Breech Babies

My friend Jennifer, who is pregnant with her second child, emailed me a question today and I thought of you, my two blog readers! Do you have breech baby questions?

Here is Jennifer's question from yesterday.

How successful is it to attempt turning a breech baby? I ask because I had a friend whose baby was breech and so they just automatically scheduled a c section. I thought that was crazy to just let it go so easily. Is that common to not even attempt to turn the baby?!? But then another friend said hers was breech and they were able to turn her even in labor. She said she had an epidural and even with the epidural it was painful, but they did it successfully.

So can most babies be turned successfully? I wouldn't be ok with it if the doctor told me three weeks before due date to just schedule my c section. But, maybe that's why about 1/3 of babies are now c sections. And I'm sure there are cases where it's medically necessary, but surely not 1/3 of the time!

Here is my answer.

Hi Jennifer,  You ask good questions. I wonder if your friend who had a cesarean for breech baby wishes she would've asked questions? First read this, I think it may answer most of your questions.

What is the Evidence for using an External Cephalic Version to turn a Breech Baby?

There is a lot of discussion happening about how 'breech' is not abnormal but just another version of normal. There are a lot of midwifery work shops teaching how to deliver breech babies vaginally. It's a dying art that many are trying to keep alive. I have a couple of friends who attended the Heads Up Breech Conference last year. One of the most famous and famously loved OBGYN's who attends VBB (Vaginal Breech Birth) is Dr Stuart J. Fischbein!  Read about him at Birthing Instincts with Dr. Stu

God bless you! ~Rosie

Rosie Peterson Curtis, Doula
760-443-6471 cell 24/7

Doula Services & Testimonials

Another family's baby is due around our meeting time. If I am called to join a woman in labor I may need to reschedule my meeting with you. Thank you for being flexible.

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Note:This blog is straight from my email box and completely unedited. If I thought I was going to post this email to my blog I may have been more politically correct in a couple of words. But this is the raw deal. -Rosie

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Although Jennifer's baby is not breech, with this pregnancy she is much more interested in all things pregnancy related. She emailed me after she spoke to her doctor about vaginal breech birth today. Here is my response:

Hi Jennifer,

Your doctor sounds interesting. I think I would like him. :)  He's right in saying that breech does not necessitate a c-section, but the doctors will ALWAYS offer it just due to past lawsuits. Honestly Jennifer, many doctors do much more than 'offer it', they even tell the woman that they cannot be her doctor anymore! That she has to find another doctor because he/she will not do a Vaginal Breech Birth. Then the only doctor that she finds that may support Vaginal Breech Birth is not in her insurance group. Care providers tell these women terrifying, exaggerated, stories and pressure her to have a Cesarean. Still women can always refuse a Cesarean. Some women have been known to labor at home as long as possible with her breech baby and then go to hospital too late for a Cesarean. I think that it is too bad that our society puts women in that stressful situation. In California I believe if a woman really wants to have a Vaginal Breech Birth she can find a care provider, doctor or midwife that can assist her. Sometimes the care provider with that specialty is not in her insurance plan and the family will pay out of pocket.

The positions your doctor was referring to is referenced on one of my favorite websites. The position is called a forward leaning inversion.  Any one and everyone who finds out their baby is breech will want to check out the Spinning Babies website and even attend a Spinning Babies workshop. There is a workshop in Anaheim on March 15th. Although this upcoming class is more geared toward birth workers and not parents and pregnant women, anyone who is not a birth worker could email Gail and see if she will make an exception. Gail Tully is the founder and she is also available for teleconference. You can read about Gail here. She usually encourages pregnant couples to attend so if you are interested call or email Gail, she's very approachable!

