Birth, The American Way

All the judgmental attitudes and negativity toward c-sections from people who have never experienced one is offensive. No wonder I felt like a complete failure when my firstborn had to be delivered by emergency c-section last year. Sure, I would have preferred to avoid the major surgery and its attendant risks, but the c-section was necessary to make sure my son was born safely. I had labored for more than 24 hours, and pushed for 2 hours, when my son went into distress and I developed an infection ... as it turned out, the cord was partway around his neck and his 8 lb. 8 oz. body was not going to make it through my small pelvis. I am thankful I was in a hospital with doctors who were able to take the steps necessary to ensure my baby's safety. I have no judgment toward women who choose to deliver at home, with midwives, without medication, etc. ... all I ask in return is no judgment toward me for consenting to surgery that allowed my son to be born safely. Oh, I and I am not an uneducated or unsophisticated patsy who just went along with my bossy ol' doctor's opinion ... I am a 32 year old with a doctoral degree who lives in a major metropolitan area.

This is why I absolutely hate hanging out with most other new moms. It's not a competition - you don't "win" the mom competition, and people have no right to judge others until they've been in the very same situation.

There is nothing more irritating than a mom trying to justify her own decisions by imposing them on others.

Why so many C sections? 2 words. John Edwards

The goal of the movie is not to make women who have had c-sections feel guilty....It is to let all women know that there is ANOTHER way. We are so conditioned in our country to go the Ob/Gyn route. Like in the movie it says and is so true....We research our HDTV's and cars before we buy them more than the options to have a baby. IT IS A FACT that medical interventions lead to more interventions so epidurals DO lead to more interventions. Basically, most of our country is not so informed. If more people were, there wouldn't be the ignorant comments about midwives and homebirth. Just like they show, the small % of women who need to be transferred to the hospital in an emergency, get there in time when the midwife recognizes it is out of her scope. These aren't women from the backwoods in the barn people?!?!?!? They are licensed and educated. Having a baby is not an "illness" nor should it be treated as such. We are born to have babies...God made us this way, so the movie is simply talking about how we need to trust our bodies first and then, go with what makes us feel comfortable.

I had an experience this year with my first child, similar to the one discussed in the article. I was 10 days past my due date and my blood pressure began to rise and the level of fluids were going down. My midwife and I choose to induce labor by stripping the membranes and using Pitocin. I had been planning on having a non-medicated birth, but after a few hours of the Pitocin (and other interventions) I decided to take the epidural. 20 hours later, my baby was born (with the aid of the vaccuum). It was a long and difficult labor and I often wonder what would have happened if I had waited for the labor to begin "naturally". Today myself and my baby are healthy and happy, however, and I guess thats all that matters.

I had an experience this year with my first child, similar to the one discussed in the article. I was 10 days past my due date and my blood pressure began to rise and the level of fluids were going down. My midwife and I choose to induce labor by stripping the membranes and using Pitocin. I had been planning on having a non-medicated birth, but after a few hours of the Pitocin (and other interventions) I decided to take the epidural. 20 hours later, my baby was born (with the aid of the vaccuum). It was a long and difficult labor and I often wonder what would have happened if I had waited for the labor to begin "naturally". Today myself and my baby are healthy and happy, however, and I guess thats all that matters.

I think this film is misleading to women. I had a LEEP procedure on my cervix in 1994 and then again in 2003 for the treatment of dysplasia. During my first pregnancy, my doctor was concerned I could possibly have an incompetent cervix so I was placed in a high risk category and monitored a little more closely, i.e. more checks on my cervix, etc. My husband and I lost that baby in December of 2004 at 24 weeks. I had to give birth to the daughter I had already lost and after 36 hours of labor and no change in my cervix with numerous drugs being given, I had to have a C-section to go home empty handed right before Christmas. It was the most devestating experience of my life; however, it was one of the most enlightening experiences of my life because I learned that a vaginal delivery would never be in the cards for me. I learned i had some conditions that caused me to lose that baby and that I needed drugs, special monitoring and a C-section to deliver any future babies. I also learned that my cervix had so much scar tissue from those two LEEP procedures that I couldn't deliver vaginally...EVER. Now, had I not been being monitored so closely, that situation could have turned even more tragic if something had happened to me in addition to losing my baby. I'm happy to say that thanks to God's grace, my guardian angel and THE BEST OB/GYN in the business, I have a beautiful daughter who turns 20 months old today. I contribute that to being educated and knowing my body and my limitations. We all have these preconceived notions on how birth should be; however, that isn't always the case. Isn't it better just to have a baby here safely (and with a healthy mom) than to chastize women for having babies via C-section or even vaginally in a hospital? You know, sometimes there just isn't a choice for some women.

I have had BOTH - a csec in 1984 and a vbac in 1990.
I never believed I needed the csec and always thought the DR did it for his convenience.
When I returned to his office for a potential future pregancy, I asked him if I could try to have a trial regular labor and delivery.
His response and I quote "You're too small. Your next baby will be bigger. You get to pick the day."

I changed Drs and found a DR who allowed a trial labor and with my next pregnancy, gave birth naturally.
Guess what? I was not too small. My next baby was smaller and I did not pick the day.

