Chiropractic Care during Pregnancy

One thing a lot of women do not know is the importance of having a balanced pelvis during labor. Which is why as a birth advocate I feel strongly about Chiropractic care during pregnancy. Not only does it help you live a healthier life, but it also helps you to get your baby into the optimal position for birth.

Many women question me when I bring this subject up, asking how someone who has a big belly is able to lay down and really get adjusted properly. During pregnancy, many Chiropractors will steer clear of adjusting the spine itself, and stick to the pelvis, neck, and round ligaments in something known as The Webster Technique.

The Webster Technique was founded by Dr. Larry Webster, also the founder of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association, as a safe method to restore proper balance and function to the pelvis for pregnant mothers. The Webster Technique has also been proven to have a high success rate in preventing breech presentations.

Sacral misalignment causes the tightening and torsion of specific pelvic muscles and ligaments. ?It is these tense muscles and ligaments and their constraining effect on the uterus which prevents the baby from comfortably assuming the best possible position for birth. The Webster Technique is defined as a specific chiropractic analysis and adjustment that reduces interference to the nerve system and facilitates biomechanical balance in pelvic structures, muscles and ligaments. This has been shown to reduce the effects of intrauterine constraint, allowing the baby to get into the best possible position for birth.

The above is taken from the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association Website explaining further the Webster Technique and how it works.

Why do I wholeheartedly believe in Chiropractic care as well as The Webster Technique?? My own personal experiences, which all started in June of 2008 when a woman came to my monthly ICAN meeting with a breech baby, frantic because she was planning a home birth in the month of August, and if her baby did not turn into a head down position, optimal for birth, she would have no option but to be admitted into the hospital and have a cesarean delivery, which for her was a nightmare situation. In our area, there are no known providers who will deliver a breech baby of any type.
Thankfully for this mother, our guest speaker for the month was a local Chiropractor, Dr. Jason Jenkin’s who has since become an amazing mentor and friend in my life. He spoke about The Webster Technique, and this woman started seeing him immediately in hopes of this method helping to turn her baby into the optimal position for her to have a successful home birth.
I nervously and skeptically kept track on her care through e-mails, phone calls, and facebook chats. And then her baby turned. Nice, head down, and ready for his peaceful birth at home!

Shortly after this, mom went into labor on a beautiful summer day, and little boy was born into his own mothers arms, in the water, in a beautiful home birth. When she e-mailed me about her birth, I sat and cried while I read, and became a firm believer in something I have known to be “Chiropractic Miracles”.

Since that time, this specific Chiropractic office has had several success stories with pregnancy related care, including my own Chiropractic care during my second pregnancy. Including adjustments the day I went into labor, as well as the next day after my son was born.

As one of my steps in helping to have a great birth, and avoid a cesarean section in a society where 1/3 of births are by surgery, I highly suggest Chiropractic care!

Birth Stories Wanted

Here is a place where you can add any birth story including photos:

http://pregnancy.about.com/u/sty/birthstories/readerbirthstories/form.htm

What types of stories do you like to read?

What I Wish I Would Have Known About Breastfeeding

Welcome to the Carnival of Breastfeeding!

What I wished I would have known about breastfeeding was that it was a love story filled with moments of hate.

Nursing was so much more wonderful that the perfunctory feeding of my child that I had anticipated. ?No one I knew could have explained how the hormones would course through my body and make me want to sit and do nothing but stare into the abyss of my child’s eyes or stroke their soft skin for hours on end. ?I hated that people tried to tell me horror stories about breastfeeding, they totally spoiled the lead in to what was a beautiful thing.

I also hated what surrounded breastfeeding. ?For as wonderful and lovely as it felt, there were moments when I hated what happened. ?I hated that I didn’t feel supported. I hated that I felt like I had to justify myself to everyone. ?I hated that I had to leave my hormone ladened life of sitting in a chair and doing nothing but nurse for inconsequential things.

Were there bumps on the road? Yes. ?Was I able to handle them with help? ?Yes. ?Did I love it when that was given lovingly and with support rather than in a begrudging manner? Yes.

So my wise words to you? ?Find someone to support you. ?Even on the days when you’re down. ?It happens. Find that person who will bring you back to reality and remind you of the love that is breastfeeding.

