7 VBAC TRUTHS

Let’s be real; there can be a lot of myths, misconceptions and out-right misinformation about the risks of Vaginal Birth After Ceasarean (VBAC). Educating yourself and finding a care provider who informs their practice with the latest research and references is key to planning the safest birth for you and your baby. Here are some things to keep in mind as you ponder and plan.

1. Your uterus is strong and it will heal well

Good research continues to show that the risk of uterine rupture for a VBAC is very low and is comparable to other risks faced by birthing mothers without a history of ceasarean. Avoiding induction or augmentation is an easy way to reduce your risk of having a uterine rupture.

2. VBACs are healthy for babies

Vaginal birth is the biologically appropriate way for babies to be born and as the norm for our species, carries with it many elements that are important for a lifetime of health. Exposure to mom’s natural bacteria gets baby’s immune system started the right way, and all that good squeezing during the birth means fewer trips to the NICU or worries about breathing issues both at birth and beyond.

3. VBACs are healthy for moms

There is no question that a vaginal birth is safer than major abdominal surgery. Some studies have shown that mothers face at least twice the risk of death if they have a ceasarean due to complications from the surgery like blood clots, infection and embolism. And forget those myths about ‘protecting’ your vagina with a ceasarean: a study of nuns showed incontinence and prolapse occuring similarly to their child-bearing counterparts of the same age.

4. A VBAC is a good choice even if you’ve had more than one ceasarean

Dr. Mark Landon et al found in a large and well-designed study that VBAmC (m = multiple) mothers were not substantially at higher risk than VBAC moms, and that vaginal birth should be a reasonable option presented to them should they desire a trial of labour. (http://www.scfmresidency.com/SCFM_Curriculum/Journal_Club/10-19-06_Journal_Club/Uterine_Rupture_Article.pdf)

5. VBAC labours come in all shapes and sizes

Patient care providers recognize that sometimes the real reason a mother had a ceasarean previously was because she wasn’t supported through a labour that might have been a bit different than average. Having patience, avoiding induction or augmentation, and having a birth team equipped with a variety of ways to keep mom focused and supported through her unique labour can make all the difference for a successful VBAC.

6. VBAC moms come in all shapes and sizes

Many moms have been told they are ‘too small’ to have a baby vaginally or that they are ‘too overweight’ to do the same. However, we know from experience (and supported by research) that if you have a supportive care provider, all sizes of women can be great candidates for a VBAC. For an inspiring video of women who were all told they were too small to give birth but then subsequently birthed a bigger baby via VBAC, go to www.ican-online.org/questioncpd

7. VBAC is your choice, not your doctor’s

You are the one that ultimately gets to decide what your birth will be. VBAC is not a special procedure nor should it be treated as such. A doctor may have concerns about a VBAC versus a ceasarean, but they are not the ones that will bear the risk of either choice for the rest of their lives. A good care provider will offer solid research and resources to a mother making a decision, and then remind her that in the end, it is her decision to make.

Krista Cornish Scott is the Education Director with the International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN).

Magic of Labour and Birth

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Having a baby is the true "change of life." Women who go through labour and birth fully supported often emerge from the experience changed forever. One of my patients who had her two children at home told me: "My births were absolute peak experiences of ecstasy and spiritual fulfillment. Nothing I’ve ever experienced before or since has come anywhere close. As a result of my experiences, I now trust my body implicitly."

SPIRITUAL AND HOLISTIC OPTIONS

In order to experience the transformational power of birth, women need to know the following: 

1. Labour proceeds on its own schedule. The delicate timing that is a result of the delicate interaction between a baby and her mother needs to be respected. (Risky labour inductions for "convenience" and all the complications associated with them [e.g., increased risk of pre maturity, C-section, and maternal death] are now on the rise all over the country.) 
2. Childbirth is designed by nature to be a peak experience that is joyous, ecstatic, and loving. The body of the laboring woman is flooded with natural morphine-like substances called endorphins as well as oxytocin, the bonding hormone.
3. Birth is sexual. This makes sense—after all, the baby is moving down the vaginal canal and stimulating the G-spot and all the nerves connected with sexual feeling. As midwife Ina May Gaskin says, "The energy that got the baby in is what gets the baby out. Many women experience the most intense orgasm of their lives when they birth in environments in which they are loved, adored, and fully supported." 
4. How you do it is what you get. Because of the heightened emotional and neurological receptivity of both mother and baby, the birth experience deeply imprints both mother and baby and impacts their relationship for a lifetime. 
5. Natural birth is safe. Studies have repeatedly shown that in healthy mothers with no risk factors, home birth is as safe as hospital birth. Perhaps safer. 
6. There are many choices for how to have your baby. In fact, there are more childbirth choices now than ever before—everything from high-tech hospital birth to water birth at home.

