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Mary Birch does not deny that its C-section rate is high
Fred, don't you think that Doctors and nurses who are supporting the mass population of healthy birthing mothers should have training in all things related to birth? You and I can finally agree on one major point "And you are right doctors and nurses aren't trained on everything but neither are doulas and midwives" The point being all women need a midwife and/or doula in order to be fully educated and informed about birth and that the doctor should only cover his expertise and assist when only medically necessary. There are 2 sides and families need to educate themselves to make a Informed choice. Which sir was the exact reason for our Rally for Change yesterday. Thank you for an open mind and a great debate. :)— December 18, 2011 10:01 a.m.
Mary Birch does not deny that its C-section rate is high
The comment you made here about the "time table" proves my point exactly. Research does not support the 24 hour clock, but shows that 90% of labors start spontaneously within 48 hours of rupture and that little to no vaginal exams should be done during that 48 hour period to reduce the risk of infection. This is current, published and supported information by ACOG and yet doctors are still using the 24 hour clock. I am in no way saying that your c-section wasn't necessary, you are right, I wasn't there. Honestly the point I was trying to make is that Doctors and Nurses aren't even trained in "everything" that can be done. It sincerely wasn't to insult you or your wife's birth experience. It was to share the perspective that we as birth professionals have. Anyone who knows me, knows that I do not live my life on a "high horse". I am a loving, kind and devoted professional. Who left her corporate America career to serve women. I truly believe based on my experience and the experience of the thousands of other birth professionals around this country, that things need to change. So we will Rally for Change tomorrow morning and again in the future at another hospital in town. If you are at all truly interested in the other side of the story, I would encourage you to check out an OB by the name of Dr. Stuart Fischbein who is extremely outspoken about the current state of OB care, or look up youtube video on Marsden Wagner or Ina May Gaskin or Robin Lim, who won the CNN Hero of the year award Sunday night. I appreciate your perspective, I just don't agree with it based on my experience.— December 16, 2011 10:59 p.m.
Mary Birch does not deny that its C-section rate is high
Fred2468, I have obviously offended you. This is sometimes the problem with the written word when you can't hear the inflection in someones voice. I was merely trying to explain the purpose of the rally. As for Full Informed Consent. I have witnessed on many occasions the absents of informed consent. Just handing a legal form with all the risks for them to sign while in labor or preparing for the induction doesn't mean informed consent. Women are not being told that if they get induced before their baby is ready, there is a greater than 50% chance of c-section. I could go on and on about the risks of low blood pressure, of fetal distress or the many other highly potential side affects to induction. Families are not being told this, therefore, it is not informed consent. I also want to be clear that we are not talking about the high risk pregnancy. We are talking about the mass population of healthy birthing women. I will repeat this, In 1964 the national c-section rate was 6% and the most recent numbers just released for 2010, the rate is 36%. This means that more than 1 out of every 3 women is having major abdominal surgery in order to bring their child into the world and yet the infant and maternal mortality rate has NOT changed. How can you justify this? How is that ok?— December 16, 2011 10:28 p.m.
Mary Birch does not deny that its C-section rate is high
Fred2468, I would also be interested to know, when you say they tried "everything" during your wife's first birth, did this include discussing the possibility of cervical scar tissue? Have you even heard of that? Did your wife get in many different positions, like hands and knees to encourage the baby to shift in the pelvis? There really is no reason to answer that, because I have been working in hospitals for almost 10 years, I know they didn't. That's what a doula or midwife would do. The doctors and nurses never even get trained on how to do these things. People don't know, what they don't know. We are trying to help educate them. The best decision is an EDUCATED ONE.— December 16, 2011 7:57 p.m.
Mary Birch does not deny that its C-section rate is high
On Saturday, December 17th at 10am – 12pm, hundreds of women, men and children will gather in front of Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women in a “Rally for Change”. In 1964 the national c-section rate was 6% and the most recent numbers just released for 2010, the rate is 36%. This means that more than 1 out of every 3 women is having major abdominal surgery in order to bring their child into the world says Dawn Thompson of San Diego Birth Network. This peaceful rally is meant to help educate new mothers about the risk of both elective induction and elective c-section. The rally for change is meant for the vast majority of the birthing female population that has normal healthy pregnancies. Dawn goes on to say “Women deserve evidence-based care that is based on scientific studies, not tradition or "doctor convenience" based care.” The definition of Evidence based care is; the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. Many women are being told dubious things like; their baby is too big, pelvis too small, and low amniotic fluid, even after all of the studies have shown that the means in which they measure these things are grossly inaccurate. The greatest cause for induction, which 50% of the time ends in c-section, is going past their due date. Most doctors do not support a women going past 41 weeks even though their own governing agency, ACOG, states that post dates is not until 42 weeks. Even more incredulous is that many inductions are happening before 39 weeks of pregnancy. The Rally for Change is meant to make a statement and encourage birthing families to do their own research and understand the clear risks and consequence to elective induction and elective c-sections. Any induction that does not have a “specific medical indication”, such as Pre-Eclampsia, which the life of the mother or baby is in mortal danger, is considered elective. Women are daily misled by their doctors about the easy and casual affects of induction. Women are being traumatized by their birth experience and given arguable reasons for why their induction failed. Doctors rarely state the possibility that the failure was caused by intervening before mother and baby were ready for birth. Birth trauma specialists like Mary Obata, MFT, see women suffering from PTSD reactions caused by birth experiences that did not go as planned. She states, "I treat women with symptoms that include flashbacks and trouble bonding with the baby from inductions that resulted in complications and c-sections. The emotional and behavioral consequences are serious for both mother and baby." If you or someone you know, believes they may have had an unnecessary induction and or unnecessary c-section, please come and stand with all the other families to support this Rally for Change. Change only happens when consumers demand it.— December 16, 2011 7:48 p.m.
Mary Birch does not deny that its C-section rate is high
Fred2468, first I would like to be really clear that the Rally for Change is not about SMB. I realize this article does not show SMB in a kind light but the Rally was planned long before the article came out. We chose the word Rally vs. Protest very thoughtfully. This is a peaceful demonstration asking for evidenced based care. The rally is to bring awareness and education to the OUT of CONTROL Induction and C-Section rate in this COUNTRY, not just at SMB. In 1964 the national c-section rate was 6% and the most recent numbers just released for 2010, the rate is 36%. This means that more than 1 out of every 3 women is having major abdominal surgery in order to bring their child into the world and yet the infant and maternal mortality rate has NOT changed. This is the reason for the Rally. I believe that there are a lot of dedicated nurses and staff that work at SMB and that SMB is already working to make changes in their policies to reduce the c-section rate, which by the way they agree is too high. The Rally is meant to educate the public about their responsibility to educate themselves. We are not here to judge what path women take during THEIR birth, be it medicated, non-medicated or surgical. What we are demanding is for these women to have FULL INFORMED CONSENT, which is the LAW. You have the experience of your 2 children. I have the experience of hundreds of births. You nor the hospital is the one that has to hear these women, who have been traumatized by theirs birth say things like "if I had only known that could happen". Here is the press release below about the Rally. I encourage you to read it and really educate yourself about the subject. I appreciate your desire to support the hospital where you and your wife had such a positive experience, but the numbers tell a story at SMB and all the other hospitals in this country. Numbers don't lie. By the way, no where near 50% of mothers and babies died in home birth 200 hundred years ago. Most home birth midwives even today have c-section rates well under the World Health Organizations recommended rate of 10%.— December 16, 2011 7:47 p.m.