Spinning Babies is a great resource for all birth workers and anyone who is pregnant. I've taken Gail's workshop twice and it helps me a whole lot in my Doula work.  The premise isn't that babies need to be corrected or manipulated (really babies are brilliant!), only that our postures today are sometimes not what they used to be when we were a more active people. And by active I do not mean getting in a car and driving to the gym and doing a prescribed amount of weights and cardio and then DRIVING home! There are postures that pregnant women can practice at HOME that are more 'helpful' in aligning the baby and encouraging baby to be in an optimal fetal position. So although babies almost always find the path of least resistance and come out just fine, it's nice to read Head down is not enough and maybe prevent back labor (occiput posterior) or learn to move in ways that help baby rotate into a position where baby is head down and facing moms back (occiput anterior). There are many head down babies that are being born by Cesarean Section just because they are head down but in a occiput posterior (OP=baby facing forward) position. OP babies cause back labor and many of these moms get epidurals. Then it is very difficult for a mom to push out her OP baby when she is numb and has no sensation (OP babies can be harder to push out) and many of these moms end up having Cesarean Sections although their baby was head down (Vertex position).  Some exercises in Spinning Babies help to balance moms ligaments and release tension, giving baby room to rotate into an OA (Occiput Anterior=facing moms tail bone) position. There is a lot of information in Spinning Babies and it is all stuff lay people, non-medical people, can understand and can do! The exercises described on Gail's website are not harmful to mom or baby.

I want to mention also that years before I ever heard of spinning babies and optimal fetal positioning I attended home births where midwifes knew these things and had great success positioning moms and helping a slow labor or a painful back labor resolve itself.  These same home birth midwives also know how to support vaginal breech birth. Home Birth Midwives Rock!

If you have any questions feel free to call me.

Watch and Pray

Please watch the two videos below. Please prayerfully consider a donation/contribution/partnership.

I am standing with Doula Dawn, Founder of Improving Birth. I invite you to stand with us.We are one woman standing with one woman standing with one woman.  Shoulder to shoulder. Sometimes with babes in arms. Sometimes with hidden scars. Most have overcome great disappointment and physical hardship just because a medical system is floundering in a status-quo mire. Women who are pregnant should not have to fight this fight. New mom's in their baby-moon time should not have to fight this fight. You and me with our limited time and resources will fight for them. Some will join the Improve Birth movement with their physical support, others with their financial support. Some of us with both. We will stand together on Labor Day, for all the babies, mommies, daddies, families, neighborhoods, societies in our future. As midwife Lonnie Morris says in Debra Pascali-Bonaro's film, Orgasmic Birth, "Women of Earth Take Back Your Birth!"

Why am I giving my small portion to fight for future generations? First, I believe it's because I had the delightful experience of undisturbed birth. Our smart, amazing bodies worked to create new life for nine months and then birthed this work perfectly (by the way there is no 'perfect'). Dawn had this experience after three cesarean births.

Second, because as birth workers, as Doula's, we witness beautiful, happy birth days as we stand beside a women that is respected, given time, given emotional support and no matter how her baby is born, she is given the benefit of being informed, making her own choices and being listened to. She is birthing a Mommy and she is 100% responsible for (responsive to) her baby. So she should be the decision maker, one would think. And we all too often see the opposite, the disrespected, the rushed, the unsupported and the aftermath. Most of the time the more positive experience happens at homebirth, seldom in a hospital. But women who for whatever reason need to be in a hospital should have the same, if not endearing, at least dignified care. 

I'm reminded of the movie, Dances With Wolves, and the name of the Indian woman, Stands With A Fist. We are fighting to improve birth. Please stand with us. On Labor Day 2012 we will stand with fist.

Improving Birth statement reads:

We are an organization that believes that birth should be "principle over profit" and where secrecy is trumped by honesty, putting mothers front & center and squarely in the driver’s seat of their birth choices. Our purpose and cause is Educating and Empowering mothers so they are able to make informed choices about their births. We believe in you and your body. We also believe that induction and c-sections can be life saving interventions when necessary. 

Susan Dorothea White - Drawing of Baby Paul 1965

P.S.  Today I started reading Optimal Care in Childbirth by Henci Goer and Amy Romano. This book looks hard at the studies that are the foundation of maternal medical care today and it's honesty is refreshing! The truth is that most studies are not well done, are convoluted. Sometimes the truth is so disheartening but it is from a place of truth where we need to start our work. Improving Birth.org believes that secrecy is trumped by honesty. This book is honest. Below just one golden nugget from the book. I can't wait to settle in for this read.  It might take me all summer. These women are brilliant!

