colonization with gut microflora, or “good” microbes, that aid in digestion and fending off pathogens.
Previous research suggests there are differences in the intestinal bacterial flora between children born vaginally or by C-section.”
Interesting but this is something many researchers have been discussing for quite some time. Babies who are not being exposed to the good bacterias during a vaginal birth may have some kinds of disadvantages when compared to the kids who have been exposed to these bacterias.
Yesterday I was asked a question on Formspring.me which kind of got my mind really going. I am sure it was meant to be an insult from one of my fans out there, but I think it just rang true of what a lot of people out there actually think.
While the questions was worded very poorly, and the grammar was that of maybe a third grader, this is what it said :
Have you ever held a real job? Mothering does not count..I am a mother and I have a full time job outside the home…so i have two full time jobs…McDonald’s does not count either.
While the answer to that question was very simple, cut and dry, it sparked a great post for me to write! First off, yes, I have worked full time, and I have done so since I was 17 years old and graduated high school. For the first year and a half after high school till I moved to North Carolina when I was 19, I was the receptionist and office manager at a local Chiropractic office. After moving south, I was a full time Customer Service Rep for Cingular in their call center on the “save team” which sucked. I dealt with all the raving lunatics that wanted to cancel their cell phones and not pay the early termination fees of their contract. After moving back home to Connecticut, I got a great job working at a mental health hospital in the Pediatric and Adolescent unit. I loved it, unfortunately I choose not to stay long term because of how heart wrenching it was for me.
But clearly you get the point.
But now the point of my post. When my husband and I (boyfriend at the time) sat down and decided that children were what we wanted, and started trying to get pregnant. All along we knew that once we did have children, I would take on the roll of a Stay at Home mother, because that is what we wanted and knew would be best for our family. Growing up, we both had mothers who were able to stay at home with us, and that is something that we cherished. On top of that, the absorbent amount of childcare costs in the area we live, it would be foolish for me to go back to work.
But why is it so important to me to stay home with my boys? It is so much more important to me that just staying at home, or just the choice of skipping the huge daycare costs, it goes down to my own line of thinking when it comes to children today.
Now, I don’t want to start a huge war with the SAHM’s Vs. the WOHM’s (Work out of the home moms) but personally I feel like for most children, stay at home mothers, or a stay at home parent is far more beneficial to the child, their development, and will benefit them long term by having that support system, and parent. Not to mention that any mother who can stay at home with her children, and be Mom 24/7 deserves a medal.
Before I was a mother, and before I was a SAHM (because I worked part time when my oldest was 5-9 months old) I didn’t understand what it was like to be Mom all the time. No break, no work, no adult interaction for a couple days (besides my spouse) and honestly I think SAHM’s have it much harder, at least mentally.
I have really realized how stressful, and overwhelming being a SAHM of more than one child is in the past year since Benjamin was born, and my husband finally went back to work. It was amazingly helpful in the first 4 months of Benjamin’s life to have him around and helping me, especially after a second surgical birth, but we certainly needed to get back to life as we knew it before the lay-off heard ’round the world.
Moral of my story and point of my post today?
Stay at Home Mothers are not lazy women who sit around eating bon bons all day, and complaining about how wild their children are. At least in my house. We have daily activities, lessons, day trips, art projects, and anything else a child should, or would be doing in pre-school or at a daycare, on a more one on one level.
If more children were given this opportunity, I truly believe our society as a whole would benefit greatly.
Contrary to popular belief that patient choice cesarean sections are currently driving up the cesarean delivery rate, a study shows this not to be accurate. The 2005 Listening to Mothers survey followed 1,573 women over the period of one year observing their experience with childbirth. Recently on top of the very important Listening to Mothers Survey, Canada jumped on the bandwagon observing all delivered in British Columbia from 2004 to 2007.
“Only a small proportion of C-sections — two per cent — were performed because mothers requested them. The wide variation remained even after researchers accounted for medical conditions and maternal characteristics that could necessitate an assisted birth, such as smoking, weight gain, diabetes and high blood pressure.”
Now, while this survey may not have taken place in The United States, the birth patterns in Canada, especially British Columbia have been mirroring those of The United States for quite some time. While our cesarean birth rate is increasing annually, so has the number of c-sections taking place in Canada. While the options for VBAC have been decreasing in The United States, they have also began to decrease in Canada. It is almost as though first something happens in The United States, then the trend moves north and Canada starts.
“The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada says caesareans should be offered to a pregnant woman only if there is a valid medical reason to perform one.
“C-sections are meant to save lives,” said Hanley. “So if a baby’s heart rate drops suddenly, or the mother’s placenta is beginning to tear, or the baby is in an awkward position, then a C-section will likely be recommended.”
It is no secret that I believe exactly what TSOG in Canada believes. As it only makes sense. We should not be offering major surgery for no medical reason. What would happen in other aspects of medicine if we did this? People electing to have a kidney removed just because, or an arm amputated because they want to? It seems silly right? Of course no sane person would opt for such a serious major surgery right?
The cesarean section is not only the #1 operation in The United States, but it is greatly overused according to The World Health Organization, which increases health issues for women in the next 50 years of our Country.
“Caesareans and subsequent pregnancies could have severe repercussions for the mother: bleeding or infection from the incision, cardiac arrest, postpartum depression, and a higher chance of needing a hysterectomy, a surgical removal of the uterus.”
