Saturday, August 22, 2009

Informative Birth Videos

Cross-post from ICAN-Blog:

Three new, thought-provoking videos related to childbirth are available online.

This video compares the cesarean experience with VBAC for both mom and baby:

Cesarean vs. VBAC: A Dramatic Difference from Alexandra Orchard on Vimeo.




The video below discusses infant mortality, especially among communities of color, and highlights the role of reducing unnecessary obstetrical interventions in improving outcomes.

Reducing Infant Mortality from Debby Takikawa on Vimeo.





Finally, this video shows an economist elaborating on the cost savings of increasing out-of-hospital birth:

Less Cesareans with Induction of Labor? Read the Fine Print!

Cross-post from ICAN-Blog:

Media reports this past week have hyped a recent study claiming that induction of labor may actually reduce the need for cesarean. These findings appear to contradict previous research and generally held opinion.

However, these reports have underplayed and underreported the substantial caveats offered by the researchers about their findings. Although the authors do report a 22% reduction in cesareans in women who had elective inductions after 41 weeks, they temper their findings with the following:

1) These findings may not translate to many, if any, hospitals in the U.S. because of how obstetricians tend to practice in reality. According to the press release, “Prior research has indicated that doctors often tend to proceed from starting an induction to cesarean fairly quickly.” Thus, in order for these findings to be relevant, doctors must have patience to allow inductions to work. (Which begs the question: Why not just wait for spontaneous labor to occur?)

2) Induction of labor, on the whole, remains vastly understudied and further analysis is needed. As one of the lead researchers on the study states, "It’s pretty surprising that something obstetricians do all the time hasn’t been studied all that well."

With these substantial caveats in mind, it’s far too soon to rush to the conclusion that induction of labor is “safer” than spontaneous labor, even in post-dates pregnancies. The fact remains that women must be aware of the risks associated with any obstetrical intervention and have the freedom to make choices that they believe are best for themselves and their babies, not doctors’ protocols and hospital time clocks.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Twin Cities Birth & Baby Expo - October 10th


Only seven weeks to go until October 10th!

Twin Cities Birth & Baby Expo
Saturday, October 10th
10am-5pm
Midtown Global Market
Minneapolis, MN

The mission of the Twin Cities Birth and Baby Expo is to connect local families with empowering, multicultural resources and education that promote healthy birth and parenting and to celebrate the transformative experience of becoming parents.

The Expo will showcase local businesses and organizations that operate in line with this mission. We aim to connect parents and families in the Twin Cities with businesses and organizations that offer products or services promoting healthy birth and parenting from diverse perspectives.

Sponsors: We have collected an amazing line-up of sponsors for the Expo and our heartfelt thanks go out to them: Blooma, Childbirth Collective, Family Times magazine, Health Foundations, Helping Hands Birth Services, Lake Pointe Chiropractic and Wellness, Morningstar birth center, and Peapods.

Advertising: We will be offering reusable welcome bags with goodies and informational inserts to the first 350 visitors to the Expo. For $25, you can have your organization's or business' inserts included in the bags. If your organization or business would like to donate goodies forthe bags, let us know (e.g. product sample, promotional pen/magnet/waterbottle/etc). We will also be doing door prizes. If you would like to donate an item for the door prizes, please contact me.

Exhibiting: Prices for exhibitor tables are: $75 for a for-profit business, $50 for a non-profit. If you feel that the prices are out of reach for your organization, we encourage you to join up with someone else to share a table or contact us to discuss. The deadline for applications is September 25th.

Volunteering: We are also looking for volunteers to help out the evening before, during, and after the Expo. Email me if you think you might be available to help with set-up, clean-up, or during the Expo.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

VBAC Webinar

Presented by VBAC Facts, “The Truth About VBAC” answers all your questions about vaginal birth after cesarean giving you the information you need to make an informed decision.

Why is this Webinar Important?

We live in a time where 50% of American hospitals have formal or de facto VBAC bans, where women are told VBAC is illegal, and where the practice of “pit to distress” is common.

Women who schedule their repeat cesarean do so believing that VBAC is not an option while others fight during labor to avoid unnecessary surgery after unknowingly hiring unsupportive medical professionals.

Women are not told that the risk decreases with each VBAC and yet increases with each cesarean. Women are not told that there is an approximately 99.6% chance they will not rupture and a 99.95% chance that their baby will be born alive and without permanent injury.* In short, women are led to believe that VBACs are risky, cesareans are safe and they believe it.

* Risk of uterine rupture during a spontaneous labor after one prior low horizontal cesarean is 0.4% or 1 in 250. Risk of infant death or brain damage is 0.05% or 1 in 2000. (Landon 2004)

Objectives

The goal of the webinar is to make information available and digestible for people to make their own decisions, never to convince anyone to have a VBAC or homebirth. Although women are more likely to have a successful VBAC in the out-of-hospital environment, many women prefer hospitals and are looking for ways to increase their likelihood of VBAC success. The webinar provides women with fully cited, research based information as well as specific, practical tools to plan their VBACs in either location through a comprehensive review of the latest VBAC research.

Content

Over the course of two 90-minute sessions, “The Truth About VBAC” provides women with a extensive analysis of their options as well as the encouragement they need to successfully VBAC:

Part 1: Sunday, September 27 9:00 pm EDT (6:00 pm PDT):

* Why do VBACs have a bad reputation?

* Cesarean Section: Immediate & long term risks to mom

* Cesarean Section: Risks to newborn

* Cesarean Section: Risks to future pregnancies

* Benefits of cesarean section

* Case study of a hospital VBAC ban

* VBAC success factors

* The marketing of "risk"

Part 2: Sunday, October 4 9:00 pm EDT (6:00 pm PDT):

* Uterine Rupture: An overview

* VBAC: Risks to baby

* VBAC: Risks to mom

* Benefits of spontaneous vaginal birth

* The risks & benefits of hospital vs. home vbac

* How to select a truly supportive care provider

* Coping with unsupportive friends & family

* Reading list & learning more

The fee for this 2-part webinar is only $30. Click here to register.

Click here for more information.