Talk Birth

The induction rate in our country has gone way up. It has nearly doubled since 1990 (when only 1 in 10 women were getting their labors induced). In 2006, that rate went up to 1 in 5 labors being induced! Call me a skeptic, but it seems highly unlikely that in 16 years time, a woman suddenly became incapable of going into labor on her own, or of having a baby without any type of labor augmentation. In a world of instant gratification, fast food, “time is money”, and all of our modern conveniences, we are seeing this same “McDonaldization” when it comes to birth. Medical practitioners are putting stricter time limits and numbers on everything related to pregnancy and birth (such as due dates, length of labor, etc.), usually out of convenience for themselves, fear of being sued, or hospital/medical practice “protocol”. There are also many mothers who are eager to go in for an induction because they are so uncomfortable at the end of their pregnancy, or they want to plan around a specific date. Unfortunately, this is putting women and babies at great risk for short and long-term complications–perhaps just being uncomfortable for an extra week or two until the baby is ready to come on its own could prevent many of these issues. continue reading »

All mothers need to make their own birthing choices. Unless there is a case of an obvious emergency, the mother should be the one fully in charge of her birth. Sometimes this means the request for an epidural. With cases of really long labors, or a mother who may on a rare occasion go into panic from labor contractions, this may be the best decision for the mother to make to be able to relax to have her baby. As with everything in birth, it is wise to educate yourself on all procedures so that when you come to make your decision, you are fully aware of all the pros and cons. Epidurals are not always safe. Any medication in life has risks. Epidurals included. And there are risks not only to the mother, but to the baby as well. I did not write this particular article, but since talkbirth is meant to inform and educate women and families about the truth, I wanted to include it in here. It is not meant to judge women for their decision, but rather to explain the possible risks involved in this particular medication. As always, informed consent is key. The article comes from the ICAN website.

Click here for full article on “Epidurals—Real Risks for Mother and Baby ”

Putting together a written birth plan is an important way to communicate with your care providers about the exact kind of birth you wish for.  If you are planning a hospital birth, you don’t want to be expending your energy while you are in labor fighting with the nurses because what you want might not be what they want.  They have some protocol that they generally follow as a part of their job, so they may want to do certain procedures as a sort of “default”, not always as a “necessity”.  You may or may not agree with some of this, so it is up to you to plan ahead!  Another great thing that comes out of putting a birth plan together—it requires you to do research!  With a higher level of informed consent, you will be more confident in your decisions.  So, where do you begin? continue reading »

Several studies have shown very promising, positive outcomes from births when a doula was present. Women tend to report a greater satisfaction with their birthing experience, labors are generally shorter, the birth usually has fewer complications, pitocin is less likely to be used, the need for pain meds/epidurals is lowered, the incidence of c-sections are reduced, lower rates of post-partum depression are reported, and the mother is more likely to breastfeed.  With results like these, shouldn’t everyone hire a doula? continue reading »

When you plan a vacation, you do all of the research on the best hotels, dining, attractions, etc.  When you set out to buy a new car, you want to know the details like gas mileage, safety, and all of the possible options the car may include.  What about when you become pregnant?  No one wants to hurt their bodies or their babies, and we all wish for the safest birth of a healthy newborn. Yet, many women are still subjecting themselves to unnecessary medical procedures that may actually be hurting their bodies, their birth, their babies. continue reading »