And I suppose Time Magazine is trying to make us more aware of the new trends with their article Choosy Mothers Choose Cesarean (Thank you Cathy, Euna, Kati, and Findley!) yeesh, and arrrrrrrrgh, and grrrrrrrrrrr.

your thoughts?

And this reminds me, now more than ever we need to get our birth stories out into the world…

Calling for Birth Stories!

If you have a birth story (preferably unassisted, but if it’s assisted it shouldn’t focus on the midwife- not that she’s not totally AWESOME, please don’t understand, I LOVE midwives! - too much, I’m looking for birth stories that focus on the mother, the baby and the birth process.) please send it in to be included in the next Hathor book (I’m too poor to pay you, but will happily give you a couple of the books and my undying gratitude!) Plus, you’ll be in print! My friend, Gurumama, is going to be editing the book so I’ll be passing the stories along to her and she’ll be in touch about whether they’ll be included or not…Please forward this widely!

Here’s what you can do to make the birth story exactly what I’m looking for:

1. remove the paragraphs where you’re making your decision to birth at home, or birth unassisted. for instance in my birth story of Gwyneth Kai, I’m going to remove the first paragraph where I blather on about wanting a birth that was free of interventions. For the sake of argument, lets agree that the audience for this book already WANTS a birth that’s free of interventions. Let’s ASSUME we live in a world where ALL women want no interventions. It’s a given. How would you start your birth story then…probably at the first contraction, huh? Okay, start there.

2. If you’re telling an unassisted birth story or an assisted birth story, let’s just call it a birth. Take out all the qualifiers and just birth that baby!

3. fear is fine, but how ’bout a little bit about how you ‘rise above’ the fear? And don’t forget to include those moments when you weren’t afraid. I like to read birth stories where the laboring mother ‘just knew’ what to do. It comforts me, and when I gave birth the third time I was able to tune into my instincts because I had read so many birth stories by women who ‘just knew’.

and 4. if you think your birth story can do all of this but it includes an intervention anyway, heck, send it in. Interventions happen, as do transfers, it’s how we FEEL (and write) about them that matters. Can your birth story tell how you transfered to the hospital and delivered your breech baby into the hands of some strange doctor, but still, wow! isn’t birth great?! and wouldn’t you do it again?

So, that’s what I’m looking for…please send them in! hathor at thecowgoddess.com or in the comments below.

Love,
Heather

this musing is related to this comic: cesarean awareness!

I LOVE this organization ICAN but rarely have blown its horn ‘toot toot!’ but, this was a video that was shown at the Trust Birth Conference which made me laugh and cry and applaud and stamp my feet…really.

Firstly: Please click here for more info on CPD (Cephalopelvic Disproportion)
Cephalopelvic Disproportion is rare yet is vastly overdiagnosed. Here are the stories of a few women who were told their babies were too big for their pelvises by one care provider, but fortunately sought a second opinion and subsequently birthed an even BIGGER baby through that same “small” pelvis.
VBAC = vaginal birth after cesarean
HBAC = homebirth after cesarean
HBA3C = homebirth after 3 cesareans
UBA2C = unassisted birth after 2 cesareans

and there’s a new video on the ICAN site that is just as good VBAC after multiple cesareans

Enjoy!

Love,
Heather

I was looking up something completely unrelated (wanted to know how much oxytocin a BABY produces at birth and when breastfeeding) and found this article, which fits quite nicely- and perhaps a cursory search would find much much more, huh?

Maternal hormone protects baby’s brain during birth

although I don’t have the time, ALAS! gotta try and finish this book Zines, Slings and Other Do It Yourself Things is being held up at the printing stage because the ‘form’ I fill out on the computer is broken. I’ve been waiting for it to be fixed for 3 weeks now and today is the day. It’s supposed to be done. So right after I post this I’m headed there to finish the book. But! I’ve been totally side-tracked by a website that promises to send you expedited birth certificates for a hefty fee, I filled out my request on February 2, so here we are in Mid-March and I have YET to hear anything. Well, come to find out the process stopped because of some snafu on their side. Yeesh! and finally, I know that I need to do my taxes but since these things seems to go in threes I’m going to wait for the third thing to be something else. I don’t think I could bear to have my taxes get bogged down in computer troubles. Of course this sort of evasive tactic may not be so easy to explain to dearest husband…who would like the taxes done soon, thank you very much. oh well. Perhaps I’ll just dive it, what could go wrong with taxes, right?

I’m glad everyone is enjoying the birth series! couple more to go!

Love,
Heather

I’ll be there, will you?

xox,
Heather

This Press Release Just in:

PushNews from The Big Push for Midwives Campaign

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, February 7, 2008

ACOG: Out of Touch with Needs of Childbearing Families

Trade Union claims out-of-hospital birth is “trendy;”
tries to play the “bad mother” card

(February 7, 2008) The American College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists (ACOG), a trade union representing the financial and
professional interests of obstetricians, has issued the latest in a
series of statements condemning families who choose home birth and
calling on policy makers to deny them access to Certified Professional
Midwives. CPMs are trained as experts in out-of-hospital delivery and
as specialists in risk assessment and preventative care.

“It will certainly come as news to the Amish and other groups in this
country who have long chosen home birth that they’re simply being
‘trendy’ or ‘fashionable,’” said Katie Prown, PhD, Campaign Manager of
The Big Push for Midwives 2008. “The fact is, families deliver their
babies at home for a variety of very valid reasons, either because
they’re exercising their religious freedom, following their cultural
traditions or because of financial need. These families deserve access
to safe, quality and affordable maternity care, just like everyone
else.”

Besides referring to home birth as a fashionable “trend” and a “cause
célèbre” that families choose out of ignorance, ACOG’s latest
statement adds insult to injury by claiming that women delivering
outside of the hospital are bad mothers who value the childbirth
“experience” over the safety of their babies.

“ACOG has it backwards,” said Steff Hedenkamp, Communications
Coordinator of The Big Push and the mother of two children born at
home. “I delivered my babies with a trained, skilled professional
midwife because I wanted the safest out-of-hospital care possible. If
every state were to follow ACOG’s recommendations and outlaw CPMs,
families who choose home birth will be left with no care providers at
all. I think we can all agree that this is an irresponsible policy
that puts mothers and babies at risk.”

The Big Push for Midwives calls on ACOG to abandon these outdated
policies and work with CPMs to reduce the cesarean rate and to take
meaningful steps towards reducing racial and ethnic disparities in
birth outcomes in all regions of the United States. CPMs play a
critical role in both cesarean prevention and in the reduction of
low-birth weight and pre-term births, the two most preventable causes
of neonatal mortality.

Moreover, their training as specialists in out-of-hospital maternity
care qualifies CPMs as essential first-responders during disasters in
which hospitals become inaccessible or unsafe for laboring mothers. In
addition, CPMs work to ensure that all babies born outside of the
hospital undergo state-mandated newborn screenings and are provided
with legal and secure birth certificates.

Currently, Certified Nurse-Midwives, who work predominantly in
hospital settings, are licensed and regulated in all 50 states, while
Certified Professional Midwives, who work in out-of-hospital settings,
are licensed and regulated in 24 states, with legislation pending in
an additional 20 states.

The Big Push for Midwives Women are Weak!

Love,
Heather