Natural Childbirth

[britjojo]

It seems today in the USA that you are lucky if you can give birth without having a c-section. Section rates here are three times what the WHO deems necessary.

So why is it, do you think, that we have such terrible rates? Is it just a CYA reaction to all the lawsuits, or do you think maybe there is something more going on-like docs making more for a section? I'd love to hear people's thoughts.

[kitsch_k]

i think Csections are usually done on women who got too big during pregnancy? most pregnant women i know are advised not to gain much weight during pregnancy to avoid the csection

[r8rpwr]

I agree, the C-section rate in this country is astounding, and in so many cases completely medically unnecessary.

People simply do not recognize how much more risky a C-section is for both mother and baby. And doctors don't tell people of these risks. Why is this?

I think a lot of it has to do with convenience, for both mother and doctor. C-section rates skyrocket at the ends of shifts, when doctors want to go home. That's appalling to me, that they would push someone into major abdominal surgery just so they can go to bed.

This is why I prefer a midwife over an OB. I want someone who will help me have the most intervention-free childbirth possible. Not someone who just wants to clock out and go home.

[LizF]

The increase in c-sections is also largely due to an increase in the "too posh to push" mentality. I personally plan on having my kids in a hospital with an ob, but I definitely plan to do it naturally. Plus, I want to be able to hold my child the second, she's born.

[kitsch_k]

Originally Posted by LizF

The increase in c-sections is also largely due to an increase in the "too posh to push" mentality. I personally plan on having my kids in a hospital with an ob, but I definitely plan to do it naturally. Plus, I want to be able to hold my child the second, she's born.

yeah holding your child the moment she's born is just too magical an experience for you to skip.

[bagcrazy]

I had a c section, my baby was in breach position (feet first instead of head first). The Drs tried "external version" to turn the baby around into the correct position, but it didn't work. I was offered to have natural childbirth (and would have had to sign release documents), they gave me all the pros and cons, they recommended a c section, and after thinking it over for 3 days, completely agreed. Everything went great and baby and I did just fine. Recovery was pretty easy also. Having your first child is scarry enough, but to push it out feet first - I don't think so. This is just my opinion though.

[pinkbag]

i think there are two main reasons for the astoundingly grwoing rate of the C-sections world-wide...First is that the doctors find it less time consuming and of course they make more money out of it..

Secondly, the pregnant mother either doesnt take care of her health, gains lot of weight, invites complications and hence is prone to a c-section deliver or she is looking for a easy and faster way out without considering the long term implications.

[kitsch_k]

i cannot imagine having a c section.... it scares the hell out of me..

[bagcrazy]

In my case, I was healthy when I became pregnant, had a faboulous, complication free pregnancy (I have never enjoyed anything more than when I was pregnant!), gained the 28 pounds I was supposed to, but because of the baby's position, it was safer for the baby to have a c-section.
(for some reason, I feel I need to defend myself here)

[bagcrazy]

Originally Posted by pinkbag

i think there are two main reasons for the astoundingly grwoing rate of the C-sections world-wide...First is that the doctors find it less time consuming and of course they make more money out of it..

Secondly, the pregnant mother either doesnt take care of her health, gains lot of weight, invites complications and hence is prone to a c-section deliver or she is looking for a easy and faster way out without considering the long term implications.

I have a friend who was having her 2nd baby (1st baby was natural) and was due in January. However, she and her husband wanted to have the baby in December (don't even ask me what the reason was). I was absolutely horrified by this (because of their reasoning) and even more horrified that the doctor agreed to a c-section. This put my friend and her baby at an unecessary risk. C-Sections should only be when "medically necessary", not because it is more convenient for Mom or the doctors.

Originally Posted by kitsch_k

i think Csections are usually done on women who got too big during pregnancy? most pregnant women i know are advised not to gain much weight during pregnancy to avoid the csection

I don't think it has to do with weight gain, they use to give you one if you had problem during natural birth. No women are having them so that they know the due date or don't want to push or have set in there minds it is going to hurt and that can't take pain. I actually had a lady tell me that it is going to hurt and I don't want to be in pain , and I told her I said you are going to be in alot of pain after it take them long to heal then a natural birth. I honestly think it is the women not so much the doctors you know?

[britjojo]

Please, I don't want anyone to feel the need to defend themselves for a medically necessary c section. Rather, I would like to discuss the increase in medically necessary c-sections, and why it is that the definition of necessary has changed so much to cause such an increase.

I think that designer c-sections, for the avoidance of pushing, of pain, of vaginal stretching or whatever reasons are given, are in the minority. I don't think that they, for normal people, account for the increase.

Rhoshoun is right, weight gain is not the cause of most of them. Yes, more pregnant women are obese now, but if anything that is more reason for a doc to AVOID a c-section, because the surgery is so much more complicated by the extra weight.

[r8rpwr]

However, she and her husband wanted to have the baby in December (don't even ask me what the reason was)

Probably to get the tax deduction a year early. Doesn't sound like too good a reason to me to have major abdominal surgery!

[bagcrazy]

Originally Posted by r8rpwr

Probably to get the tax deduction a year early. Doesn't sound like too good a reason to me to have major abdominal surgery!

