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Monthly Archives: June 2008
Cesarean a “Pre-Existing Condition”?
A recent article in the New York Times highlighted a new problem that women are facing after a cesarean. Some women who apply for individual insurance policies are being charged higher premiums and some are being denied coverage if they have had a previous cesarean section. It looks like insurance companies are now counting the financial risks of repeat cesarean on their bottom line and they aren’t willing to take the risk. However, more and more hospitals are banning the option of a vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) altogether, citing vague recommendations by ACOG and pressure from their own malpractice insurance providers, revealing they aren’t willing to take the risk either. Continue reading
Posted in General, Media
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Building Confidence in Pregnancy
Confidence is a real issue in pregnancy. We do so much to destroy the confidence of other women, mostly unknowingly. This doesn’t negate the damage done. However there are some glimmers of hope!
Lamaze International has just launched it’s new Building Confidence Week by Week free email newsletters. They actually span from week 6 to week 42 of pregnancy, just like my pregnancy calendar does, so you know I’m partial to it! This is one piece of pregnancy mail I bet you’ll look forward to every week and it’s something that doulas, childbirth educators (of all walks), midwives and doctors can all feel confident about sending their client to read. Continue reading
Posted in Media, Pregnancy
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C-Sections = More Preemies?
Not only has the rising caesarean rate been a concern to those devoted to mother-friendly maternity care, but now a correlation is more publicly being made between caesareans and premature births. An article on MSNBC, “C-sections May Be Behind Rise of Preemie Births” suggests that arbitrarily picking a date for delivery may indeed lead to the rising number in premature births.
From the article: “Premature babies are at greater risk for a number of medical and developmental problems such as troubled breathing, bleeding in the brain, birth defects and death. Premature birth is defined as delivery before the 37th week of pregnancy, rather than the typical 40 weeks.”
Due dates are estimations based on generalized numbers and cycles. Unless a mother goes into labor naturally, there is really no one hundred percent accurate way to tell when a baby should be born. Exceptions would be for complications, of course, which according to the World Health Organization should be less than ten percent — more accurately around four percent.
“There was an increase of 60,000 (between 1996-2004) who were pre-term, and 92 percent of them were by Caesarean section,” cites Dr. Alan Fleischman, medical director and senior vice president of the March of Dimes infant health advocacy group. He is particularly concerned about the number of unnecessary cesareans.
Between mothers recovering from major abdominal surgery and infants in critical health condition, our health providers should be concerned as well.
Continue reading
Posted in General, Prematurity
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