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02 April 2010

It's Cessearian Awareness Month

Didja know that? I didn't. But then I went and browsed around on some of those birth blogs I enjoy reading, and I found out. In the process of following a few links, I found this entertaining - and thought provoking - post. Here are some of my favorite bits:

VBAC, people, is a normal birth. It just happens to be performed by a woman who has previously had a cesarean! There are some very good reasons why a repeat cesarean may need to be *performed* in specific cases but overall, nobody but MOM needs to DO anything when VBAC time comes around, other than offer actual, factual support. The reality is that if a doctor is saying “I don’t do VBAC’s” what he’s actually saying is “I refuse not to meddle with your birth and I AM going to cut you”. We need to get away from this idea that vaginal birth is a procedural option. Vaginal birth is what happens when you don’t DO anything! It’s the natural conclusion of pregnancy! It’s kind of like a doctor telling a patient that he doesn’t DO bowel movements! Come on! And since when are mothers children that need permission to do something that is an inevitable given? Pregnant women give birth. It makes zero sense to me to suggest that you can’t “allow” a woman to do something she cannot help doing. ...

You’re telling me that it’s not
safe for 32% of this nation’s women to give birth? Something’s not adding up here! Wait…adding up, adding up…what adds up exponentially when 1/3 of the nation’s women undergo surgery instead of giving birth?! *gasp* Money! ...

2 comments:

Keeley said...

Did you have a C-section with Monkey, Ritsumei? If so, I'm presuming you're planning a VBAC, thus the post? =)

I had no idea it was Cesarean Awareness Month.

Ritsumei said...

Nah, I had a normal-in-every-way unmedicated birth. I'm planning another one like it, God will an' the body able. I just like all things birthing, and the C-section rate is crazy. It's just nuts that we have a 1-in-3 rate of surgical deliveries. And the lady is right: it's nuts that VBAC is so unavailable. One of the reasons that I didn't want drugs with Monkey was that the more you let them do, the more likely it is that you'll get a C-section, and I don't want to. I don't want to have to deal with the VBAC drama. And I most certainly don't want to be awake, should I ever need to do a surgical birth! YIKES. Don't cut me while I'm able to hold a conversation with you! That just freaks me out. I personally find epidurals and C-sections much scarier than unmedicated birth, though I know that I'm in the minority feeling that way.

But mostly it's just interesting. I was briefly apprenticed to a midwife in highschool, and I find all things birth just fascinating. I'm seriously considering a midwifery textbook for my pregnancy reading this time, though if I'm going to do that, I'd better hurry up and get it done -the pregnancy is 1/2 over already!

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