Childbirth Links

Temperature variation in newborn babies: importanc... [Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2005] - PubMed resultMom's make thebest incubators.

Case-control study of prenatal ultrasonography exposure in children with delayed speech.

Interesting. Especially when I consider that my four earliest talkers were my four that had no sonograms. My older ones (who had at least one sono each) all talked towards the end of the "normal" range. I only had one that worried me and as soon as he realized that I was actually supposed to understand him, he improved greatly (though in thinking back, he was the only one who had a sono in the last month before birth. He also had three total while two of my other sono babies only had one each. My my fourth had four sonos due to a case of chickenpox.)

Very interesting.

Hold that hat! Gloria Lemay

The Midwife's Desk: Special Delivery 2; Homebirth after a Cesarean
Beautiful!

Birth belongs to women, not doctors

Doctors in France were asked to estimate the risk of a uterine ruptur in a mom who has had two c-section. They guessed 14%. The real risk? 1.36%! Odds are good if you are a VBAC, Breech, or Obese Pregnancy, your doctor is overestimating the risks of natural birth and underestimating the risks of repeat c-sections.

The Fat Vagina Theory: "Soft Tissue Dystocia" (Uhhh, not to be too crude, but if this theory was true, wouldn't men be activly seeking out fat women to have sex with them?)

The Myth of a Vaginal Exam

Think about It


In the late 1800s, physicians’ guilds and associations in Western Europe and North America resolved to drive midwives from the profession, both to protect the economic viability of their own practices and to subject the large groups of lower socio-economic patients normally served by midwives to medical research and testing.(2) Many midwives defied the authority of these doctors and suffered the consequences—unemployment, mockery and even imprisonment.

Today, midwives continue to practice civil disobedience by working in areas where laws have not been passed to differentiate midwifery from the practice of medicine. Midwives are arrested annually, usually not because of a complaint from clients or negligence, but simply because it comes to the attention of the medical community that midwives are practicing without medical training and approval.(3) Even though convictions are rare, the expense and scandal these charges cause can ruin a midwife’s reputation in a community she’s been serving for years. -Midwifery today

“Every woman has the right to be treated with reverence and respect during the birth process, including pregnancy and beyond"

A step in the right direction

If nothing else, read the first nine paragraphs. You will begin to see what the problem is.

"Absolute power courrputs absolutly." -Thomas Jefferson

"He wasn't talking about electrical power." -Uncle Eric

Collateral Damage: A Patient’s Experience of Defensive Medicine - The Unnecesarean -

A lightbulb went off when I was reading this. We birth advocates have been trying to help women by teaching them about birth, which is very good and necessary. But what we should really focus on in our childbirth classes is The Law! We should clearly cover a patients RIGHT it Informed Consent (Which means, by the way, the right to informed rufusal.) We can inform them in our classes, but consent or refusal must happen at the hospital. A patient must now their rights inorder to use them!

http://orgasmicbirth.com/

Childbirth: Purposely Breaking Water Does Not Speed Delivery - New York Times

Iatrogenic Fetal Injury: How often are babies cut during a c-section? - The Unnecesarean -

What Feminists Should Know About Birth Rape «

The Well-Rounded Mama: Third Annual Turkey Awards: Jumping To Conclusions

I've posted this before, but it's worth repeating. “Pit to Distress”: A Disturbing Reality « Nursing Birth

Beautiful story! Vicki delivers baby at 37,000 feet

A Senseless Death
Where is the Outrage?! Why isn't this on EVERY news station in the world!? Why are we still KILLING women unneccearialy?!

This woman did not have to die. Breeches are possible naturally (ask me how I know!) VBACs are Possible. Cesarrian should only be used in extreme emergancies!

I can't rant enough about how horrible this is. Men adn technology controling what belongs to God's nature. GRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!
A Senseless Death


A Senseless Death | BIRTH SENSE

The Well-Rounded Mama wieght is not a determiner of fitness nor of the ability to birth naturally.

Alternative birthing centers reduce drug use, promote more natural births

5 Hospital Procedures That Ruin Your Birth The Stir

Holding your baby may save his life.
I even heard of a grandpa giving kangaroo care. He was an MD. Dad was unavailable and they had an emergancy c-section. Grandpa held his grandbaby on his bare chest until she stabalized.