Other Mothers share their wisdom in this months blog carnival:

• • ?What I wish I?d known then about breastfeeding? -Christina at Massachusetts Friends of Midwives
  • What I wish I?d have known then -Whozat at Lucy & Ethel Have a Baby
  • I wish I would have known -Maria at The Starr Family
  • What I wish I?d known then ? My list for next time -Rebekah at Momma?s Angel
  • You don?t have to grin and bear it -Melodie at Breastfeeding Mom Unite
  • What I wish I?d known -Robin at Birth Activist
  • 4 things I wish I?d known -Barbara at Three Girl Pile-up
  • AP Principle #2: What I wish I?d known when I started breastfeeding- Lauren at Hobo Mama
  • When breastfeeding begins badly, and what I should have done about it- Christina at The Milk Mama
  • Wish I?d Heard More Good Things!- at Fancy Pancakes
  • 15 Breastfeeding Facts I Wish I?d Known as a First Time Breastfeeding Mum- at Breastfeeding Mums
  • When Breastfeeding Feels Wrong- Rita at Fighting off Frumpy
  • Nursing Wisdom- Sarah at Cave Mother
  • Trust Yourself And Your Body- at BlissTree
  • Breastfeeding is Life Changing- Elita at Blacktating
  • What I wish I?d Known Then- Claire at Mum Unplugged

Obstetricians: They are listening

Think no one is listening to what you have to say as a birth activist? Think again.

OBGManagement.com featured an article about the recent Birth Matters Virginia video contest.

A national video contest to encourage minimal medical intervention at birth and inspire women ?to make decisions about their maternity care as carefully as they make other consumer decisions? recently named a winner: ?Prevent cesarean surgery,? a video by Ragan Cohen. The prize was a $1,000 cash award. Obstetricians may find the investment of 5 minutes to watch the video useful for understanding what some of their OB patients are thinking.

The contest was sponsored by Birth Matters Virginia, a nonprofit organization based in Richmond, Virginia, ?as a step toward our goal of educating women about their choices and options during the childbearing years,? according to the organization?s Web site, www.birthmattersva.org.

Sarah Allen-Short, the director of public relations for Birth Matters Virginia was interviewed:

The winning video cites the high cesarean section rate in the United States (roughly 32%), the risk of maternal and neonatal complication with the surgery, and the risk of future problems such as uterine rupture as arguments against medically unnecessary cesarean.

?I think cesarean birth has its place and times when it?s really a gift,? says an unidentified woman in the video, ?and it allows us to bring babies into this world that might not otherwise make it through safely, but if we choose care providers that really have faith in the natural birth process, then they will only do cesarean section if it?s really necessary for the mom and the baby.?

Allen-Short concurs with this viewpoint and points out that her organization seeks, overall, to limit the use of oxytocin, epidural analgesia, and other ?medically unnecessary? interventions.

?The more interventions involved in a labor,? she says, ?the more likely that labor will end in cesarean.?

?I hear anecdotally from doctors that a lot of women want cesareans,? she continues. It?s up to the doctor to educate patients about the risks of cesarean and to remind them that it is major surgery, Allen-Short says. ?It?s not just a teeth cleaning.?

If you’re a doctor who reads this blog, don’t be shy. Leave a comment and share your opinions on the video or childbirth advocacy in general.

Once a Cesarean, Always a Cesarean : The Tides Must Change…

As a mother who has had two cesarean sections, and someone who deeply works in the birth community, the rising numbers of cesarean sections across the country, as well as across the state of Connecticut is deeply concerning. Not just as someone who is educated about this, not just as a mother who hopes to have more children some day (and not be forced to have unnecessary surgery), but it is also becoming concerning to maternity care providers nationwide.

This morning I read an article in one of my favorite parenting magazines, Mothering. It was about the state of birth in the United States and the lack of access to real education, information, and providers who will attend a Vaginal Birth after a Cesarean Section, also better known as VBAC.? Numerous studies, publications, and scientific evidence have proven VBAC to be safer than elective repeat cesarean sections, which is really a no-brainer. Cesarean sections are major abdominal surgery which any surgery carries risks. There are some cases in which the risk of the procedure is out weighted by the medical need for the procedure, but certainly not at the numbers we are seeing them today. Connecticut currently holds a 34.6% cesarean section birth rate. Meaning when you step foot inside a hospital to give birth to your child, your risk for a cesarean birth is 1 out of every 3 women that steps foot in that hospital, some hospitals in the state have up to 45% cesarean rates making your risk go up even higher.