"We are now well into the second generation of excessively high cesarean rates. Over time, high rates have come to seem normal for women and clinicians alike and have taken on the force of "what is must be right," as evidenced by the most bizarre rationale for elective surgery so far:

More than one in four women who do not have a cesarean section by choice will end up having one anyway, and their morbidity and mortality will exceed that sustained by women whose surgeries are scheduled.  It is against this backdrop that physicians must consider the role of patient choice in determining the proper mode of delivery in the circumstance of an uncomplicated pregnancy.

In other words, because obstetricians mismanage labor so badly, women, like Brutus in Julius Caesar, should leap into the pit themselves rather than tarry till they are pushed.  But as Childbirth Connection (2006) so eloquently put it, "All mothers should have access to safest vaginal birth practices.  We should not expect them to choose between vaginal birth with avoidable harms and cesarean section."

The Scar Tissue Issue

found here

Don't bother trying to find Cervical Scar Tissue in any medical journals or ACOG (American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologist) journals. It's not there. Many more women, at a much earlier age, are having procedures performed on their cervix.  One consequence is scar tissue.  That sounds logical. When have we gotten a skinned knee and not gotten a scar to go along with it?  When I got a simple biopsy on my breast boy did I get scar tissue! But getting scar tissue on your cervix? Big deal. So one would've thought. Who thinks about these things? Who would give it a whole (as in whole pie vs. piece of pie) blog? Me.

Warning: Some of the links below show photos of real cervix (not drawings). Proceed at your own risk.

It's come to my attention that women who have had a LEEP, cone or cryo procedure or a D&C or IUD (Intrauterine Device) put in, or any other procedure of that type may have scar tissue.  This scar tissue sometimes interferes with the birth process.  This scar tissue can make the cervix so strong that it will not dilate, will not open to the 10 centimeters that most baby's like to slip their heads through. This is often called FTP (failure to progress) in a women's medical chart and the consequence is her baby is born by Cesarean Section. Funny thing is that most OBGYN's have not made the connection. They do the work, cutting out precancerous or cancerous cells and then wonder why this same woman will not dilate, cannot birth vaginally.  The good news is that with a little effort and patience this scar tissue can be massaged and the unyielding tissue made soft enough to open (dilate) and babies come down the birth canal and are born just fine. Yay! Yes, they are really happy! Babies don't want to be afraid, stuck or pulled out. Do you? That's just not the way it was designed. A good design is a joy!

The tables have turned, the medical community is learning more and more from their patients! Scratching my head, "In fact how would a doctor ever learn anything if it wasn't for the patient?"  When it comes to cervical scar tissue they are learning something from my friend Doula Dawn.  Dawn is passionate about birth, about women's reproductive rights.  As a birth doula she's been called the VBAC Queen. For the last ten years she has assisted families in finding medical care and a safe place to have a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). Why? Because that is what women want and the data shows it is safer than repeat surgeries.   Dawn herself had three Cesarean's before having a VBAC at home. Yes, she experiences cervical scar tissue. I am helping her to spread the good news that 1)it's really an issue and 2) it can be resolved.  I am here today to tell you that you might want to read about this scar tissue issue. If you are pregnant or plan on getting pregnant, it would be good to rack your memory and remember if you've had any procedures done to your cervix.  If you have had a procedure, ask your care provider, OB or Midwife, if they have experience with cervical scar tissue and then read this and sign up for Dawn's online class.  If you have any questions don't hesitate to call Dawn or me or someone who understands.  Ask your doula to help you learn more. She may not yet know about this issue and you will learn together.