"A ritual is a patterned, repetitive, and symbolic enactment of a cultural belief or value; its primary purpose is alignment of the belief system of the individual with that of society. A rite of passage is a series of rituals that move individuals from one social state or status to another as, for example, from girlhood to womanhood, boyhood to manhood, or from the womb to the world of culture. Rites of passage transform both society’s perception of individuals and individuals’s perceptions of themselves." Yep. That's American childbirth.

“Well, That Will Teach You Not To Have Another One Any Time Soon!” - My OB said WHAT?!?


Said to a 16yo while doing an episiotomy (making a cut to make the birth canal bigger) without pain medication. This is cruel torture! This doctor should have been put in prison for doing this to a young woman. He would have been under any other circumstances but for some reason it's OK to be mean when the victim is in labor! When will we treat mommies with the same respect we give other humans?

Wanna' be smarter? Have a baby.

This is what birth should be like.

Why labor is good for babies

Don't cut that cord right away.



Reducing Infant Mortality from Debby Takikawa on Vimeo.

VBAC facts

A logical annalysis of the OB unions position on homebirth

This and that from a blog I enjoy (birth)

Beautiful story! A mamma brings her child back to life.

Once again, I am not making up the attitude of many medical people concerning birth and mommies.

I want this kind of birth! Oh, wait. I did have this kind ... four times. Thank you Diane and Lenny Sue.
Safer Birth in a Barn? - by Beth Barbeau

questioning routine interventions for your newborn Very good advice.

The Dangers of Inducing Labor with Pitocin

Fetuses can hear ultrasound examinations

No one deserves to be abused, no matter how fat they are, especially during pregnancy. (Just in the interest of full disclosure, I am rather overweight myself and though I have not experienced this kind of abuse, I have been with my mother when she has. It is NOT right!)

Does Refusing a C-Section = Child Abuse?

A dad catches his own son.

Woman Who Didn't Have a Healthy Baby Reflects on the "Healthy Baby" Trope

Sick? Know your rights! Research! Get a second opinion! Pregnant? Just do as your told and don't think too much.

Quick facts about VBACS (Poet and didn't know it)

Could "personhood" open the door to courts forcing women to birth in the hospital and have c-sections against their will? There needs to be an equal clause stating that a woman is a parent from conception and has the right to choose the place and method of her child's birth as well as who attends her. A woman shouldn't loose her legitimate human rights just because she is pregnant (abortion is not a legitimate human right. All human rights are given by God. God never told women they could kill their babies. But He also never gave government the right to tell people how to parent or the right to force people to have surgery for the health of other people.)

In the US, 1/3 of babies will be born through the belly instead of the vagina as God designed. The World Health Organization says no country should have a higher percent than 15% and 5-10 is better, safer for moms and babies. C-sections are major surgery with all the potential risks and long term side-affects.
(CPD=cephalopelvic disproportion= baby's head is too big to fit through mom's pelvis. Excuse me, but the same God who made the baby made the mom. He doesn't make mistakes.)
(The Gaskin maneuver [flipping a mom to her hands and knees to unstick a stuck baby] was named after midwife Ina Mae Gaskin. This is the only OB maneuver named after a woman. There is just something wrong with there only being one child birthing maneuver named after a woman.)

My OB said What? Hilarious and scary at the same time. All true.

You may have heard of the soon-to-be-released study (done by the OB union of course) that says hospital births are safer. I haven't read the study (it hasn't been released yet) but according to those in the know, it relies heavely on a study done in the 70s that did not differentiate between accidental out of hospital births and planned out of hospital births. Hey guess what? When a taxi driver and a panicy father deliver your baby, accidents happen. Many Many studies of far better scientific quality have shown home birth to be AT LEAST as safe as the hospital (many show HB to be safer).

"All that matters is that you are healthy and have a healthy baby, not how the birth actually went."
"If I am healing from major abdominal sugury, have been bullied and lied to, my baby put in ICU when it could have been avoided causing him to never learn to nurse (denying him the only truely healthy food for babies), I AM NOT HEALTHY and NEITHER IS MY BABY!"

Just Say No to C-sections


Children With Disabilities: Perfect for Us: Part 1 Ouch, and so true.