In some hospitals across our state, there are something called VBAC Bans. Hospitals that will simply not accept any woman who is planning or wanting to have a vaginal birth after a cesarean section. Meaning, either these women need to travel out of their area, opt for a birth at home, or consent to a repeat cesarean which they have no desire or need for.? Why is this all so alarming??? Below is a quote I took from the article about this subject in Mothering Magazine?

In 2002, 26.1 percent of US women gave birth by cesarean. The majority of these were elective repeat operations and first cesareans for dystocia, or failure of labor to progress, a highly variable diagnosis. The cesarean rate is the highest ever for this country. Eighteen percent of women had a primary cesarean, a rate also unprecedented.2 Of concern is the fact that young women between the ages of 18 and 24 have the highest number of first cesareans.3 A cesarean rate of no more than 15 percent is recommended by the World Health Organization,4 and a goal of the US National Health Service is a cesarean rate of 15 percent for first-time mothers by the year 2010.5

What stands out the most is the fact that after studying, running statistics, surveying, researching, and publishing reports, The World Health Organizations states for a country of our status, there should not be a cesarean birth rate over 15% and we are OVER double that number at this point in time.? Why again is this so concerning? In my opinion, and again this is just my personal opinion. I am not a Doctor, I am not a medical professional, I do not work as a medical professional in any capacity at all. I am simply a mother, who has extensively researched this, for the health and well being of myself, and my children.? I do not believe that women are fully being informed of their risks or even learning how serious this surgery truly is. It is the most popular surgery among women today, women electing to have cesarean?s with their first pregnancies, women electing to have major abdominal surgery for no medical reason in the thousands of elective repeat cesarean?s that are taking place today. Why? It completely boggles my mind. As a parent, I can simply not wrap my head around electing to put myself, and my baby at risk for no valid reason.

Below is another quote taken from the very well written and educational Mothering article.

Dangers for the Mother: Although cesarean section is safer than ever before, it is still major abdominal surgery with inherent risks. A woman who has one cesarean will always be at risk for a uterine rupture in a subsequent pregnancy, whether she labors for a VBAC or has an elective repeat cesarean delivery.With one prior uterine scar, the risk of a uterine rupture is 1 in 500, compared to 1 in 10,000 for a woman without a cesarean scar. Each additional cesarean increases that risk. Postoperative complications include risk of injury to other organs (2 percent), hemorrhage (1 to 6 percent of women will need a blood transfusion), blood clots in the legs (0.06 to 2 percent), pulmonary embolism (0.01 to 2 percent), infection (up to 50 times higher), and complications from anesthesia. A woman is four times as likely to have a placenta previa (low-lying placenta) in her next pregnancy, putting her at risk for miscarriage, bleeding during pregnancy and labor, placental abruption, and premature delivery. One birth by cesarean puts a mother at 10 times the risk for placenta accreta (placenta grows into or through the uterus), for which women often require a hysterectomy to stop the hemorrhaging. The incidence of placenta accreta has increased tenfold in the last 50 years.

A US study found that mothers are four times more likely to die from a cesarean unrelated to health problems, compared with women who have vaginal births.

These are not small risks, they are not minor complications, and some of the impacts on the infant can become lifelong issues especially with the increased risk for breathing problems in cesarean born infants.? These are not things I am making up, I simply am not sugar coating them like some women would prefer that people do. I knew going into the birth of my second child that having a VBAC was important, not only to me, but to my child, while that plan did not work out, he got several benefits of? attempting a VBAC.? One being, he came when he was ready. Had I scheduled a repeat cesarean, he may have been born prematurely given I had been given two different due dates. One sooner than the other.? The March of Dimes has also spoke out against elective cesareans before 39 weeks gestation because of the great risk for a baby that is simply not ready to join the world.

One thing that many women neglect to talk about is the emotional impact of a cesarean section on the mother. In the months after I had my first child via cesarean I heard a lot of ?Just be happy you have a healthy baby?? of course I am happy that I have a healthy baby, but that doesn?t change the fact that many women do feel negatively about their birth experience, and even in some cases they are traumatized.

No, this does not only happen in women who have had surgical deliveries, but it is so prominent in the cases of cesarean sections that there is an international organization that aids these women in their recovery, and offers them an amazing support system for their recovery, and future births. ICAN also known as The International Cesarean Awareness Network.? If there was no need for this group, it would not exist, nor would it have thousands of members internationally. But people do not want to really understand that there are negatives of the large number of cesarean sections taking place today.? Another great quote from the Mothering Article reads?.