I have said for many years that I trust birth and I trust in women's ability to birth and then scratched my head when I was foiled.  Now I know the reason.  Cervical Scar Tissue.  Sure there are other mysterious physiological and psychological reasons that birth is slow or non-emergency cesareans happen. There's no wrong way to give birth. Every time it's a miracle! If you gave birth by cesarean section you will most likely spend some time wondering or fretting if maybe this had been your issue. I hope you won't fret too much. Please pass this information along and maybe someone else will be helped. But you can bet, just as this cervical scar issue has now seen the light of day and we now know it can be resolved, there will be a new issue tomorrow. I have seen and heard about many improvements in birth practices over the last ten years but these improvements are slow to be adopted by doctors in hospitals.  Sadly, the 2010 United Nations data showed that the United States had slipped from 41st to 50th place, with a higher maternal mortality ratio than 49 other countries. So hold on! You are going to see much more information here about safe birthing!1

I don't know how all the countries that have a much lower cesarean rate than the USA are dealing with the issue of cervical scar tissue but the USA isn't. Period.  We, the consumers, must step up and stand up and speak up for ourselves, our bodies, our births.  Tell your doctor that your body works, your contractions are rocking strong and your baby is ready to come..."my labor is just taking longer because I have some scar tissue on my cervix and it'd be lovely if you could find it and rub it out, break up that scar tissue. Then we can proceed, get on with the show!" It can work like magic.

It can happen this fast - Open Sesame!

The lotus flower is an exotic treasure that has many purposes.

I have pictured them in this blog as an example of the

opening of a woman's cervix during childbirth.

How tragic it would be if someone manipulated this flower

and it could not bloom as it was designed.

Think about your favorite flower.  Does it have a sweet scent?

Did you know that many flowers are edible?

Look at the opening of the lotus flower here 

and imagine your cervix doing the same.

1. Stay at home. Hire a midwife.

I'm Not Making This Crap Up!

Someone asked a question on Facebook this morning, "If you were writing a movie about childbirth, what would it be called?" My favorite answer was, "I don't know but my book about birth is going to be called, "I'm not making this crap up!"

Ain't that the truth! Some of the things I've witnessed in over 300 births have been sad, maddening, atrocious, shocking, and heartbreaking! I once went out to the hospital hallway and banged my head on the wall. I was that mad.  And I am a mild mannered person...usually.

I think that it's important for anyone who is going through a life transition to have a witness.  Don't the bride and the groom need a witness, the Maid of Honor and the Best Man? Doulas provide that witness for a birthing mom and dad.  I usually share good news with y'all here.  Stuff like, "A beautiful healthy baby joined us today" or "a strong woman birthed untethered (not tied down to IV, Epidural, Monitor lines), in water, held by her loved ones, caught her own baby".  Writing about all the gooiest, grooviest, ethereal births I witness may not be in your best interest. You need to know ALL the facts. We all do. The "I'm not making this crap up" stories are ones I don't want to re-live. But it's time.

Hospitals are for sick people. Hospitals are for high risk pregnant women, high risk babies. NOT FOR NORMAL HEALTHY PREGNANT WOMEN! You see, childbirth is not an illness, not a disease. In 1988 Birth Psychology released this BIRTH IS NOT AN ILLNESS article. Back then the Cesarean rate was 24.7% in the United States. People, doctors, scientist were thinking cesarean rates had hit a plateau. 

"Data derived from the 1988 National Hospital Discharge Survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics lead us to believe that the rate of cesarean section in the United States has stabilized."
  
Ha! So why for the next twenty more years has the surgical birth rate climbed, and climbed, and climbed???

2010 Cesarean rate in the U.S. was 32.8%. Some hospitals in San Diego had a rate of over 41% 

What does all that mean? And what does that mean to me?
It might mean a lot to you if you are of childbearing age, if you have a daughter or daughter-in-law, a wife or a sister and if you want her to have healthy, safe reproductive years. 

Before I continue I want you to know that I believe in woman's ability to birth ~ with all my heart. I have confidence in God's design for our bodies to birth our young, and for our species to thrive.

