I had the honor of starting my day out with the faces of my girls smiling at me, then off to help support a needy momma in labor, as she struggled through a long, slow labor. I only was able to stay a few hours, but I hope I was able to be of help to her. As I type this, she is in full active labor, with a great doula by her side.
Later in the day,I had a phone conversation, a mom looking for a doula. She told me her story, about her Cesarean. How it left her hurt, betrayed, angry, and left her knowing there was better for her and her baby. This time, she has done her homework. But she's still angry, and knows the battle ahead for her to achieve the VBAC she desires.
I can't help but feel so sad for all the women out there, who want a great birth, especially those VBAC ladies, who are having their rights taken away from them. Where else in society, to we FORCE someone into surgery? Unlike an illness, or cancer, the person has the right refuse treatment, or seek other options. Sure the mother to be can refuse surgery, but at what cost? Many women choose homebirth for this reason. But too many women don't feel that its the best choice for them to birth at home, and are left with no other choice but to go through a major surgery, all because of rules and protocols not even backed by science.
If a woman has given truly informed consent, then the Dr should support her. Not tell her she will kill her baby, or sabotage the birth with words of doubt and fear.
I ended my day by attending a Tampa Bay Birth Network meeting. We had a speaker tonight, Dr. Charles Mahan, MD, Professor Emeritus at University of South Florida.
We discussed informed consent, the status of the Cesarean trend and that we are practically the worst in the country, how we rank poorly with the March of Dimes an "F" ranking in fact, and much of what is driving these rates.
He did empower us though, with information on how to best tackles the problem, at a grassroots level, and the steps currently being taken around the country, to make real changes.
As someone who is passionate about educating families, so they can give TRUE informed consent or true informed decline of consent, I was thrilled to see the sample of a document being worked up that a mom signs, while pregnant, while their is time to really weight out her choices, giving all the facts.
So this has been a day of birth related highs, it has left my inspired and fire up to make changes for our community, for the birth community my daughters will once be in. What will their options be?
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