A video of a woman’s journey to VBAC.
15 Dec
Update
Wow it’s been a really long time since I’ve posted here. So sorry for lack of postings. I haven’t really been focusing on my doula work lately. I’ve started caring for my best friends baby during the day, and my husband has a new job delivering newpapers in the early morning hours, so I haven’t been doing any births.
If you or anyone you know needs a doula or is interested in hiring a doula, please let me know. I can get you in contact with other doulas or midwives to help you find one.
28 Jun
The Birth Survey
I ran across this site today. You can go here and take a survey about your birth You can also get information on local midwives, doctors, and birthing facilities.
I also found this brochure. It lists 10 questions you should ask your care provider/birthing facility to find out if it’s mother friendly.
10 Mar
Patience is a Virtue…
I’ve been thinking a lot about labor induction. It almost seems that everyone is being induced these days. With this in mind I wanted to post the risks of induction with pitocin.
Risks for Mother
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Mothers using Pitocin frequently report increased pain with contractions. Most mothers using Pitocin also use pain medication to handle the increased pain.
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Pitocin use requires continuous monitoring to detect complications and/or progress which interferes with mobility.
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Pitocin use requires an IV for administration.
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Pitocin use can cause long contractions and contractions with double peaks.
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Pitocin use slightly increases the possibility of a uterine rupture.
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Pitocin use increases the likelihood of a fetal malpresentation or malposition.
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Pitocin use is associated with an increased need for cesarean surgery for distocia and fetal distress.
Risks for Baby
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Pitocin use increases the likelihood of depressed fetal heart rate patterns.
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Pitocin use increases the chances of Fetal Distress due to decreased oxygen availability.
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There are increased risks to your baby if you have a cesarean surgery.
I also ran across this article. It lists a few more risks to pitocin use. Here is a portion that I found particularly interesting.
It is interesting to note that the national autism rate is 1 person per 100-200 persons. However, in a study of 15,000 babies delivered naturally by midwives, not one of those babies was found to develop autism in childhood. Note: See http://www.autismtoday.com/articles/ATTN_Researchers.htm for more information. Another interesting aspect of this discussion is that autism rates have soared over the last 20 years- the same length of time in which pitocin use has dramatically increased.
Bottom line…BE PATIENT! The risks just aren’t worth it!
