mybodymyself
08-06-2010, 03:35 PM
Passing this along to you guys on TPT because I'm passionate about this and ever since I can remember as well.
This quote is from August 4, 2010;
Volume 12, Issue 16; Midwifery Today E-News; Birth Change (http://www.midwiferytoday.com/enews/enews1216.asp)
Birth Change
Changing birth practices around the world is an important part of my work, and it is probably an important part of your work. Every motherbaby has the right to an optimal pregnancy and birth. When I attended homebirths in the ’70s and ’80s, the uterus had not yet been invaded. During the early 1970s, the US cesarean rate was 6–8%—not the optimum of less than 5%, but certainly more reasonable than today’s numbers. By 2007, the c-section rate in the US had soared to 31.8%. Between 1975 and 1983, the c-section rate in the US increased sharply, doubling from 10% to more than 20%. What accounted for this increase? Was it fetal monitoring or too many drug pushers in the hospital? (Midwifery Today, Issue 95, which comes out in early September, includes an informative article about drug pushing in hospitals.) Regardless of the reason, what we are left with is a humongous amount of change needed in birth practices.
As a pregnant woman, you have the ability to change the outcome of your own birth. The first and best way to ensure a positive outcome is to stay home. You will expose yourself to much less risk by staying out of the hospital. Hospitals are for sick people and you aren’t sick. Find a great midwife who has time for you and who understands that, if she helps you during your prenatal period to work though things that may hold you up in labor, your birth is likely to go well. During our recent midwifery conference in Russia, many of us came to the conclusion that probably 90% of birth takes place in the mind. The mind influences our muscles, so the more you can clear from your mind prenatally, the easier your birth will be. If you do birth outside your home, remember that drugs cause babies to get caught in positions that are not optimal for birth and lead to further interventions, including c-sections, so “just say no” to drugs during your labor! I have been writing about the dangers of ultrasound on my Facebook page, and we have written about it in Midwifery Today magazine, but ultrasound rates continue to climb. Today, US doctors are performing twice as many prenatal ultrasounds as they did just 10 years ago. Question the need for drugs and technology in birth.
While meeting with our sisters in Russia, we developed a “Global Midwifery Council” to tackle the many problems and questions surrounding birth issues around the world. I’ll write more about this global council soon. For now, I have a couple questions: For those of us who know all of this, how do we convince other mothers of these truths? How do we change the world of horrendous birth practices?
When we hold our Midwifery Today conference in Strasbourg, France, September 29 – October 3, 2010 (http://www.midwiferytoday.com/conferences/Strasbourg2010/), we have an excellent opportunity to discuss birth changes. The day before the conference starts, we will host an International MotherBaby Childbirth Organization (IMBCO) meeting. Those who attend will discover how to use IMBCO’s excellent, evidence-based, 10-step International MotherBaby Childbirth Initiative (IMBCI) to improve care throughout the childbearing continuum and enact birth change in your society. Find out more about IMBCI’s 10 Steps at http://www.imbci.org/ShowPage.asp?id=174. Another great site to check out, especially if you live in the US, is http://www.motherfriendly.org/. The job of changing birth practices is up to all of us who are interested in the emotional, spiritual and physical health of motherbaby. There is no reason for mothers to go through their lives traumatized when we know so much about the miracle of birth. Each one teach one!
— Jan Tritten, mother of Midwifery Today
Jan Tritten is the founder, editor-in-chief and mother of Midwifery Today magazine. She became a midwife in 1977 after the amazing homebirth of her second daughter. Her mission is to make loving midwifery care the norm for birthing women and their babies throughout the world. Meet Jan at our conferences around the world, or join her online, as she works to transform birth practices around the world.After that I do recommend that you read the rest of this and etc on the site as well.
Oh how I also I'm an subscriber to their quarterly magazine as well and etc along those lines.
This quote is from August 4, 2010;
Volume 12, Issue 16; Midwifery Today E-News; Birth Change (http://www.midwiferytoday.com/enews/enews1216.asp)
Birth Change
Changing birth practices around the world is an important part of my work, and it is probably an important part of your work. Every motherbaby has the right to an optimal pregnancy and birth. When I attended homebirths in the ’70s and ’80s, the uterus had not yet been invaded. During the early 1970s, the US cesarean rate was 6–8%—not the optimum of less than 5%, but certainly more reasonable than today’s numbers. By 2007, the c-section rate in the US had soared to 31.8%. Between 1975 and 1983, the c-section rate in the US increased sharply, doubling from 10% to more than 20%. What accounted for this increase? Was it fetal monitoring or too many drug pushers in the hospital? (Midwifery Today, Issue 95, which comes out in early September, includes an informative article about drug pushing in hospitals.) Regardless of the reason, what we are left with is a humongous amount of change needed in birth practices.
As a pregnant woman, you have the ability to change the outcome of your own birth. The first and best way to ensure a positive outcome is to stay home. You will expose yourself to much less risk by staying out of the hospital. Hospitals are for sick people and you aren’t sick. Find a great midwife who has time for you and who understands that, if she helps you during your prenatal period to work though things that may hold you up in labor, your birth is likely to go well. During our recent midwifery conference in Russia, many of us came to the conclusion that probably 90% of birth takes place in the mind. The mind influences our muscles, so the more you can clear from your mind prenatally, the easier your birth will be. If you do birth outside your home, remember that drugs cause babies to get caught in positions that are not optimal for birth and lead to further interventions, including c-sections, so “just say no” to drugs during your labor! I have been writing about the dangers of ultrasound on my Facebook page, and we have written about it in Midwifery Today magazine, but ultrasound rates continue to climb. Today, US doctors are performing twice as many prenatal ultrasounds as they did just 10 years ago. Question the need for drugs and technology in birth.
While meeting with our sisters in Russia, we developed a “Global Midwifery Council” to tackle the many problems and questions surrounding birth issues around the world. I’ll write more about this global council soon. For now, I have a couple questions: For those of us who know all of this, how do we convince other mothers of these truths? How do we change the world of horrendous birth practices?
When we hold our Midwifery Today conference in Strasbourg, France, September 29 – October 3, 2010 (http://www.midwiferytoday.com/conferences/Strasbourg2010/), we have an excellent opportunity to discuss birth changes. The day before the conference starts, we will host an International MotherBaby Childbirth Organization (IMBCO) meeting. Those who attend will discover how to use IMBCO’s excellent, evidence-based, 10-step International MotherBaby Childbirth Initiative (IMBCI) to improve care throughout the childbearing continuum and enact birth change in your society. Find out more about IMBCI’s 10 Steps at http://www.imbci.org/ShowPage.asp?id=174. Another great site to check out, especially if you live in the US, is http://www.motherfriendly.org/. The job of changing birth practices is up to all of us who are interested in the emotional, spiritual and physical health of motherbaby. There is no reason for mothers to go through their lives traumatized when we know so much about the miracle of birth. Each one teach one!
— Jan Tritten, mother of Midwifery Today
Jan Tritten is the founder, editor-in-chief and mother of Midwifery Today magazine. She became a midwife in 1977 after the amazing homebirth of her second daughter. Her mission is to make loving midwifery care the norm for birthing women and their babies throughout the world. Meet Jan at our conferences around the world, or join her online, as she works to transform birth practices around the world.After that I do recommend that you read the rest of this and etc on the site as well.
Oh how I also I'm an subscriber to their quarterly magazine as well and etc along those lines.