Can you hear the screams of outrage from there????

The unbelievable story of a jackass ob/gyn who gave a woman an episiotomy AFTER THE BABY WAS BORN, just because she'd had the audacity not to need one for the actual delivery. I hope that jerk got the pants sued off him/her.

You've GOT to see this :D

And show it to your husbands! The truth is out! Women DO have a higher pain threshold than men. *grin*

Oh brother, here we go again

I suppose I shouldn't get so negative so quickly, but after last winter, who can blame me? Judah appears to have the flu. Which is totally bogus, since he's the only one we decided-- after weeks of research, discussion and indecision-- to vaccinate! It just goes to show you... Although exactly what it goes to show, I have no idea.

A sick toddler is a sight to behold. His eyes are all droopy and bloodshot and he has this awful, hacking cough. For the moment he's fairly cheerful, though, reveling in the novelty of Daddy-home-from-work-early-to-play-"fight da ba-guys". He's also getting quite a kick out of the squeaky, cracked voice he's sporting at the moment. :D It's sooo pitiful and he knows I'll give him pretty much anything he wants when he asks me in that orphan-child-from-Africa tone of voice. What can I say? I'm a sucker.

I read a cool birth story today (part one, part two, part three) Birth stories are my drug of choice. When I'm down I go find some and they make me feel better :) I guess y'all recognize the name Dooce-- the original mommy-blogger. Having her speak up about natural childbirth is great. She's so articulate and poetic. I just loved her story! Have to give this one a language warning though, just in case it bothers some of you. Enjoy!

I'm off to enjoy some fresh pumpernickel bread.

It's a beautiful afternoon, why am I so restless and stir-crazy?

I'll tell you why.

Babies.

Yep. There are two new ones in our church (by new I mean less than a week old) and at least one more on the way. And let me tell you, they are precious. So, so precious. And it's doing strange and mysterious things to my insides, people. It's baaad.

Here's the crazy thing. When I stop and think about having more children-- actually raising them, educating them, feeding them, training and disciplining them, I am quite content with the two that the Lord has given me. We've been so blessed. One boy, one girl-- we've gotten to experience the beautiful differences between the genders. We have two children whose personalities could hardly be more different-- that's been so amazing to watch. They are healthy, intelligent, (mostly) obedient, curious and joyful children. What more could we ask for?

But, oh! the babies....

*sigh*

I'm going to blame it on my past. For five years I was blissfully immersed in the world of pregnant women, birth and babies. On a weekly basis I was blessed and privileged to participate in the emergence of a human soul into the world. It is a high like no other, my friends. To stand with a woman in that hour is an honor. To struggle along beside her in the greatest test of her physical and mental endurance that she will ever face, and perhaps in some small measure to ease her task. To put my hands on that tiny head and guide it out into the world... It makes me tear up, just thinking about it. The atmosphere of intimacy, the palpable excitement and anticipation-- to stand on the edges of that bubble, looking in on the miracle happening again, right in front of my eyes, as it has time and again ever since Eve gave birth to Cain-- well, words fail me.

Can you understand why I feel the way I do about these stories of deception and selfish motives and abuse of power? And words do fail me. I have started and abandoned at least three posts about the "Pit to distress" fiasco we were all talking about a week or so ago. I just cannot find a way to express the outrage, the pain and frustration I feel when I read about women whose trust is being betrayed during one of the most vulnerable and impressionable times in their lives. A time when they should be gently surrounded in a bubble of intimacy, excitement and anticipation. When their Caregivers--people whom they trust to care for them-- should be standing watchfully outside that bubble, waiting, enjoying from a distance and supporting with their quiet patience. Not bossing, barking, pressuring, obscuring, manipulating, threatening and cutting their feet out from under them. Who are these people? Why are they doing this? How can they violate these women in this way??

And so, I am restless and stir-crazy. Frustrated words bubble up from deep inside and spill out foaming onto my monitor, making no sense--no logical arguments, just sadness. Just regret. Helplessness.

Since the dawn of time...

Conversation with a friend recently, after the birth of her second child (remind me never to mess with a nursing woman again):

HER: Ok, we got a WAY RAWER (is that a word) deal in the fall, then men did. I mean, toil the earth?? WHAT THE HELL!!!!???? I like to toil the earth. I'd like to toil and trade him for the hematoma, hernia, hemorrhoids, nursing, let down, cramping uterus etc.

ME: I am SOOO putting that on my blog

HER: ok..... when you do, can you spell that damn word right (hemorrhoid), and not reference me!