Article courtesy of Christiane Northrup.

LEARN MORE | RECOMMENDED READING OR RESOURCES

• Ina May Gaskin is one of the best-known pioneers of midwifery. Learn more about her work at www.inamay.com.
• Coalition for Improving Maternity Service (CIMS) is a collaborative effort of numerous individuals and more than 50 organizations representing over 90,000 members. CIMS aims to promote a wellness model of maternity care. 
• Doulas of North America (DONA) is an international association of more than 4,000 doulas nationwide who are trained to provide the highest quality emotional, physical, and educational support to women and their families during childbirth and postpartum.
• Childbirth.org, founded by doula Robin Elise Weiss, is a source of comprehensive information on pregnancy and childbirth.
• Birthworks believes in empowering women by developing their self-confidence, trust, and faith in their ability to give birth.
• Mother-Daughter Wisdom, by Christiane Northrup, M.D., Chapter 4, "Pregnancy: Trusting the Process of Life" and Chapter 5, "Labor and Birth: Accessing Your Feminine Power"
• The Wisdom of Menopause, by Christiane Northrup, M.D., Chapter 12, "Pregnancy and Birthing"
• Birth As We Know It, a movie by Elena Tonetti-Vladimirova shows the beauty of natural birth in water 
• Journey into Motherhood: Inspiring Stories of Natural Birth, by Sheri Menelli

Birth: Perfection in Action

Article courtesy of Christiane Northrup.

I’ve often said that if you want to know where a woman’s true power lies, look to those primal experiences we’ve been taught to fear—not coincidentally the very same experiences the culture has taught us to distance ourselves from as much as possible, often by medicalizing them so that we are barely conscious of them anymore. Labour and birth rank right up there as experiences that put women in touch with their feminine power, along with the menstrual cycle and menopause. But imagine what would happen if our culture believed that we required medical help to have our monthly periods. 

What if all women went to medical centers for menstrual "anesthetics," to help them avoid feeling the passage of menstrual blood, or for a procedure to extract menstrual blood quickly and painlessly, so they wouldn’t have to go through this monthly "nuisance." If, when reading this, you notice that the idea of menstrual extraction appeals to you, you will probably also be drawn to birth interventions. This is simply a sign that you’ve been talked out of some of your feminine power.

At no other time than in the act of giving birth does your body serve so directly as a channel for the life force—if you do not interfere with that life force. And at no other time can you see Nature’s wisdom so palpably in action—if you are willing to allow Nature to do what Nature does best.

The process of birth is one of Nature’s highest achievements. Nature in all her wisdom has designed it so that the experience teaches a woman about her inner resources and how to access them. If participated in consciously and fully, labour will also cement the relationship between mother and child, and, if the mother’s mate is present, among all three of them.

The teaching is embodied in the rhythms of labour, which entrain the body and brain of the mother with strength, flexibility, and resilience. You experience contractions, which force you to find the resources to deal with the discomfort and to go deep within. And then you have a period of rest and relaxation, during which you can change positions, get more support, drink some water, and prepare yourself for the next contraction. You learn to go with a situation you cannot control, which may involve pressure and pain. And you learn to trust that the process will give you the time and strength you need to ready yourself for the next wave of contractions.

The bonding occurs thanks to the extraordinary biochemistry of labour, which primes the body and brain of both mother and child with high levels of two potent neurotransmitters, oxytocin (which causes uterine contractions as well as intense feelings of love) and beta-endorphins (the body’s natural opiates, which cause euphoria and numbing of pain). Together these hormones create a biological imprint in the bonding circuits.

All of these processes occur naturally, and most women do not need any of the numerous interventions, mechanical and drug-mediated, that make childbirth in this country resemble a medical emergency rather than a normal physiological event. But pregnant women tend to go along with this overmedicalized approach unthinkingly, assuming that their doctors know best. If, however, you understood that birth interventions such as IVs, electronic fetal monitoring, episiotomy, epidural anesthesia, labour induction, vacuum extractor and forceps deliveries, and cesarean sections might have adverse consequences for yourself and/or your baby, would you still participate in them under circumstances when they’re not medically necessary—which in most cases they aren’t? Birth interventions that bypass the normal processes of labour and birth are the equivalent of clamping the umbilical cord before the baby has had a chance to adjust to breathing on her own—another medical procedure that is all too common in the rushed environment of today’s delivery rooms.

No one speaks more clearly about the perfection of the design of the female body for giving birth naturally than Ina May Gaskin, a professional midwife who is the founder and guiding spirit of the Farm Midwifery Center and who has been delivering babies for over thirty years. From their birthing center in a rural community in Tennessee, Gaskin and the other midwives at the Farm have overseen the prenatal care and attended the births of more than 2,200 babies, most of them born in their parents’ homes or at the Farm. They have a safety record for mother and child that would be the envy of any medical center anywhere, despite (or probably because of!) the fact that fewer than 2 percent of their births were cesareans, fewer than 1 percent were assisted by forceps or vacuum extractors, and none of their births were drug assisted, except in cases of medical emergencies.