Moral of the story today? Women are not driving the c-section rates up like many professionals in The United States are insisting is the cause for the increase of surgical deliveries. It is the medical model of care surrounding birth and obstetrics, the lack of birth options for women, and the amount of hospitals that ban VBAC all over The United States and Canada!
There are a lot of great things to come in the next couple months. I am working on a group of series that are going to be super entertaining for all of my readers!
First thing I am most excited about is Getting Back In Shape after Baby series. In the next coming months I am going to get serious about my pre-baby body and lose all the weight I have been complaining about since I had my oldest. I will be working out at the gym, and taking some sessions with a personal trainer and discussing it openly through my blog.
Second thing, I am heading to the 2010 BlogHer Conference in New York City through my own personal blog Momotics. I have been lucky enough to score the company Lamaze as a sponsor, to read more about that, you can check out : Announcing my BlogHer Sponsor
Third, I am going to be keeping up to date on the local happenings that are kid friendly for the summer time. From Parades, to fireworks, and everything else that comes together with the summer time including the Zoo!
In the first hours after your baby is born, skin to skin contact, and keeping the mother with the baby at all times is something hospitals, and parents should be practicing everywhere. Unfortunately it is not as common as it should be, especially in U.S. hospitals.
I have been using a lot of the Mothers Advocate videos lately, and I wanted to share another on this healthy birth practice which fits into the 6 healthy birth practices of Lamaze. I think a blog post with a short video, or picture is always more appealing to readers, right? Haha!
But why is it so important that we keep our babies with us and have skin to skin contact with our newborns in the first hours after birth? In the first hours and moments after a baby is born, they are going through an amazing transition into a whole new world. From the safety and space of your womb to a big new world with bright lights, noises, and new people.
Some of the new activities your babies is learning is how to breathe air, suck, swallow, and regulate their own temperature outside of the womb. Doesn’t sound like it is a lot for them to do, but it is. As mothers we should want to make this transition for our babies as easy as possible.
So what are the benefits of having skin to skin contact after a baby is born?
Babies who have the skin to skin contact cry less
Have more stable temperatures
Have more stable blood sugars (which the lack of skin to skin contact with my second son, because of my cesarean made a change in his blood sugar which resulted in a 30 hour NICU stay.
These babies breastfeed sooner, longer, and much more easily.
The babies are being exposed to normal bacterias on the mother, which can protect them from getting sick from unhealthy, or other types of bacteria, especially if birthing in a hospital.
And they have lower levels of stress hormones.
These are all big plus’s for mothers right?
But what about my sleep? Why can’t I just send the baby to the nursery for the night and rest up till I get home, then I can do this whole skin to skin thing right?
Wrong! Studies show that mothers who give birth in a hospital and have their babies room in, get just as much sleep as those mothers who are sending their babies off to the nursery for the night. These same studies have shown the babies who went to the nursery often have more issues breastfeeding, making the breastfeeding relationship between mother and baby much more difficult.
But what if my hospital doesn’t allow this?
If your hospital cannot bend to accommodate a mothers wishes, especially something as simple as skin to skin contact after birth, or postponing most newborn evaluations, look for a new hospital that is more mother and baby friendly. It is never too late to change the birth venue.
There has been a lot of discussion lately about woman’s feelings post cesarean here. Lots of healthy baby comments, and other women simply not having an understanding of the feelings some women go through after having a cesarean section. With my post today, I wanted to talk about Post Cesarean Feelings, the recent survey, websites that deal with this, and other information.
My first son was born via an unnecessary c-section that left me feeling exactly like the picture above, provided by Hathor the Cow Goddess, and her amazing website. It wasn’t needed, I didn’t get to be with or interact with my son immediately, once they finally brought him to me, I was told he would have to stay in the nursery for the night because they were not “allowed” to leave him with me because he was a c-section baby, and because I was having narcotics for pain management (morphine pump for the short time after birth) and also because I was unable, and not allowed to get out of bed, so I clearly couldn’t take care of him.
I am not the only mother out there who didn’t like their experience or wish to repeat it over and over again for every child they have.
Some of the amazing organizations and websites out there that help women with their experiences after the fact include :
Birth Cut - Birth Cut is a website open to women who have had cesareans to heal through telling their story, art, and various other types of methods. The owner of the site, Michele is a Connecticut native who had one cesarean birth, and a VBAC in April of 2009.
The International Cesarean Awareness Network – Also known as ICAN, they are a support group for women who have had c-section births, and also provide education and information on vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) and work on the advocacy related to VBAC and National VBAC bans. There are chapters all over the country, as well as right here in Connecticut.
Solace for Mothers – Solace for Mothers is an organization designed for the sole purpose of providing and creating support for women who have experienced childbirth as traumatic. Birth trauma is real and can result from an even seemingly “normal” birth experience. (Taken from their website)
Supporting women after a bad experience is what we should be doing as women, not putting them down, or casting judgment because we do not agree with the way that we feel. There are so many women out there who have had bad experiences but are afraid to discuss them because of the judgment, and comments that will not only hurt, but further victimize their experience.
In reality, unless you have been there yourself, the right to comment on these situations ultimately is not yours. Ignorance on the subject can hurt these women.