"Remember this, for it is as true as true gets: Your body is not a lemon. You are not a machine. The creator is not a careless mechanic.  Human female bodies have the same potential to give birth well as aardvarks, lions, rhinoceri, elephants, moose, and water buffalo.  Even if it has not been your habit throughout your life so far, I recommend that you learn to think positively about your body."
~ Ina May Gaskin, Ina may's Guide to Childbirth 

I believe that in the hearts of most women there is a deep desire to birth in a safe loving way, much like the way conception happened. In ecstasy, in privacy, in bliss, under her own power. This is how we mother our young and this is how we conceived our young. This is how we can birth our young. Okay, back to the unpleasant truths of today....HALF of the women entering hospital to have a baby today will have a very unpleasant experience. The work of birth may turn scary. The natural hormones of labor may not be allowed to assist the mother and baby to travel the path nature intended. Did you notice I said "allowed"? Yes, hospitals will try to tell you what is and isn't allowed. Even though their protocol may be unproven, unscientific. Women do have the last word. They can demand what isn't allowed, but in the midst of labor this verbal exchange interrupts natures path, mothers and baby's path. Natures path is to be tread on lightly. But medicine today, most surgeons (OBGYN's), do not tread lightly. Getting back on path will take time and energy, energy that was needed for the birth of your baby.  Taking a Bradley Husband Coached Childbirth Class or a Birthing From Within class or a Hypnobirthing Class does not guarantee that you will not be one of the victims of the system. Hiring a doula is no guarantee either. If you walk into a hospital today to give birth to your baby you are very likely to birth by cesarean section.

When surgery is warranted, saves a baby or a mommy's life, I'm the first one who sings the praises of modern medicine. But today, I want to tell you about the many healthy women that without justifiable cause are induced, constantly monitored, have her labor sped up, slowed down, then when baby doesn't like all that crap and mom is too numb to push, her baby is surgically removed. Removed is too soft a word, Yanked, Pulled, from her belly, is more accurate.  Best case scenario after cesarean is Mom and Baby are fine. Physically.  Mom and Dad celebrate. The family celebrates. They take baby home and wonder why they have breastfeeding issues, postpartum depression, Mom doesn't trust her mothering instincts as well as she could. After all her body didn't know how to birth her baby, how can she possibly know how to mother her baby?

There's more.

Some women do NOT come out of cesarean section surgery physically fine. Some will come out of a cesarean with a hysterectomy, uterine rupture, bladder injury. And their babies are more likely to be sent to Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for procedures that would otherwise not have been necessary.
Women die from complications of surgical birth, CESAREAN SECTION, at a higher rate than vaginal birth. THE CAUSE you ask? Unnecessary medical interventions. Things like too  much cytotec, too many changes in shifts, too much traffic in OR, too much fear in the OB's eyes because he's spent too many days in court rooms all crash into a tragic ending. And the biggest tragedy is that you may never hear about it. WHAT? That's right the reporting of this catastrophic event in our country stinks! "There is no federal requirement that the states carry out a confidential review of all maternal deaths in order to be sure that all are counted, to analyze the principle causes of preventable deaths and to make policy recommendations to prevent such deaths in the future." (see The Safe Motherhood Quilt Project and Maternal Death in the United States: A Problem Solved or a Problem Ignored )

I'm grieving. My heart is breaking today for a first time mom I never met. My friend is her doula. The mommy was admitted to the hospital in awesome spirits, her pregnancy healthy, no issues, medically she was called "low risk".  So why did this woman barely get out of surgery alive?
Induction. Rushing. Rushing a woman's birthing body is not smart. When was the last time you enjoyed someone rushing you to orgasm? Rushing a baby to be born is just bad science. Period. Who rushes a baby to crawl, walk, talk? Why do we rush them to be born? Slow down. Please.