Sure, honey, sure. Whatever makes you happy :)

Pit to whaaaa???

I tell you what, people. Just when you think you've heard the worst of the worst, you get deeper in the doo-doo (pardon my french) of our medical system in this country. What I am about to tell you in this post is going to send most of you through the roof in outrage. At least, those of you that I know are reading.... you lurkers out there might even be OBs for all I know... But that's another rant for another time.

The phrase is "pit to distress". Here's what that means, according to Jill, at Keyboard Revolutionary:

...the practice... entails administering the highest possible dosage of Pitocin in order to deliberately distress the fetus, so a C-section can be performed.

I know this sounds ridiculous. Barbaric. Surely not in America. But I kept reading. I read Nursing Birth's description of her interaction with a Dr who ordered her to "pit to distress":

Ladies and gentleman the account that you have just read is called “Pit to Distress” whether the pitocin order was actually written that way or not. What Dr. F gave me was a VERBAL ORDER to increase the pitocin, regardless of contraction or fetal heart rate pattern, until I reached “max pit,” which he acknowledged would hyperstimulate her uterus. This goes against our hospital’s policy and the physical written order that this doctor signed his name under. However, like some other doctors I work with, none of that mattered to him. What he wanted was for me to “crank her pit” regardless and from my experience with this doctor, at the first sign of fetal distress we would have been crashing down the hallway for a stat cesarean!

I read the nursing textbook page (Jill--Unnecesarean posted this excerpt from it in her article on the subject) that instructs a student nurse in how to deal with a order given to "pit to distress":

I read this article about changing birth procedures that discusses the advisability (hah! ya think???) of discontinuing this practice. Someone (sorry, can't keep track of who sent me where) posted this excerpt:

"Pitocin is used like candy in the OB world, and that's one of the reasons for medical and legal risk," says Carla Provost, assistant vice president at Baystate, who notes that in many hospitals it is common practice to "pit to distress" -- or use the maximum dose of Pitocin to stimulate contractions.

I read another first-hand account on A Midwife's Tale:

As a former L&D nurse and now a midwife, I have heard this term before. The context in which I am familiar with it is a little different than it is described on the (Unnecesarean) post. The term was used in situations where the baby was looking less than stellar during latent labor and it was already predicted that the a c/s would be likely for this reason. The pit to distress term would simply mean, go ahead and pit hard so we can section the baby.

This really doesn't sound any better at all. It's even worse, actually-- to deliberately provoke an already possibly unstable baby in order to justify an emergency section. That's practically murder! Especially if your primary reason for doing it is to avoid a prolonged trail of labor so you can make it to your afternoon golf game. That's criminal.

I tell you what. I have talked with many women about my homebirths who go on and on about how brave I am to have had my two (three, really, but again, another post for another time) births at home and how they could never do something so risky and (what they probably mean is) weird. But I tell you what. This new information, while it shocks and sickens me, doesn't surprise me AT ALL. Let me tell you, they are the brave ones. You couldn't pay me enough to take my normal, pregnant self into a hospital and put my life and the life of my innocent, helpless unborn child into the hands of men and women who do things like that. Uh uh. No way. If I need your help, I'll come ask for it.

It's late. I'll have to write more tomorrow. I'm mulling over lots of issues that I feel are connected to this one. In particular the callused attitude towards the health and well-being of the baby in these situations and how that relates to the prevalence of abortion these days. Stay tuned for that one!

Thanks so much to all of the bloggers who've been sharing this information. Here are some links to even more:

N is for Nurse (this one will super-freak you out, do not read on a full stomach)
MamaMid(Wife)Madness
Stand and Deliver

Please, go read. Inform yourself. Get mad. Blog about it. Start a Revolution!!!!!

*wipes away a tear*

This is it, people. This is why I homebirth. This is why I encourage other people to homebirth. This is why hospital births, no matter how "good", how peaceful, never quite cut it for me. This is why I cringe when people say to me, "But all that matters is a healthy baby, no matter how it gets here." I just don't buy it that the manner in which a child is born, the atmosphere into which he or she emerges into this world has no bearing on their future.

This is where it's at.

