Movie Review: Pregnant in America

As a doula, childbirth educator, and low intervention birth advocate, I had looked forward to the release of this movie with high hopes.

The film style was clearly directly copied from Michael Moore’s style without any attempt to express this filmmaker’s own style. Mr. Buonaugurio has passion, and he is right that many people are left in the dark when it comes to childbirth practices in America.   But he offered very little in the way of HOPE for people. Continue Reading…

2008 Cesarean Statistics in PA: Primary Cesarean Rates (4 of 4)

In all the flurry about VBAC access and VBAC bans, sometimes the “primary” cesarean rate can get lost in the shuffle.  I think the primary cesarean rate is the most misunderstood of all the cesarean statistics.  I see the media mis-define it over and over, and even occassionally I see medical professionals misdefine it.

And yet, because a primary cesarean, is, by definition, the first cesarean a woman has, it may be, perhaps, her most important.  Because it is the one that forever labels her as high risk in future pregnancies.  As Joy Szabo and many women like her have found, having a vaginal birth after the cesarean, even having multiple vaginal births in ones history, does not erase the scarlet letter that a woman “earns” when she has that primary cesarean. Continue Reading…

2008 Cesarean Statistics in PA: VBAC Bans (3 of 4)

On the topic of VBAC bans, 19 hospitals in PA reported having “De Facto” bans (D), while 5 reported having “official” bans (B) in the survey done by ICAN in early 2009.  Oddly, 2 of the hospitals reported to have a VBAC ban have VBAC rates over 10%–12.2% at Bloomsburg Hospital in Cambria County, and 14% at St Joseph Medical Center a bit closer to me in Reading, Berks County.  I have to wonder if in each of these cases, the person who was answering the ICAN caller was simply unaware of what the policy was?  Continue Reading…

2008 Cesarean Statistics in PA: VBAC Rates (2 of 4)

After publishing my initial post about the cesarean stats in PA, focussing on the Lehigh Valley, my goal was to continue on with an analysis of the whole state.  Jill at The Unnecessarean “scooped” me slightly by posting the cesarean rate for all hospitals in PA, but I don’t mind.  Thank you Jill, for jumping on board!  The more voices, the merrier!  Well…maybe not “merrier” on this topic…but we definitely need as many voices as possible if we want positive change.

I’m going to present a bit more analysis though still.  I hope this is helpful for someone! Continue Reading…

2008 PA Cesarean Statistics are Now Available! (1 of 4)

In an early Christmas present, the PA Department of Health has released birth data for 2008, including cesarean statistics by hospital.

The cesarean rate in PA in 2008 rose just under 3% over 2007, going from 30.05% to 30.86%.  Most likely this will still keep us under the national average…but just barely.  The VBAC rate dropped from 13.8% to 13.3%.  

Looking more local to the Lehigh Valley, some of the results are very sobering.  Overall, the combined data for the 5 hospitals in the Lehigh Valley with maternity units saw their cesarean rate Continue Reading…

Was Joy Szabo’s birth a “victory?”

You may recall that I blogged about Joy Szabo 2 months ago.  At the time, she was pregnant, and was seeking media coverage because she had learned that the hospital closest to her, Page Hospital in Arizona, was denying her request to VBAC.  Ms. Szabo’s case was particularly troublesome because the nearest hospital to her that would “allow” VBAC was in Phoenix, a 6 hour drive from her home, and Ms. Szabo already had 2 vaginal births, so certainly would be expected to have good odds for being able to achieve her desired VBAC.  Having the cesarean would actually have put her baby and herself at a higher risk of complications than having a VBAC would.

Unfortunately, Ms. Szabo’s situation is far from unusual.  Continue Reading…

Remembering Metochoi

11 years ago when I was pregnant with my first child, I learned on an internet discussion board about a parenting book that was “popular” and yet “controversial.”  I spent about 30 minutes reading up about the controversy, and promptly dismissed it as “ridiculous, no one would believe the ideas in that book are useful.”

A few months later, after an aquaintance recommended the book to me with exceeding passion, and especially when I learned that the church my husband and I had just started attending was using teaching materials produced by this author, I had to rethink the hasty conclusion that I had drawn.  Was this a teaching that I should embrace?  If it wasn’t, should I take some other action? Continue Reading…

Circumcision and the American Academy of Pediatrics

As you might know, the American Academy of Pediatrics is currently re-examining its policy statement on routine infant circucision.  The last two times this statement was updated, each time it stated that routine infant circumcision was not necessary.

However, this time around, a different decision might be made.  Continue Reading…