My friend Doula Dawn recently shared this quote, 'If one went to the extreme of giving the patient the full details of mortality and morbidity related to cesarean section, most of them would get up and go out and have their baby under a tree,’ [Dr. McDonald] said.”[Neel J. Medicolegal pressure, MDs' lack of patience cited in cesarean 'epidemic.' Ob.Gyn. News Vol 22 No 10] 

Yes. Under a tree would be good.  I remember in 1978 reading Immaculate Deception by Suzanne Arms. She also mentioned this, "if you tie the majority of birthing women to a tree in San Fransisco's Golden State Park and left them alone they would give birth just fine." This resonated with me. I was 21 years old and I "Got It!" The ancient woman in my bones got it! I got that the reproductive rights of women were being tossed around like a football and the team with the most money was winning. Not the women. Not the midwifes. Not the babies. The men were winning. Back then the AMA was mostly men. What's a shame is that even though female medical students today make up 50% of the student population, generally (I say this because there are, of course, awesome women working to improve the system) these women are trying so hard to be accepted by the "old school" that they are, mostly, numb to their intuitive woman's voice, the gut says, "My God! Let this woman alone!" and her vying for the job voice says, "Protocol! Some one is watching! Try that new technique, get it checked off your list". And the woman on the bed suffers, the baby suffers, the world suffers on a level we may never fully comprehend.

Coming Soon....Part II - We're not taking it anymore! What women are doing to regain their reproductive rights. Childbirth is a human rights issue.

NOTE: This brought up emotions, writing it and reading it. Maybe you were a victim sometime in your life. That day we were powerless and today we are powerful. This is a new day. Cellular memory is one reason that I feel so strongly about this subject. If you had a Cesarean Birth and you had a positive experience, I am happy for you. I in no way mean to insult you or take away from those memories of your precious baby's birth day. This is in no way a medical piece, just my ramblings. I am happy to read your birth story, blog, etc. and dialog with you below or by email. -Rosie

Breastfeeding Baby Jesus

Merry Christmas & Happy New Years to you, my mommy friends and your babies, you daddy's and my extended virtual family! Did you see this beautiful video, Breastfeeding Baby Jesus? I found it on Danelle Frisbie's blog. Thanks Danelle.

Here's my immediate family Christmas Day photo.

I enjoyed a lovely traditional Christmas eve with in-laws, Christmas morning with our grown kids and Christmas afternoon with my sisters, brothers, mom, etc.(see photo)

I've been shopping for a new camera for me to take to births. I've become very interested in photography...technology has made it amazingly easy for us to shoot, download and share the magical moments of our lives! You have inspired me in this area. What's a blog without the apropos photos?

It makes me laugh still that I took these next photos on Christmas when I should have been wrapping the final gifts, starting Christmas breakfast or a thousand other things. But these are the things that make my Christmas, the traditions and memories of Christmas's gone by. First is my sugar cookies, then an ornament that my son, Doug, made when he was in kindergarten. I also took a pic of the ornament that my sister, Becki, made with buttons from my grandma's button tin, the Christmas after she'd passed away. The photo of the cute coffee mugs remind me of Christmas Eve at my MIL's.

This is my world. ...When I'm being a mom, daughter, sister and not being a doula. I love each of those names. I love being me.

A baby girl came to a lovely family on the Tuesday before Christmas. On 12/22 at 12:21PM weighing 7lbs. 1oz. I was the Doula. She was born by c-section. Maybe her cord was wrapped too tightly around her shoulder. Most of the time cords, umbilical cords, can wrap and knot and there is no problem. This time there was (fetal heart decelerations). It was an honor to meet this baby girl and her mom and dad. Two days before she was born she was breech (head up). Her mom and dad and I met for a couple of hours and discussed both their goal for turning her and having a non-medicated vaginal delivery and the possibility of c-section. Ultimately she was easily turned head down by doc (external cephalic version).
Since this couple loves to travel, and by loves I mean travels ALOT! I explained the upcoming birth and the two very different possible scenarios like this.
"Suppose you have planned to travel to Holland. You have studied the country, the language, and are excited about seeing the tulips, buying wooden shoes, etc. You pack your bags for the climate that's been forecasted. But when the plane lands and you get off you are in Singapore. Of course you are disappointed at first, you didn't pack for the climate, you have no sight seeing agenda, Argh! But then you remember that you are still on vacation and still on an adventure of a life time. So you take a moment to tantrum or sulk or cry but not to long since your distracted by the sights of the city calling you, and the smells of the food and Oh! The night safari leaves soon! As I often have said, "Life is Birth and Birth is Life. Just keep living life until you feel the urge to push" ...or baby tells you something different."