HT to Jill.

ps. don't worry, it's not at all graphic or gross

Thank God for women like this

I linked to this blog earlier, but as I explored her writings further I just have to share another link. Go, read this now! I'll wait for you. I'm begging. And I have to say, I'll probably be sending my readers here quite often. All three of you :)

I don't exaggerate in the title of my post, either. The Lord has, for many, many years now, put a burden on my heart for women who are with child and laboring to give birth to those children. It has been indescribably painful for me to continue to see conditions for laboring women in this country deteriorate as the years go by. The statistics are infuriating, as are the attitudes of the doctors in position of power whose arrogance allows this trend to continue. I have been to two hospital births of women close to me and been appalled at the events of what would could comparatively be called "good" births. Compared to the peaceful, beautiful, empowering births I attended during five years of lay midwifery training, these births were not "good". (sorry, S and L, you know I love you guys) They had good outcomes, yes. Neither woman had a c-section. Both babies and mothers were healthy. But the succession of small violations of privacy, opinion and preference, the constant pressure to "conform to hospital policy", the flat-out argument neccessary to ensure that the woman's desires were respected was exhausting. And the complete disregard for the humanity and autonomy of the mother and father was sickening. It ought not to be that way, folks. I had a similar experience in the hospital with my own miscarriage.

The fact that there are still women like this out there, working in hospitals and birthing centers around the country, influencing birth one woman at a time is so gratifying to me. I know there are many others like her. Midwives, l&d nurses, doulas, lactation consultant and even doctors. Thank God for them. Reading blogs like this one make me hope that some day the medical mafia in this country will no longer rule birth with an iron fist. Someday maybe the Lord will send me back into an active role in the field. Until then I'll just sputter on in impotent rage. And send you to blogs like this.



(stepping down from the soapbox now. you can call off the dogs.)

Explaining Birth Beads

I'm not actually sure where I first learned about birth beads. The idea is somewhat connected to the tradition of giving a pregnant woman a Blessingway, as an alternative to a baby shower. That article explains then this way:

Birthing Beads - the coordinator can either collect beads that are meaningful and specific or she can request that each guest bring a special bead to string on a necklace or bracelet for the mother to wear until labor commences or through to the time that she has birthed. This ceremony can be coordinated by having all of the women sit in a circle and pass a length of cord around, hand to hand. At each turn, the guests add their bead or beads (can even suggest a bead for each birth a guest has had). When it reaches full circle to mom, she strings the final bead to represent her birth or child(ren) and then it is tied on mother. The birthing beads/jewelry symoblizes support and strength of the birthing women who surround, support, and strengthen her through shared experiences and history.

I didn't exactly have a Blessingway, but still took the beads my sister made and some that Sofi bought and fastened them into a necklace to wear during labor. It was especially significant because that particular sister wasn't at the birth-- except through the beads she made :)

I have a great shot of Judah, right after birth, clutching the beads with his tiny little newborn fingers (not appropriate for general internets consumption, sorry). They sort of became my nursing beads after the birth, too. A two-for-one deal!

Birth plans

In the same vein as an earlier post, here are some links to take a look at some birth plans that I recommend. Birth plans are an excellent way to help you communicate your wishes to your care providers. A birth plan can be helpful even if you are planning a home or birth center birth. I had a birth plan of sorts with both of my water births, although we never went as far as writing it up in a formal manner. Remember, if you are birthing in a facility, your birth plan is not a legal document guaranteeing you certain things, but it does help you and your birth support team (husband, friends, etc) when interacting with your care providers.


A site to help you build a birth plan


A friend's birth plan-- concise and comprehensive


The birth plan of a favorite blogger of mine; also simple and short

Back to Birth

An article I found recently on one of my new favorite birth blogs and an email from a friend asking for some info for a friend of hers got me all fired up about birth again this week. I've been collecting some links in a draft post for a while now and now I would really like to share them with you. Those of you who are new-ish readers and don't know me so well should be warned. I'd a radical about natural childbirth. These articles may clue you in on that....

You should be grateful

Cesarean Death stats

US Neonatal Death Rates

One woman's story reminded me so much of my births, I wrote this email to her and received her permission to link to her stories.

I just read your story of the birth of your precious daughter, Aurora Miranda (and then two sons), linking in from The True Face of Birth. I just wanted to say, what a beautiful, beautiful story and would you mind if I linked in as well? My first child was a posterior, asynclitic birth, just like your second son. And I, also, had the blessing of a homebirth and a midwife who trusts the birth process. After 35 hours of labor, my daughter was born with apgar scores of 9 and 10, a 15 inch head, a minor skid mark that didn't need stitching and no unnecessary interventions. I midwifed for five years in a state where homebirth is illegal and met many women like the those who assisted at your second birth-- women who were willing to risk all kinds of legal ramifications because they believe that every woman should have to opportunity to do this mighty thing-- give birth in her own way, in her own time and on her own terms. I am so glad that you were able to experience this. There is truly nothing like it.

Her first (medical) birth

Her first home birth

Her second home birth