Article and Kind Birth Editorial: A doctor shares her experience as a patient

Click through here to read an article, then please return for a Kind Birth editorial response. A Doctor shares her experience, "I didn't realize the pressure to have a C-Section until I was about to deliver"

Although I have had many experiences lately that absolutely reflect our local hospitals interest in reducing their rates of cesarean section, it is clearly not the time to let up in our movement to educate and advocate for ourselves in the hospital environment.  I have always told my clients that there are wonderful, progressive, doctors out there who do not live and breathe hospital policy/procedure.  There are nurses who are supportive of having a low-no intervention birth so long as it is healthy.

But there are others.
Sometimes even within the same practice, with a likelihood of being on call.
Sometimes relieving your nurse for a lunch break or shift change.

You can't just go in with blind faith.

Perhaps you are planning an out of hospital birth so you don't have to deal with all this.  Unfortunately we can not guarantee that there will not be a transport for an emergent, or non-emergent reason.  Some of the best birth centers I've had the pleasure of working in, transport roughly 10% of the time. Sometimes it's patient choice, mostly driven by a precaution, almost never an emergency.
Perhaps you are seeing midwives in the hospital in an attempt to walk the line, but obstetricians get called in to offer opinions regularly and can easily step in if "it is in the best interest of you or baby"...which is unfortunately rather subjective, and certainly could be driven by an agenda.

In my curriculum, Expecting Kindness, which can be found here at http://www.expectingkindness.com as well as in my classes, see class schedule here --->
I have worked hard to prepare families for the uncomplicated, healthy, birth process, which is the most likely outcome!  Additionally, I have included a healthy dose of skepticism and provided a road map to help you navigate the hospital environment, whether you have chosen to birth there, or have been transported for some reason.  Even if there is a need for SOME degree of intervention, that doesn't mean we have to just roll over and give all our power to the money machine.  I can't tell you how many births I've attended, or had my students report back to me, in which there had to be some concession, but didn't require massive intervention.

Two of my most recently attended births were transports, one from home and one from a birth center, and neither required much intervention at all.  One was just geography, the other involved a baby bit of pitocin and a delivery within an hour.  The doc even admitted that the pitocin was likely an irrelevant factor, baby had (finally) moved down and the pressure was bringing more contractions.

This concept, challenging "authority", also known as learning to provide informed consent, will be a very important skill to master as you raise your family. From newborns into infancy, infants to toddlerhood, your toddler through childhood, and child(ren) through adolescence and even into adulthood.  You will use this skill to take care of yourself, your child(ren), your parents, siblings, friends, etc.  You will need to challenge a wide variety of healthcare providers to prove to you that the course of action they are prescribing is in the best interest of the HUMAN BEING, and not the BOTTOM LINE.  You will need to verify that the prescribed course of action has been thoughtful and thoroughly evaluated, not just protocol or habit.

Pregnancy and birth can be a wonderful opportunity to start your parenting career in a way that raises the bar for your contracted health care professionals and empowers you to challenge, command respect, and place great value in your role of protector and primary CARE giver.

Planning a birth in the Pacific Northwest?  Come see me!  We have a lot of fun in my classroom learning about all this, activities and birth stories, labor support practice and open discussion are the cornerstone of my course. Combined with the published workbook, it's a fun, interactive and very informative course.

Not local?  Purchase Expecting Kindness via the website above to use the curriculum in the privacy of your home. (Don't take my word for it, browse reviews) or through amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Expecting-Kindness-Kristin-Dibeh/dp/1939275040