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Time To Rally Around Our Midwives
Rights For Homebirth - May 2013 Update
Natural Oxytocin Boosters
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Postpartum: Unplugged

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Planning for Baby - Part 1
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Sweet Peas, Pods & Papas

Cesarean Support Group

Blueprint for a Vaginal Birth

While there are no guarantees that the kind or amount of preparation you do will lead to a vaginal birth, there are things you can do to increase your opportunity to have the vaginal birth you want for your baby.

If I could write a blueprint for having a vaginal birth, I would follow the Five-Point Plan outlined in our Bradley Method® classes.  Here are five things you can do throughout your pregnancy to decrease your chance of a cesarean when you go into labor:

1.  Exercise
Have you ever heard of a person signing up for a race on the day of the event with no prior running experience?

VBAC Preparation: Ask the Midwife

Our posts for Cesarean Awareness Month continue.  With their permission, I am sharing notes today that I took at an ICAN meeting presented by some Phoenix-area midwives.  The main presenters and most of what you see below are the paraphrased words of Diane Ortega, CNM and Belinda Hodder, CNM.  Also in attendance and adding commentary to some of the answers was another CNM in the area.  While all three midwives believe in and support the natural process, all of these women have had a cesarean themselves.

Breastfeeding After A Cesarean

Breastfeeding rates are definitely affected when a mother has a cesarean birth.  These are the factors I can think of off of the top of my head: initial separation after birth, introduction of formula or pacifiers if mom has a long recovery, milk production may be delayed if there were complications during surgery, pain at the incision site makes it difficult to get comfortable...thelist can go onand on.  



Even if a couple has done all the right things to prepare, there are babies who are born via cesarean for a Healthy Mom, Healthy Baby outcome.

The Family-Centered Cesarean


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The natural caesarean: a woman-centred technique
An inside look at a planned cesarean that honors the MotherBaby dyad and let's fathers participate, too.
A "Family-Centered" cesarean?  Woman-centered?  What?  Did you just read that correctly?  

Planning Your VBAC – Where to Begin

I open today's post with the reminder that April is Cesarean Awareness Month. The World Health Organization and evidence-based practice only supports a cesarean rate of 15% or less.

While a cesarean birth can be life saving and necessary, and we are so grateful for the technology when our students need this intervention, we encourage you to know the difference between a variation and complication. Is Mom okay? Is Baby okay? If yes to both questions, asking for time can spare both Mom and Baby from an "unnecesarean".

Meet the Doula: Nikki

Our "Meet the Doula" feature is back in 2013.  

This month we meet Nikki Ausdemore.  I first met Nikki at an ICAN meeting - her spirit and her candor impressed me.  Not only is she very knowledgable about birth, she is also an inspiration for many a mama along their VBAC journey - she had her vaginal birth after 3 previous cesarean births.

Mini-Bio: Nikki is a doula, student midwife, and placenta encapsulator.  She has been doing birth work for more than 6 years and has attended over 110 births.

In Their Own Words: Shara

This post was written as part of Sweet Pea Birth’s "In Their Own Words" series. For more info on the ITOW or if you want to participate, contact Krystyna Bowman: krystyna{at} sweetpeabirths {dot} com. Today's post is about breastfeeding after a cesarean.  The breastfeeding ITOW series runs through the month of August.    

Shara Cohen-Sandhu is fun-loving, red-headed mama to two lovely girls and wife to one busy Coach.  She is an advocate of breastfeeding, co-sleeping and attachment parenting, and she is active in the Phoenix-area ICAN chapter.

Cesareans As Bradley™ Outcomes

Some of our heros
Some of our heros
The B. Family
Some of our heros
Some of our heros
The M. Family
Some of our heros
Some of our heros
The M. Family
Bruss and I decided to teach Bradley Method® classes because we loved our birth experiences.  We wanted to share the same information we used to have healthy pregnancies and good communication in the birth space with other families.  We strive to impart this knowledge without interjecting our opinion – just the facts so that each family can make an informed decision that is right for them.  Above all, we wish for every couple to take responsibility for their child’s birth, and to enjoy the journey to a Healthy Mom, Healthy Baby outcome.

I want a VBAC - now what?

I have been attending ICAN meetings over the last year in an effort to be a better educator.  I want to hear these women’s stories: what led to a cesarean in the first place, what has helped them have a VBAC, why do some of them have a CBAC, what are their perceptions and experiences of the birthing options available to them after a cesarean, what kind of support do they need?
 
As I mentioned inlast Tuesday’s postabout the "cesarean epidemic", I am not going to write a lot on how to avoid one in the first place or the specifics of a Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (“VBAC”) since there is already a wealth of information at the International Cesarean Awareness Network (“ICAN”) and Childbirth Connection websites.
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