The Trust Birth Conference…
Hey mama!
I wanted to share a bit more about the Trust Birth Conference
I’m super duper excited and hope you are too…;o)
This was sent to me from Carla Hartley who is putting on the whole Shebang (CAUTION! if you’re pregnant, or otherwise overly sensitive to yucky details and horrific outcomes, please don’t read the stories below…suffice it to say, please birth at home ;o) :
Look at these and then say to yourself: Birth is Safe; Interference is Risky
*Top 5 Most Underreported Birth Stories of 2007 *
*A year-end review brought to you by www.nowombpods.blogspot.com*
5. *An Orlando mother goes into hospital to give birth and leaves without
her arms or legs.*(http://www.wftv.com/news/6253589/detail.html
The birth for this mother was smooth. It’s what happened afterwards that
left her unable to hold or care for her newborn.* *Claudia Mejia went into a
hospital to give birth but when she left the hospital, her arms and legs
stayed behind. She is now a quadruple amputee and the hospital refuses to
tell her why. She was told she had streptococcus and toxic shock syndrome
but the hospital will not tell her how she contracted them. It is unlikely
Ms. Mejia would have contracted the illnesses had her baby been born at
home. **4. *A Florida woman dies following induction of labor.*
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/05/19/news_pf/Tampabay/Why_she_died_a_puzzle.shtml
Caroline Wiren was a young, healthy mother who was excited by the upcoming
birth of her child. She touched his head, told her mother to tell the baby
that she loved him, and then she was gone. Mrs. Wiren had her labor induced
just seven days past her baby’s due date, even though it is common for a
woman’s first child to be born as much as two weeks after the given due
date.According to http://www.medpagetoday.com/OBGYN/Pregnancy/dh/4334 one possible complication of induction of labor is amniotic-fluid embolism,
which can lead to death.3. *Two New Jersey women die just days apart following their cesarean surgeries.*
http://www.nownj.org/njnews/2007/0518%20Moms%20decry%20high%20N.J.%20C-section%20rate.htm
Two young, healthy mothers entered a hospital in New Jersey to give birth to
their babies. Both had cesareans and both were dead within days. The mothers
leave behind two beautiful, absolutely healthy baby girls. This raises the
question: then why the surgery?2. *The most updated birth data from the CDC shows that the cesarean rate in
the United States has risen to 31.1%. *(http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr56/nvsr56_07.pdf )
This latest number (from 2006) represents a 10.4% increase from ten years
ago, and a 3% increase from the previous year. The report also indicates
that the percentage of low birthweight babies and preterm babies is on the
rise. Consumer Reports names the cesarean as one of the 10 most overused
tests and treatments (
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/health-fitness/health-care/medical-ripoffs-11-07/10-overused-tests-and-treatments/medical-ripoffs-ten-over_1.htm ).For more information on cesarean awareness and prevention, please visit
www.icanonline.org1. *United States** ranks among lowest of developed nations in terms of
newborn death rates*. (http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/parenting/05/08/mothers.index/index.html )**According to Save the Children researchers, infants in the United States are
more than three times as likely to die within their first 24 hours as
infants in born in Japan. The United States has the second highest IMR
(infant mortality rate) in the developed world. Latvia is the only developed
country with a higher IMR than the U.S.
Compiled by Gloria Lemay, Vancouver BC
Speaking at the Trust Birth Conference in Redondo Beach CA on Mar 7-9, 2007
www.trustbirthconference.com
Teaching on the internet at www.consciouswoman.org
bra1ny1 said,
January 5, 2008 @ 12:01 am
OMG, I didn’t even read the individual articles and I’m just horrified. As a mama who has never given birth (though still hold high hopes to do so), I strongly advocate homebirthing and want to thank you, Heather for giving me the confidence to do so. I also want to thank you for your ardent breastfeeding support. As I come closer in my pregnancy planning (as in planning to get pregnant), I started having fears of breastfeeding, fears that my mammaries are overly sexualized and I wouldn’t be able to handle feeding my child with them. After reading your blog the other day (Homebirthing #1), I had a dream that I was about to breastfeed and was feeling weird. Then, the second this baby latched on and started eating, the most innate sense of calm and rightness and well-being washed over me. I woke up with this feeling fresh in my body and knew with absolute confidence that I will be able to breastfeed. Thank you!!
