Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Reflections on Birth...

I've been doing a lot of self reflection lately about the births I've attended and how things went, and I've been asking myself, how could I have helped more...

I absolutely love helping moms! I LOVE being a part of this special process of birth, when that sweet new little baby comes into the world! It is a sweet and tender moment. I try my best to help the moms and families to have good memories of that time. Women will remember their births for the rest of their lives. I want to help it to be a positive experience for them.

Research on doula's shows that even if things don't go the way that moms hoped it to go exactly; even if they end up needing surgery, for example... if they have had some part in the decisions made during their labor and births, they feel much more positive about their experience.

A large part of what I try to do as a doula is to help the mom/parents is to encourage them to educate themselves on the choices that they have available for them during their labor and births. Sometimes moms don't know what some of the things available to them for their labor and birth are, or that they can request not to have some 'routine' things done. And for them to decide what they really want their birth to be like, (or hope it will be like) and then to work on getting that.

One of the ways they can do this is to do their research. Ask for opinions from others on what their experiences have been. Find people who are involved in birth and ask their opinions. Ask their Doctor and Hospitals what their induction rate is, and what their Cesarean Section rates are. Call the hospital and ask the Labor and Delivery Nurses what Dr's they would suggest who work best with moms that want the same things that they do.

I have heard it said that most parents do more research on what car or stereo equipment they want to buy than they do on what they want for their births. The sad thing about this is that, their birth experience can literally have lasting effects on their health and their whole future lives. I have heard people say that they aren't sure what to expect the first time, or they feel committed to their care provider, so they just want to go along with whatever, and perhaps NEXT time they will make some different choices.

What is potentially wrong with this type of thinking is that they might NOT have those choices available to them the next time. For example: if the Doctor or Hospital you are using happens to have an alarmingly high C-section rate, the chances of you having a surgical delivery is very high. The old rule of "once a c-section, always a c-section" does not apply like it once did, but there are more and more restrictions being placed on a mom who wants to try for a Vaginal Birth After a Cesarean (VBAC). There are whole towns and areas of the country that are no longer offering them. I've had a woman who drove two hours away from her home - bypassing several other hospitals, becuase they do NOT allow VBAC's at those hospitals any longer- just to get the chance to try for a VBAC.
Even in hospitals or areas where the will 'allow' a VBAC, some Dr's are not comfortable with them and are no longer willing to allow their patients to have a VBAC. I heard of one mother who had already had a successful VBAC of her second child, was pregnant with her third baby and then moved to a new area, where her new Dr. suggested to her that the hospital was going to ban VBAC's and so by the time she was ready to deliver her next baby she might not be allowed to plan for or ever even try for a VBAC, it would be an automatic C-section. How horribly sad for a mom, to have to go through major abdominal surgery for no other reason than the hospital or Dr. won't allow her to have a regular delivery.

I have more to say on this, but for now this seems like a lot, so I'll add more later...
For the most part, do your homework. Know what you are looking for, and do your best to find it.

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