"Remember," Ina May says, "your body is not a lemon. You are not a machine. The Creator is not a careless mechanic."

(a lemon in American terms means that something is not working).

LEARN MORE | RECOMMENDED READING OR RESOURCES

• Ina May Gaskin is one of the best-known pioneers of midwifery. Learn more about her work at www.inamay.com.
• Mother-Daughter Wisdom, by Christiane Northrup, M.D., Chapter 4, "Pregnancy: Trusting the Process of Life" and Chapter 5, "Labor and Birth: Accessing Your Feminine Power"
• The Wisdom of Menopause, by Christiane Northrup, M.D., Chapter 12, "Pregnancy and Birthing"
• Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth, by renowned midwife Ina May Gaskin

Article courtesy of http://www.drnorthrup.com/womenshealth/healthcenter/topic_details.php?topic_id=136

What does a midwife do?

The Art of the Midwife

Care with a modern midwife is truly an art form - combining the guiding, healing hands of one's most trusted advisor and nurturer with today's knowledge, science and medicine. This fusion is what sets midwives apart from most doctors.

A midwife's care is based on the idea that the woman is the central decision maker in matters regarding her birth and her child. Midwives respond to mothers as a caring and collaborative partner, highly trained to work with each unique situation individually. Her goal is the health and well being of mother and baby. She has the resources, wisdom, and professional training to safely guide the journey of pregnancy.

A qualified midwife will provide comprehensive prenatal care, guides labour and birth, and cares for newborns. However, her unique value is revealed as she connects with a woman and her family to offer a deeper level of care. During pre and postnatal visits that are three to ten times longer than standard doctor visits, the midwife listens to what is needed at each step of the process. She can then offer appropriate information, physical, emotional or clinical support, and options.

The safety and benefits of midwife care have been proven again and again in countries across the world. World Health Organization statistics show that births attended by midwives have lower infection rates, lower C-section rates, fewer complications, and healthier outcomes - thus, lower overall medical costs - than physician-attended hospital births. In addition, there is no difference in infant mortality between midwife-attended and physician-attended births for low-risk women. Countries such as the Netherlands, Sweden, and New Zealand, which have the best birth outcome statistics in the world, use midwives as their main maternity care providers.

Article courtesy of this link.

Waiting for Baby

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
The body is doing a lot of inner work to grow a baby. One of the healthiest things to see is a woman pregnant with her first child who takes the time to enjoy the process. Usually it is women in their late thirties or early forties who have seen success in the outer world who are now willing to abdicate the "benefits" of the corporate world and reassess their lives through the lens of parenting.

SPIRITUAL AND HOLISTIC OPTION
The tenor of pregnancy contributes to a child’s constitution for the rest of his or her life. It is a crucial time in a child’s development. And because the baby is part of a woman's own body, positive inner communication between the two can translate into a woman’s deeper trust in herself that continues after birth.


COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR UNBORN CHILD
Once pregnant, you can regularly communicate with your baby. Visualize your child in a pink bubble (or another color of choice—I suggest pink because it is associated with love) and send the message that she is safe and loved. This is an especially useful exercise during times of stress or when you are scared or anxious. You can also read to your baby and talk to her regularly. Hearing begins to develop in the first trimester! And remember, pregnancy is a two-way street. If you tune in carefully, you may sense that your daughter is also communicating with you.
Teresa Robertson is a midwife and a birth intuitive who helps women enhance the health of their babies in utero and their own ability to carry a child to full-term. She does this by teaching pregnant women to tune into and connect with their unborn child. Since meeting her at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York in the’80s, I’ve referred many pregnant women to Teresa. I found her approach both empowering and effective—it’s the essence of what I call "yin" power, the power of waiting, of being open and receptive. Teresa helps encourage the fundamental nature of femininity, and that’s exactly what it takes to both conceive and carry a healthy baby—or any other creation.

GOOD VIBRATIONS 
Make listening to music, dancing, and singing a regular part of your pregnancy. It helps tune both of your bodies. Layne Redmond, an accomplished drummer and author of When the Drummers Were Women, points out that the original beat our bodies were exposed to was our mother’s heartbeat. And that’s why the beating of drums still stirs us right to the bone.

