cool blogs have pictures and people that regular post! So, I am not there yet. I just can't carve out the time lately. That's ok, not that anybody reads this anyways, it is really just for my own release.
Not much going on lately. I went to my first birth since my son was born a few weeks ago. Just an awesome beautiful waterbirth!!!! God, out bodies just rock! It was good to see how well my son did with me being gone, too. He just turned two, and while to wasn't totally smooth, it went WAY better than I thought it would. Whew!! This fall I shall begin apprenticing full time with a fairly busy midwife, so he is just going to get better at being away from me. Wow, he got big so fast!
I had often thought about becoming a CBE or a doula....but I just don't think I could do either very effectively. I find it very hard to support women who have a perfectly healthy pregnancy and choose to walk into the hospital to give birth. Don't get me wrong, I acknowledge that there is a time and place for hospitals and OBs, but I seriously don't think more than 5% of births need them. Maybe even less. But, in this country, it is less than 5% who have homebirths, while the majority of the 95% remaining births take place in hospitals. I think this is criminal. And, firstly, we need to start with the next generation to change things. I acknowledge that come women do feel safer giving birth in the hospital, but they weren't born feeling that way...it is our culture who has taught them to feel that way. Most teenage girls are terrified of the whole process of birth. No wonder they are convinced they want the epidural long before they are even in labor!
Ok, I feel like I am going off on a tangent. sorry.
I feel so frustrated when I hear moms sharing their martyr birth stories, or about how their baby almost died, thank GOD they weren't at home! ......
So, something that I am reading more and more about is the use of oxygen in resuscitation of newborns. Very interesting stuff! There isn't really any research that shows that 100% oxygen is better than room air for resuscitation and in fact, some research to show that 100% oxygen can actually cause DAMAGE!!!! This is just mind-blowing to me! I just heard an old conference tape by Dr. John Stevenson. He has NEVER carried oxygen equipment with him to homebirths, he doesn't think it is necessary. Huh! I know some midwives who would NEVER attend a birth without it!
I used to think that the midwifery community was all fuzzy and warm and supportive of one another....but the more I become involved in it, the more I see that there are people who are VERY different from others and often tension between them that is so very palpable. Like this oxygen topic...talk about some strong opinions! But, to me, it does just make sense that room air would be best, esp considering how tiny the babies organs are, and how toxic oxygen can be when the tissues are OVERLY saturated.
Once again, our bodies just simply ROCK!
(Originally posted in Feb, 2006)
2 comments :
My son and I are a true story of a baby and mother who almost died during birth. I tell my story on my blog not to be a martyr, but to educate women on my clotting disorder, preeclampsia, and the HELLP syndrome that nearly killed my baby and me on the night of his birth.
I understand how reading some birth stories could cause a bit of an eyeroll when told of near death circumstances. But, please, do not presume that deaths and near deaths are not happening.
While it was crystal clear in my particular circumstance that I needed medical intervention in the weeks before my son's premature birth, it is not always so clear cut. HELLP syndrome and pre-eclampsia can turn from threatening to deadly in a couple of hours.
I do not condemn midwifery, homebirth, or natural childbirth as a whole. I think that there is a segment of the population for whom this is a real option.
But things do go wrong in childbirth. Our bodies aren't always amazing. Sometimes (despite our every effort to the contrary) they betray us and our babies.
I invite you to read the circumstances surrounding my pregnancy and birth. I think you will find it obvious that the circumstances are not a "story of how we almost died", but the truth of how we really very narrowly escaped a certain death.
Thanks for reading,
Lori
Hi Lori,
Thank you for sharing. I am very familiar with HELLP syndrome, and the midwife that I work with had a client who developed it preterm, and nearly lost her life (but both her baby and herself are alive and healthy today thanks to necessary immediate medical intervention).
Believe me....I know 100% that there are times when we NEED everything the medical world has to offer. Having just come home from one such birth, I know this all too well.
I am glad that your son and yourself are alive and healthy today. :)
While things DO go wrong in childbirth (as in all things in life), I also know that the vast majority of time things go just perfectly. As a midwife, I am trained to know when things begin to head south, and to seek immediate assistance; my job is to also serve normal birth, which is what occurs 99% of the time.
Thank you for sharing your story.
Love,
Radical Midwife
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