Exactly, they (he) wanted the tax deduction early. I was just appaled but had to keep my mouth shut. It is there lives, their decision, but I sure disagreed with it!

[britjojo]

As would I have. There is a far greater risk of complications in both the mother and the child; a three times greater chance of neonatal death than for a vaginal delivery. I would never gamble with my kid's life like that.

[bagcrazy]

Priorities need to be re-examined. Medically necessary c-sections are one thing, but the baby's health comes first (in my opinion). My daughters needs have been before mine since I found out I was pregnant. I think that's the way it should be.

[britjojo]

I completely agree, and for me too it has been about my little one since the day I suspected she was with me. Since that time, I've done everything I could to make sure she stayed healthy.

[elaine130]

britjojo - i guess you meant "increase in medically UNnecessary c-sections"? wow - i never knew about this "too posh to push" trend! but i guess it's their choice - as long as the doctor can write it up so it's justified and paid for by medical insurance.

my two were big babies: first was 9 lbs 11 oz (ironically born a couple of months before the attack!) second was 9 lbs 2 oz. and altho i had about 26 hrs. of labor for both, i managed with my wonderful dh by my side and thru the use of lamaze breathing, to push each one out in 40 mins. and 25 mins. respectively! altho i gained about 45 lbs. my first pregnancy, about 2 months before giving birth we moved to a new home and i lifted heavy boxes and pushed around furniture--by myself when dh wasn't home-- to get the house in order, as much as ob/gyn advise against such activity. well, i think that it somehow put me in shape and when it came time to push, i was pretty strong.

i also have to add that i had a problem with my epidural in both deliveries because it completely wore off on about half of my body...so i really felt a LOT of pain and that was incentive for me to push with everthing i had to get the baby out. in lamaze, i learned that if the epidural works too well, then you're numb and can't feel the pain as much, so it's good to consider getting the type that gradually wears off. i wanted the gradual kind, not the one that wore off suddenly and soo completely!

lamaze breathing helped a LOT, as much as others poo-poo it, like my friend and her hubby. they said they sat in back and laughed the entire class. not to be malicious, but when they delivered their first child, my friend pushed for about 2 hours with no progress so she was forced to have a c-section. well, at least she tried.

i do suspect that another gal i know opted for a c-section for vanity reasons. which brings me to the topic of breast feeding - i nursed my first for 5 mts. and my second for a whole year - but this gal i know refused only because she didn't want droopy boobs! oh well.

Originally Posted by britjojo

Please, I don't want anyone to feel the need to defend themselves for a medically necessary c section. Rather, I would like to discuss the increase in medically necessary c-sections, and why it is that the definition of necessary has changed so much to cause such an increase.

I think that designer c-sections, for the avoidance of pushing, of pain, of vaginal stretching or whatever reasons are given, are in the minority. I don't think that they, for normal people, account for the increase.

Rhoshoun is right, weight gain is not the cause of most of them. Yes, more pregnant women are obese now, but if anything that is more reason for a doc to AVOID a c-section, because the surgery is so much more complicated by the extra weight.

[britjojo]

Actually Elaine, I meant necessary ones. Let me clarify;

In recent years the percentage of c-sections for medical reasons has increased-as well as the number of elective surgeries increasing. I would like to know the reason that in my local hospital there is a 33% medically necessary c-section rate, when the world wide statistics show that only around 8% of births need such an intervention.

[elaine130]

... gotcha britjojo. I'll bet the ranch that obstetricians here in the USA, specifically in cosmopolitan areas like tri-state NY/NJ/Ct, try to avoid medical malpractice suits by doing all that is in their power to do (c sections) in order to avoid fetal death in utero. could it be that elsewhere in the world, the use of midwives is more prevalent?

Originally Posted by britjojo

Actually Elaine, I meant necessary ones. Let me clarify;

In recent years the percentage of c-sections for medical reasons has increased-as well as the number of elective surgeries increasing. I would like to know the reason that in my local hospital there is a 33% medically necessary c-section rate, when the world wide statistics show that only around 8% of births need such an intervention.

[DianneMK]

I have had 3 c-sections and not by choice.My pelvis was too small for a baby to pass through,so my girls were all c-section babies..

[elaine130]

wow dianne - so glad that it worked out for you! did you have to deliver early; i heard that multiple c's could result in tearing? a cousin of mine had the same pelvis problem but had FIVE children via c-section! i can't even imagine having 3 kids, let alone 5!

Originally Posted by DianneMK

I have had 3 c-sections and not by choice.My pelvis was too small for a baby to pass through,so my girls were all c-section babies..

[britjojo]

Has your OB said that you shouldn't have any more children yet? I believe that eventually each woman's uterus gets too scared after a certain number of c-sections, and docs get to the point that they don't want to operate again.

[etali]

I've been told that I'm very small, and would have problems with childbirth. I don't want kids, thankfully - otherwise I'd have to do the c-section thing.

All of my friends had normal births - one even delievered their child at home because they hate hospitals. Is the increase in un-necessary c-sections just something that's happening in the USA?