VBACs are great, but maybe not for everyone

Writing on the Babble blog Being Pregnant, Danielle Elwood notes that, despite the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ recent guideline changes encouraging doctors to support women who want to try for a vaginal birth after having had a C-section (VBAC), in many areas of the country, women still have difficulty finding a doctor or hospital willing to support that choice.

“It got me thinking about this, when there are no other options, what happens to these women?,” Elwood writes. “Sadly the answer is pretty cut and dry. They are forced to undergo a cesarean section again, when it is not medically necessary, or even wanted in the cases of the mother. Sounds like a human rights violation considering this is not something they wish to take part in.”

Elwood, rightly, worries about the safety of these women who, bereft of options, sometimes take matters into their own hands, “like a woman I spoke to earlier in the year who planned to have an unassisted birth at home, because her local hospitals had banned VBAC, and it was illegal for a midwife to attend her delivery in her state because of outdated birthing laws.”

Elwood writes that the lack of choices these women face – and possible consequences – makes her angry. It makes me angry, too. I wholeheartedly agree that every woman who is giving birth should have access to the full panoply of choices available to her, and be able to weigh the benefits and demerits of each and make her own decision.

But as a woman who very deliberately chose to have a second C-section after having tumbled down a complication-strewn slope (low amniotic fluid led to induction led to an “idiosyncratic response,” which led to … you don’t want to know) into the first one, I also worry a little bit about a backlash brewing for women who don’t choose to attempt VBACs. Continue reading »

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In the olden days (say, anytime before 1970), dads-to-be weren’t allowed in the delivery room. Instead, they had to bide their time in the waiting room before they could break out the cigars. Think of Ricky Ricardo and other sitcom dads pacing in the waiting room as their wives did the hard work off-screen.

But times have changed and nowadays, most fathers I know would never agree to miss out on the big event.

I certainly wasn’t planning on going through labor without my husband by my side. After all, it wasn’t just my baby I was having. It was ours and I wanted him to be part of the experience. But I was admittedly, a bit nervous that he would be grossed out by the actual event.

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How  a child his born into this world can influence the types and mix of bacteria in the intestines. The type of mix, in turn, determines the person’s risk for developing celiac and Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

German researchers wondered if children who developed these diseases had a higher rate of c-section birth. As it turns out, children who had been diagnosed with celiac — a disease in which eating gluten triggers the body’s immune system to attack and damage the small intestines — were significantly more likely to have been born via c-section.

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Almost one-third of all US births are by Cesarean section, the highest rate ever. Doctors are expressing concern about why this is happening, and some researchers are studying techniques that could help lower the rate of c-section births.

C-sections are one of those topics that can get people scrambling to their battle sections in seconds, so the balanced, well-researched tone of this excellent Detroit Free Press article is very welcome. Reporter Patricia Anstett lays out the reasons doctors believe C-section rates are climbing, Continue reading »

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An Arizona mother who compared her hospital’s policy of not allowing VBACs to rape has come up with a solution to her dilemma:  She’s moving 350 miles away to have her baby.

Joy Szabo (who infuriated Strollerderby’s commenters with her choice of words) can’t convince Page Hospital to let her deliver her fourth child vaginally because she’s had a prior c-section.  Her third child was delivered vaginally in their hospital, but administrators have since changed their policy and refuse to budge. Continue reading »

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