Emotional Scars of Cesareans: Personal accounts from women who have had a cesarean, as well as emerging research, suggest that despite a healthy baby and a timely physical recovery, some women experience cesarean birth as a traumatic event. An unanticipated cesarean is more likely to increase the risk for postpartum depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). As in other traumatic human experiences, the symptoms of birth-related PTSD may emerge weeks, months, or years after the event.9?11 Women re-experience the birth and the emotions associated with it in dreams or thought intrusions. They avoid places or people that remind them of the event. Some mothers have difficulty relating to their infants, and some will avoid sexual contact that may result in pregnancy. They will also exhibit symptoms of hyperarousal, such as difficulty sleeping or concentrating, irritability, and an excessive startle response. Untreated post-traumatic stress often leads to clinical depression.12

A traumatic birth of any kind can leave a woman feeling disempowered, violated, or betrayed. Unless she has had the opportunity to process the event, in her next pregnancy a woman who has no way of controlling what she perceives as events that are likely to reoccur will sometimes choose to repeat a cesarean with a known physician in a more controlled environment.

It is comforting today to see the emotional impacts of this surgery, and the experiences being addressed in such a large scale publication. In my time working with ICAN and running the chapter here in the state of Connecticut, I have been contacted by numbers of women who are in need of a shoulder to cry on, someone who understands when they say they hated their birth experience, someone to talk to about them not connecting with their newborn like they feel they should, someone to just listen. If you think that all these women are ok, you are wrong.

Sure there are thousands that just go on with their lives, and there are thousands who know their cesarean was medically necessary for one reason or another, like I experienced with my second cesarean, which I fully knew was necessary. But believe me, out of the circles of women you may know, there is at least one that is hurting from her experience, but is ashamed, scared, or intimidated to share how she really feels for the fear of the oh so common, ?Just be glad you have a healthy baby? because that is hurtful.

Until you have walked in someone elses shoes, you should always think twice about what you have to say about their personal experience. That goes especially to those who have never had children, or had a cesarean section.

Original post featured on Pregnancy, Parenting, and Playtime which I also write for.

Tobacco Companies & Formula Companies

I was listening to the radio today and they were talking about how Canada is going to sue the tobacco companies to help pay for all the health care dollars that smoking related illness has caused.? It’s already been done successfully in the US.? This got me thinking about formula companies and the illnesses caused by the lack of breastfeeding.

Why isn’t anyone barking up that tree?? I know, it’s all the money and the lining of the political pockets.? But it makes me ill.? The Washington Post exposed the fact that lobbyists changed a breastfeeding campaign set to tell the truth but rather we got the diluted version to save their pockets.

Heck if you just look at something simple like ear infections - how many lost work hours and wages and health care money is spent in that realm alone for a non-breastfed baby?? And why do I feel like I’m the only one who is ticked off?

A Birth Activist Has Surgery

This week I went in for a non-birth related surgery. However, throughout the process I was glad that I am a birth activist. For one thing, what I’ve learned about reading before making decisions has never been more relevant. I had treatment options, though there were certain things that my doctor suggested. I knew I had choices. I knew I had rights to refuse treatment. In the end, I chose to pursue the treatment my doctor suggested, surgery, but I did so knowing I was informed. On the day of my surgery, the nurse was shocked when I - get this - actually wanted to read the papers she wanted me to sign. I asked the anesthesiologist in-depth questions about his drugs. These are things I learned from birth experiences. My surgery went well and I’m on the road to recovery. I feel confident about my doctor, my surgery and my choices. If every pregnant woman and new mother felt this way when faced with a choice we would be achieving our goals as birth activists.

The first Duggar grandchild is born at HOME.

Anna Duggar, famous for being the wife of Josh, son of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, had her first baby last night. While there were some cameras and video, like at many normal births, this baby was also welcomed lovingly into her parents arms at home in the presence of family, midwife and doula. Her baby weighed in at 8 lbs. Nothing seems too wild or out there, unless of course you think home birth is wild or out there. The funny thing is that the Today Show, infamous for their discussions of the horrors of home birth, laid low and said nothing. Why is that? Perhaps it was that Mackynzie Renee Duggar’s birth provided no drama.

If you’d like to share your thoughts with the Today Show, you can email them at Today@NBCUNI.com or send snail mail to:

NBC News
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, N.Y. 10112

Tweeting from the Lamaze Conference

Hey, check out our live twittering from the Lamaze conference in Orlando!

http://twitter.com/RobinPreg