wiffersnapper said,
January 5, 2008 @ 10:03 am
Bra1ny1- The best thing you can do to support yourself before/when you start breastfeeding is to find others mothers who have done it or are doing it. Make friends with them and get their phone numbers, so that when you have your first “Oh my God is this normal?” moment, you’ll have backup. I think a lot of people don’t have anyone to call, then they don’t know what to do about plugged ducts, cluster feedings, growth spurts, etc, and they give up. Mommies supporting mommies is the best way to go- and YOU CAN DO IT!!!! (If a lady with size 34A boobies can nurse exclusively for six months, anyone can!)
I’m appalled at the C-section rate in our country- and to say that major abdominal surgery is just as safe as natural birth is total crap. All you have to do is look at recovery time and you know that isn’t true- I was totally fine the day after my daughter was born- my friend, who had a C-section, took three weeks to get back to normal! (And, if the two are equally safe, why do insurance companies give you two days for a vaginal birth, but four for a section?)
amyphilo said,
January 5, 2008 @ 12:17 pm
Those stories are terrible. It reminds me of the mom they had on some national news program who got meningitis from her epidural (the doctor didn’t wash his hands and kept touching his pager) and was dead by the next morning.
I had some life-threatening side effects during my first labor and some horrible aftereffects so I would never repeat the hospital nightmare again. I went in for induction and I actually had trouble breathing and low blood pressure and had to be given epinephrine twice (once for the baby’s heart rate, once for me) and oxygen therapy.
The doctor didn’t even bother to come see me until I was pushing, and he didn’t hesitate to do a large mediolateral episiotomy and vacuum extraction. The next day he stopped by my room for a whole 1 minute and said, “Are you gonna live through this?!”
No thanks to him I did…
Needless to say the second was a home birth! 9lbs 15 oz and no tearing! And once again, here is another youtube video to share: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIKNyfIiMiw
KrisWW said,
January 5, 2008 @ 2:36 pm
Here’s another one for you - two British mums die after contracting Strep A in hospital after giving birth. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/healthmain.html?in_article_id=506175&in_page_id=1774
Becci76 said,
January 7, 2008 @ 9:06 am
I am just so shocked because I have just been realizing how dangerous inductions are. No one ever told me how risky it was having my last two children induced. I have decided to refuse an induction at all costs with this one (due in May)–and originally it was only because the pain from my first birth was nothing (no induction, no pitocin, no intervention other than breaking my water) compared to the next two that seemed so medical and scary. I will deliver in a hospital but I feel I have a good midwife and great support team to keep the nurses and doctors with their cords and needles away.
I have a friend who just gave birth via an *early* induction (39 weeks) on her first baby because the doctors were too concerned about her having a “big” baby. Well, I begged her not to be induced and told her that she was capable of delivering a 10 pound baby (which they thought she’d have) but she insisted she couldn’t even though I delivered a 9 1/2 lb baby as my first child and aside from a broken tailbone (I’m 5′2″) everything was ok. She ended up having a C-section because of “heart decelerations” after getting to 10cm. It is so heartbreaking to see her not able to get up and move around even a week later when I was out shopping and going to dinner with my visiting family days after my births. Heck, we even took a trip to Mt. Saint Helens when my third was 6 days old–what a blast! I just wish women would believe me when I say “I have been there–don’t do it.”
Anyway, Rock on! Let’s get the word out and keep mommies from having to go through unnecessary pain and intervention.
lioralourie said,
January 8, 2008 @ 8:07 pm
no doubt the U.S. infant death rate is 3 times higher than Japan’s (for first 24 hours).
U.S. gives Hep B shot at birth. That one is particularly bad. Many terrible reactions and deaths from that shot.
Japan has no shots at birth. (They start vaccinating at 3 months of age and I’d bet the death rate catches up to U.S. around that time).