Thank you Dr. Bruce Bammel in Wichita, KS! I will always be grateful to him and his staff for allowing me a completely natural trial labor and ended up with a natural childbirth, only due to him!

I'm living proof that the some doctors want to do csecions unnecessarily and others, like Dr. Bammel, only do them when necessary.

Please don't misunderstand me....I would have given my arm to have had a healthy baby if that's what it took.....I just don't think my csec was necessary.

The ultimate goal is healthy baby, healthy mom. I just wish doctors would never do csecs unnecessarily.
It is still major surgery and all of the risks factors are higher than with a natural childbirth!

You sweat, cry, puke, walk, sit, lie down, get massaged and float in the blessed birthing tub for twenty four hours (really more like 30) and tell me my doctors and I made the wrong choice. Birth-Power articles like this completely ruin the experience and self image of women who end up with c-sections. What a thing to do to your sisters. As if how the baby got here matters as opposed to how you treat it once it's here. I'd love to see you and everyone like you meet someone who is devastated by this turn of events and APOLOGIZE to them.

Just retired 36 years in Respiratory Therapy. Saw and encouraged the incoming of the Lamaze programs. Have seen and spoken my concerns over the rise of C-sections as a first choice method of childbirth, by doctors, due to liability, time constrains (unscheduled child birth), and profitability, in the last decade and a half. I'm not against C-sections, for I have been to many that have saved the life of both mothers and premature babies, but as all surgery should be, a last resort , due to the many risks, and complications that can follow, which include I believe, a susceptibility toward breathing problems such as Reactive Airway disease, Childhood Asthma, Bronchiolitis, and Croup to mention a few. By the way I was born feet first, umbilical cord wrapped around my throat three times, (Breach) in 1950. Thank you, Mom! Thank you, Dr. Simpson for "being there."

dear korn, i am happy your wife was so well cared for in a hospital setting. isupportyour choice to do so. however , a may many woman and babies die in .hospital everyday.. it just never makes the front page of the local papers.. i take issue with the idea that all women need such a birth.. when studies support the facts that home birth for healty woman is just as safe if not safer than hospital birth. i have to applaud the brave women out there who provide this for so few..its is my right has a human being to decide where an with whom i give birth not yours or any other paternalistic entity trying to save me from myself....if you read jennifer blocks book you may have different view.. not having any medical expertise yourself i think you may want to do a bit more research. women die everyday from stupid hospital errors. like one woman who was gievn 10x the normal dose of mag sulfate by a kess than observent nurse and coded twice, she had an emergency section without anesthia. mother and baby were both at risk.. thank god they both survived. any damaged to the bayby may not be known for a few years. what would you do in the case of a hurricane or as serious outbreak of some sort? i have many more such horro stories

Patients get "paid" more if they can sue their doctor too.....OB's have to often do the conservative thing (C-section) even if medical evidence is lacking just to protect themselves from a potential suit.

You've got a LOT of nerve. You sit, stand, sweat, puke, cry, walk, float in the wonderful(really) birthing a tub for TWENTY FOUR HOURS - thirty actually, and tell my how necessary a c-section is. Articles like this destroy the self image of women who end up with c-sections. What a rotten thing to do to your sisters! What matters is how you treat the baby after it's born you IDIOT.

I had to have an emergency C-Section two years ago when the cord was wrapped around my son's neck twice and his heart rate plummeted with every contraction. If I had not been in a hospital or had insisted on not having a C-Section, I can't even imagine what could have happened. Yes, the C-Section was major surgery and there was some pain but in talking with friends that have vaginal births...that is par for the course. One friend in particular whose doctor discouraged a C-section ended up with a broken tailbone and had trouble moving and sitting for weeks...by the way she took similar pain medication and for a similar amount of time as I did after my C-section.
What many people forget is that the goal of a birth should be to have a healthy baby and healthy mother at the end of the process but that the birth style and process does not define the relationship between the mother and the child. Now, two years later, all I really remember about that day is looking at my beautiful son for the first time but more importantly I cherish the relationship I have developed with my two year old. We need to stop emphasizing the birth process as the end all be all. Its like saying that if you had a caivity filled with novacane and at home you would appreciate your smile more.....please.

By the way am scheduled for my second C-section in just a few days.

I had a c-section last february with my daughter because she was in the frank breech position. i found out february 7th that they were cutting me open on feb9th: at only 37 weeks. you can imagine how shocked and hurried i felt, but i also felt like i had no choice. they told me that my daughter was in slight danger because of her low weight, that her umbilical cord was being blocked by her body pressure and that scared me, but my gut instinct was telling me that there really was nothing wrong, she was just a smaller baby, as was i. when women are faced with life altering decisions and situations, especially when it comes to their precious children, we tend to obey. but we forget that we have the strongest voice, i could have said "No, i will do this on my own and wait" but didnt say anything because i wanted her to be okay. 'even if the situation was different and their was no medical reason, my doctors would probably been just as eager to deliver me via c-section. the recovery was aweful and weakening and i dont want to have to go through that again if i dont have to, so i i have already starting planning for the next birth by finding a good vbac dr in my area.because i do think that these days cesereans are far too common and widely accepting even for unsuitable reasons.

doctors get paid more for a c section than that of a normal bith..