When I saw the new family one day postpartum, mom was recovering nicely, dad was running around, as should be and baby was nursing. Well she looked like she was nursing. She latched on in the operating recovery room. But now she looked like she was chewing, playing at nipple...we did a couple of re-latches and mom noticed the difference. Mom is an elephant trainer at WAP so she's a naturally intuitive animal! Sure enough, I spoke to the new mommy this morning, milk is in! Baby is gaining weight - hooray!

We've made full circle here now from baby Jesus breastfeeding to this precious baby girl 'breastfeeding'...

Til next year, love & peace, Rosie

You Should Be Grateful

"At least you have a healthy baby" ...

You Should Be Grateful is an article by Gretchen Humphries. If you gave birth by cesarean section you'll want to read Grethen's story and then read about her Beautiful Home VBAC Waterbirth . "You should be grateful, after all, you’ve got a healthy baby". As a birth doula I have never uttered these words, "You should be grateful", to a woman after her surgical birth. I often feel like I should say something but words don't come easy. Along with my clients, I pray for, prepare for, and believe that BIRTH WORKS. So when long labor, hospital protocol, and lack of patience (mostly) lead 'professionals to scare women into the OR I'm as confused as my clients. I'm ashamed to say that. I should after all these years have some wisdom, some inside scoop on the whys and wherefores. Have some words of comfort. But I don't. I grieve too. The only words I have are true. "I love you. You did the best you could, Remember how long you stayed at home walking, swaying, singing, moaning, laughing? Remember that each step of the way you were informed and made the best choices you could in the moment? Remember how powerful you were." And I want to say, "Remember the words that scared people used to undermine your power. Remember that nurse or OB that had never given birth or never seen such power? How he/she was scared of your power and eventually took your power? But I don't say that, it's not time yet. I only pray that you take time to fall in love with your baby, fall back in love with yourself as a mommy and in time ask the hard questions. I pray that you find a good support group, hopefully an ICAN group. And I hope you will call me if you have questions, need referrals, I'm still your doula. I loved being a part of your family as you prepared the nursery, had a baby shower and felt that first twinge, surge of early labor. I loved holding your hand and reassuring your partner, mother or toddler.

"...Now, when you tell me that I should be grateful, I realize that you are showing me how frightened you are. That you are afraid to look at my pain. That you are afraid to admit that maybe I have good reason to be angry, that maybe woman are truly assaulted in the name of birth...."-Gretchen

Going into a hospital today to have a baby is risky business. Please consider home birth for your future children. Do you tire of my endless mantra on the benefits of homebirth? Why do I mention it here? Because I care. Watch the movie that Ricki Lake has produced, The Business of Being Born. The World Health Organization states the best outcomes for mothers and babies appear to occur with cesarean rates of 5% to 10%. Rates above 15% seem to do more harm than good (Althabe and Belizan 2006), see Childbirth Connection. So entering your local hospital knowing the CS rate is 30-40% is taking a risk. Losing is always a bummer. Losing your wish to birth naturally and vaginally is a bummer. Take all the time you need to be bummed.




-Rosie Peterson


Call me crazy but some of my best doula memories include you: I've attended amazing beautiful, births that ended in Cesarean Section. I remember a woman that did years of TTC and adopted her embryo. Fully, in more ways than one, she was ready to experience pregnancy, labor, birth and motherhood! So when her baby was breech she gently and patiently did all she could to encourage baby to turn. Then she did more aggressive turning procedures and still baby stayed head up. We believed that baby would turn sometime during labor. She started labor spontaneously, She labored at home as long as she wanted. Then she went to hospital and labored some more. Her OB was unusually accommodating 'allowing' her labor instead of demanding an induction or pushing her into OR before mom was ready. Ultimately baby did not turn and being a primip, Mom agreed to the cesarean section. I remember the new mommy, daddy and baby as the were wheeled out of OR together - they were thrilled and beaming! They had did the best they could and they knew it. They knew how there are no guarantees in life and they were grateful for every little miracle. Today holds a miracle for you.