Report from Our Bodies, Ourselves co-author booksigning in Albuquerque...

I had the privilege of hearing Judy Norsigian speak last night at Bookworks about the newest book from the Boston Women's Health Collective, Our Bodies, Ourselves: Pregnancy and Birth. It was wonderful to hear someone who really gets it and is right on the political frontlines of birth in America speak about how limited women's choices are really becoming and the crises we are facing. I found it very compelling that she has observed far more fear surrounding pregnancy and birth than there even was 5 or 6 years ago. To counteract the negative messages women are hearing from each other and the media, the book focuses on giving women the confidence they need to reclaim this feminine rite of passage with an emphasis on evidence based practice. And obviously, this leads to the midwifery model of care. Birth centers are closing left and right, obstetricians are denying certified nurse midwives the right to practice in certain hospitals because of perceived "turf wars" and the well-being of women and babies is left on the sidelines in highly charged, financially fueled debate in the medical community.

I bought the book and can't wait to read it. Because of hearing Judy speak, I am now motivated to do the following. And don't worry, I will share my progress with our loyal blog-readers.

• Write letters to St. Joseph's hospital in Santa Fe and start a letter-writing campaign if there isn't one going already to fight the ban on midwives there. St. Joseph's is the only hospital in Santa Fe, so although New Mexico has a long, proud tradition of midwifery care with some of the best birth outcomes in the country, women of Santa Fe are forced into choosing homebirth if they want access to midwifery care. Find out what the story is in your area, and do the same! I'll be pressuring Elizabeth to write similar letters to the hospitals of Austin who also deny women the choice of midwifery care.


• Read the chapter about nitrous oxide used for pain relief in Our Bodies, Ourselves:Pregnancy and Birth and get educated about this topic. I've heard things about this in passing when reading British writer Sheila Kitzinger's book, but I hadn't realized the real issues behind it. There have been no studies showing any risk to mother or baby when nitrous oxide is used during labor, and yet women of the U.S. have zero access to this less invasive pain relief option. Why? No anesthesiologists necessary. Birth choices have GOT to stop being limited in this country based on profit! The well-being of mothers and babies should not be sacrified in the name of money. You can start here and here to learn more.


• Learn more about healthcare reform options. Judy strongly favors a single-payer system and in fact feels that no major strides of progress will be made for childbirth in America until such a system comes about. And in fact, all the Western countries who have more midwifery care and thus better outcomes for mothers and babies across the board than the U.S., have a single payer system. She recommends reading A Second Opinion by Dr. Arnold Relman and passing it along to any physician you know who will read it, because the pressure for change needs to come from doctors. This will certainly be making my goodreads list.
• Let everyone I know (that means you!) that Our Bodies, Our Blog accepts material from any and all writers about current issues in women's health policy and that they just might link to your article. I'm really hoping eventually we can earn a coveted spot on their list of linked blogs!
  

The VBAC debate was also discussed in the context of women being more and more frequently denied even the opportunity to choose whether to have a VBAC or not because of VBAC bans in hospitals, as well as the need for more celebrity homebirthers! The talk was really insightful and informative and I would encourage anyone who has the opportunity to go see her while she is on the book tour.

Go Minnie!

According to this article, Minnie Driver is planning a home water birth when her baby arrives. Water is awesome for labor and birth -- it's an effective, natural pain reliever and being semi-weightless helps the mom change positions with ease.

I suppose we have to address Christina Aguilera

This week, Christina Aguilera told Hello! magazine that she scheduled an elective Cesarean section out of fear of vaginal birth because she'd "heard horror stories about tearing."

Rather than addressing what I consider an impertinent debate that rages on about the validity of a women's "choice" to have an elective Cesarean, I'd like to talk about what's really important here.

Such discussions are inappropriate and useless until we start talking about the fact that little girls in this country are growing up in a culture so rife with fear of normal birth that women are choosing abdominal surgery with all of its attendant risks, a five fold increase in the risk of respiratory distress syndrome for their babies, and a higher risk of placenta accreta in later pregnancies which can result in prematurity, severe hemorrhage and hysterectomy.

Until we are working to change this culture of fear, we are not giving women choices in childbirth. We cannot judge women like Christina Aguilera until we implicate society's contribution to driving choices such as these.

