What We Take for Granted

Today was an emotional day.  A friend of mine was in labor with her third baby and was planning a beautiful home birth.  Her husband called me shortly after 4 am and I was excited to hear that a few days past her due date, she was finally in labor.  I spent the entire day with her, watching her labor and then try to push her baby out for just over six hours.  When things were not progressing and she was so tired and in so much pain that she couldn't function anymore, she transferred to the hospital for a cesarean section.  Her third one.

I know I am not the expert on how she feels because I have not been in her shoes-- I have not travelled that road.  I had three natural home births...but really, I was closer to being there than most people realize.

When I was in labor with Kyle, the labor that lasted 51 hours...I would have likely been given a cesarean section had I been under the care of a doctor instead of a midwife.  Even more likely, I would have had my long and slow labor augmented with pitocin or other induction medications. Medications that could have caused problems because, later we found out, Kyle had the umbilical cord around his neck five times.  Either of these things would have been devastating to me-- but I didn't end up in that place because I was under the care of a midwife...one who trusted in God, the design of our bodies, and the process of birth.  For that I am so thankful-- but as a childbirth educator, doula, doula trainer, and aspiring midwife (assistant/student for now), I see that most are not that lucky.

With a cesarean rate of approximately 32%, nearly one third of all women are not getting the chance they deserve to birth their babies themselves.  Instead, someone is "stealing their power" and pulling their baby out of their body through a surgical incision.  After a first doctor gave her an unnecessary cesarean section (because he was too impatient to wait-- there was no real medically indicated reason), my friend planned a home birth with a midwife.  After a couple of hours of pushing, the baby didn't drop past a certain point.  We later learned (when she transferred) that the baby was very tangled in her cord.  She accepted that fate and planned another home birth this time...and it again didn't go as planned. 

In a time when more women are suffering from post traumatic stress disorder from their birth experiences than soldiers coming home from Iraq are suffering from the same disorder...we are doing something wrong.  Why is this happening?  Is it providers?  The legal climate?  Insurance?  A combination of all of these?  Our system is in need of some help for sure.

So, if you- like me, take your birth experiences for granted-- and got what you had planned...be thankful.  And, I will continue to get up at 4 am to assist with making birth experiences the most positive ones I can.

Comments

[Toni]

Well, you know Sylvia's birth was less than ideal (thankfully no c/s), but I thank you for giving me the education and confidence I needed to negotiate when I needed to. And like in your friends case, I am glad there are interventions that can be utilized when they are truly needed. Keep the faith! You are changing things one birth at a time and making a difference in many lives :)