Abortion and the 14th amendment. The author is right about the call for 14th amendment rights for the preborn. I have not read her "sample laws," but would like to add to what she does say in this article the phrase "No human being will be forced to undergo surgury for the life of another, thus preventing doctors and courts from forcing women to have c-sections against their will. There is no other area in life where one person is FORCED (whether physically or through coersion) to have surgury for another human being. ("Hey Mrs. Jones, we the police have come to take you to the hospital to give a kidney to your neighbor whether you want to or not." Ridiculus) I would also probably add a clause stating that abortion would be allowed if the continuation of the pregnancy would dirctly cause the physical death of the mom (as in the case of a tubal pregnancy). This is jsut self defence and it is allowable in all states and even the Bible to kill in self defense.

Does fat cause problems in pregnancy?

Birth rape http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/127116/birth_trauma_can_cause_women_to_develope.html?cat=52

Pregnancy: a few reflections


VBAC Facts » Umbilical cord around baby’s neck rarely causes complications

Too Many Women Dying in U.S. While Having Babies

A good article on the dangers of induction, especially in larger women.

Like, we all know that God forgot to tell the human body to go into labor and the doctor must force it to start. (Tongue firmly in cheek)

Only if she wants to kill her baby, according to many doctors.

An increasing number of women are disatisfied with the care given in hospitals, especially if they are wanting a natural birth after having had a c-section. They are writing birth plans (which are summarily ignored), and hireing dulas to protect their interests and help them handle labor naturally. You really shouldn't have to have a Masters degree in child birth and an armed guard to have a natural birth.

It seems some doctors disagree.

A doctor's birth plan.
This man is arragant and condecending. How in the world would HE know whether an induced labor hurts more than a natural one???? (I have had both. Induction hurts MORE.) Whateer happened to Informed CONSENT? This is more like Informed submit.

An interview with a doctor. He tells the truth behind VBAC bans.

Pit to Distress": Your Ticket to an "Emergency" Cesarean?
Now this is just plain evil!!!

I just herad a wonderful comment about women birthing in America. American women beg for epidurals in order to avoid ALL pain. They are terrified of the pain. These are that same women who regularly wear high heel, and use botox, plastic surgury, underwire bras, thong underware, and was removal of unwanted body hair! We beg for- even PAY- to be put through these torture devices, yet we can't take a few cramps???

Here is the story of a woman who was on her death bed… until her baby saved her life.
A real tear jerkerJ
http://www.pbv.thunder-bay.on.ca/NetSermons/Tuberculstr.html

The Well-Rounded Mama: Third Annual Turkey Awards: Jumping To Conclusions

My Life For Yours: A Mother’s Pondering About Her Body


Eight Reasons Our C-section Rate Is Too High


Failure to Wait

Scheduled Deliveries Raise Risks for Mothers, Do Not Benefit Newborns - News Room - University of Rochester Medical Center

VBAC Doesn't Make it All Better - The Unnecesarean -

How the OB Stole Normal Birth (apologies to Dr. Seuss)


Too Many Women Dying in U.S. While Having Babies

For my records

Cesarean Fact Sheet - Childbirth.org

New Study Finds Babies Cry in the Womb – "Even the Bottom Lip Quivers" - informationliberation

“The protocols in the world of animal husbandry to protect an offspring at the time of birth—no strangers, dimmed lights, freedom of movement, familiar environment, unlimited nourishment, respectful quiet, no disruptions—are done without hesitation because to do otherwise invites “unexplained distress” or sudden demise of the offspring.” — Beth Barbeau, Excerpted from "Safer Birth in a Barn?" Midwifery Today, Issue 83

Maybe we shuld have all women go to the barn instead of the hospital to birth. I'm only half kidding.


A birth video and a woman’s story of going from horrible hospital birth to home birth.
http://www.dosomethingbeautiful.com/ birth video/story




Ultrasound scans linked to brain damage in babies

Maternal Mortality in the United States: A Human Rights Failure

- Navelgazing Midwife Blog - Pointless Hospital "Rituals"

A Physician Responds to Claim about OB-GYN Education - The Unnecesarean -

Childbirth Without Choicehttp://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=56675655333&h=99Yup&u=OJTKS

What No one tells you about childbirth.
http://instinctualbirth.blogspot.com/2009/03/what-no-one-tells-you-about-birth-my.html