By the way...there are much less invasive ways of avoiding tearing during vaginal birth. Some of the main ones include: choosing a midwife for your care provider, avoiding epidural anesthesia so you have control over your pelvic floor, NOT giving birth on your back but choosing your own comfortable, upright position, and asking your midwife to provide hot compresses on the perineum as the baby is crowning. If you do tear even with these efforts, rest assured that most tears heal far more quickly than Cesarean incisions and become infected way less frequently. With appropriate suturing and care, tearing should not cause any long term issues, which is more than can be said for an elective Cesarean.

Dear ACOG,

(I'm going to have to post my response to ACOG's latest statement on homebirths in several parts, because there's just so much to say. My first will be in letter format, thanking ACOG for all the good works they do.)

I am writing to thank you for your news release providing a statement on homebirths. Your honesty and complete willingness to come out and make a public assault on women's rights is refreshing. Most organizations who conduct business that undermines women do so quietly and with subtlety, whereas you put your complete inability to trust that women might actually know what's best for their body and their baby right out in the open. Bravo!

I'd also like to thank you for clearing up some misconceptions I've clearly had about the reason for the skyrocketing Cesarean rate. I thought maybe it was because most breech babies are now born by Cesarean because your members no longer have the skills necessary to assist a vaginal breech delivery, or because at least 300 hospitals in the U.S. have banned VBACs, and women who have had previous Cesarean deliveries are often being forced into another one. Or gosh, even maybe due to the fact that the vast majority of labors in the country are being either induced or augmented with Pitocin requiring continuous fetal monitoring which is notorious for raising the odds of a surgical delivery. But thanks to your statement, that the Cesarean rate is due to the "rising tide of high-risk pregnancies due to maternal age, overweight, obesity and diabetes", I now realize women are being surgically delivered because we're just too fat and old to do it the old fashioned way!

Thank you also for realizing that women are so brainless and negligent for their welfare and that of their baby that they will choose homebirth because it is "trendy". To me it appears the epidural seems to be more "fashionable" since 80% of women now opt for such pain relief while less than 1% of women are choosing homebirth, but I'm so glad you cleared up that silly theory! I'm sure you're equally concerned about women choosing elective Cesareans because of Britney Spears and Posh Spice. You know, especially since babies born via planned repeat Cesarean have a 4 times greater risk of respiratory distress. Especially since even women having their first Cesarean double their chances of having a peripartum hysterectomy, while women on their second or third have an 18 times greater risk. But I'm sure you're on top of that, and what can you do if women are just choosing to have them, right? And it's not like you can just make your OB's perform VBACs, right?

I'm glad you've clarified your position on Birth Plans. I'm sure now your members will start taking them seriously. Because you know, before this statement, a lot of OB's were reacting to Birth Plans with reactions from ridicule to outright rage. I'm sure the news will also trickle down to those OB's who pressure hospital childbirth educators not to teach pregnant couples about Birth Plans.

Lastly, I want to thank you for being so clear and open on just how important you think "the birth process" is. Selfish is the woman who dares not to let the birth process unfold just how her OB actively manages it. Ignorant is the woman who expects something out of it besides a scar and a healthy baby. The homebirth movement must include all the women who don't have that incredibly powerful instinct to protect their unborn baby the second they find out they are pregnant.

Thank you, ACOG, for exposing yourself and women for what they are. I hope you can continue to undermine women's rights in an open forum, because trust me, more women need to realize what ACOG is all about.

Fondly,
Amie

Celebrity Homebirth

The wife of John McGinley, one of the actors from Scrubs, just gave birth to their baby girl at home. It's nice that the coverage of the happy news has been matter-of-fact and positive. In a celebrity-obsessed culture, we need some good folks like this to balance out the scheduled c-sections.

While waiting for a haircut appointment a few years ago, I came across an article written by Thandie Newton about her wonderful home birth in the Oprah magazine. I can't find the full text online, but here's a snippet:

"It just seemed obvious: I didn't want the conventional picture of a woman on her back with doctors urging her to push. In fact, I didn't want my experience to be controlled by anyone other than me... I knew I needed to be in a place that I identified with trust and safety, and in my home I could be whatever I wanted to be, whenever I wanted... [W]ith a healthy pregnancy, I knew who the expert was: me."

Who else is birthing at home? Can they make this the latest cool thing to do? Dior birth tubs, anyone?