Music has been shown to reduce anxiety, heart rate, and respiratory rate. It also decreases stress hormone levels, boosts natural opiates, relaxes laboring women, and has beneficial effects on the physiology and behavior of the newborn, including contributing positively to weight gain in both normal-weight and premature babies.¹

DON'T WISH AWAY YOUR PREGNANCY
When she was diagnosed with breast cancer, comedian and writer Erma Bombeck wrote down some of the things she wished she had done while she still had the time. One of those was savoring her pregnancies. She wrote, "Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I’d have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle."²

USE THE POWER OF THE MIND-BODY CONNECTION
Take advantage of your emotional porousness. Use birth affirmations regularly during your entire pregnancy to help you program your body and mind for optimal birth. In her book Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth, midwife Ina May Gaskin points out the amazing power of the mind to influence the body during labor. She told one pregnant woman that during her labor her vagina, vulva, and cervix would become huge openings to allow her baby to pass through easily. When she gave birth, that is exactly what happened! Put affirmations all around your environment—your refrigerator, bathroom mirror, Palm Pilot, journal, and phone—to remind you of your birthing power. Say them out loud or in your head regularly. Write them down repeatedly. Let the power of your emotions and thoughts do its magic with your body.


CREATE AN OUTER PLACENTA
Pregnancy, labour, and birth are physically demanding events that require a large outpouring of life energy. Every woman who is going through the changes of pregnancy needs to replenish that energy, not just through proper nutrition but through the love and support of those around her—the nourishing environment I call the outer placenta. Just as the developing baby cocreates her own placenta in partnership with her mother, so too must the mother "implant" herself into her community to cocreate this outer placenta. The urge to reimplant yourself into your own mother is particularly strong at this time. Obviously a supportive mate is a major plus in a woman’s ability to care for herself optimally. A carefully chosen, committed health-care team can also make a big difference. In general, the more effective and diverse your community of support, the better.

Article courtesy of the following site.

LEARN MORE | RECOMMENDED READING OR RESOURCES

• Ina May Gaskin is one of the best-known pioneers of midwifery. Learn more about her work at www.inamay.com.

• To learn more about Teresa Robertston’s work, visit her atwww.BirthIntuitive.com.

Birth Stories

Do you have a Birth Story or two you'd like to share? 

Have you had a baby at Genesis Clinic recently? What was your baby's birth like? Did you have an easy or difficult time in labour? We all love to hear other people's birth experiences and also to share about our own experiences, no matter what the outcome of your birth, whether you had natural or you had a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After C-section), or you tried for natural but ended up with a C-section.

Story telling is an important part of moving into parenthood. You have probably told the story of your labour and the birth of your baby over and over many times to your friends, family and neighbours, maybe even to complete strangers on the bus or when you were at work!

Each woman's story is unique and each labour and birth is unique for every woman. So whether you have one child or ten, no two labours will be the same - at least it would be very rare if they were. Have you had 2 labours that were identical? If so please do tell us about them.

So take some time and write your story. When you're happy with it email it here for others to read. By sharing your experience you can help other people to learn by things you have gone through.

Whatever your childbirth journey is, we'd all love to hear it! 

Do You Have A Birth Story To Share?

Share it with us and we will post it on the Genesis Clinic website under our 'Birth Stories' section.

Please email all birth stories to birth@genesisclinic.co.za

Coping with labour naturally

• Choose a care provider and birth place that will allow you freedom in labour and plenty of support.
• Practice relaxation during pregnancy.
• Use affirmations and visualization during pregnancy.
• Choose labour companions who will support and encourage you - consider a Doula.
• Read inspiring birth stories during pregnancy.
• Labour at home as long as possible.
• Make your location as comfortable as possible.
• Keep your space warm and dark.
• Bring comforts of home to the birth center.
• Go about your daily routine during early labour - sleep if it's night.
• Eat and drink as you need to.
• Move. Walk inside or outside, use a birth ball, slow dance - movement helps.
• Surrender to the power of labour and the power of your body, embrace it.
• Play music that you love, that helps you move deeper into labour, or that soothes you.
• Stand and bear down on low support, or pull on a soft rope support if it helps.
• Be grateful that you'l be meeting your baby soon. Be grateful for your attendants.
• Vocalize -use deep, open moans. Relax your jaw. This relaxes your bottom.
• Know that you can do this.
• Visualize your body opening and your baby moving down.
• Keep peeing. This gets you moving and some women like labouring on the toilet.
• Try aromatherapy. Massage with essential oils in a carrier oil can be wonderful.
• Have an attendant use counter-pressure for strong back labor.
• Use a hot sock, rice sock, or aromatherapy stuffed animal to apply moist heat.
• Use cool washcloths or a frozen hot sock, rice sock, or aromatherapy animal for cold.
• Get in the shower.
• Get into warm water.
• Have an attendant give you a massage on your legs, or anywhere that feels good.
• Don't try to escape the pain - embrace it, go with it. Explore it, be curious about it, if it helps.
• Feel the love of those around you.
• Talk to your baby.
• Look in the eyes of your support team.
• Do what your body tells you to do. Breathe.
• Trust yourself.