1. Please give me your full name, how you want to be identified (full name, first name only, anon, etc.), your general location, number of children, number of cesareans, number of VBACs, anything else pertinent to your story.
Rachel Bailey, Wasilla Alaska, 2 kids, no c-sections
2. Did (do) you ever believe that you might have a cesarean? When did you first think that a cesarean was a possibility for your birth?
I never considered or believed that c-section would be an option.
3. When did your practitioner bring up a discussion about cesarean? Before labor? During labor? Was it a surprise?
It was never necessary to discuss it except as the legally required mention during a prenatal education visit.
4. If you had a cesarean, do you think you could have done anything to prevent it?
5. If you had a cesarean, did you or your baby experience complications? If yes, which ones and how did you feel about this?
6. If you had one good piece of advice for pregnant women or women considering having a baby, what would it be when it comes to cesarean prevention?
Go through a reputable midwifery, not a hospital!!! Ask around for referances, search online to find midwives in your area, ect -- but always talk to previous clients and choose someone you are comfortable with.
7. What is one sure way to have a cesarean?
Let the Dr break your water before the actual birth and/or be induced are the reasons I hear most often from other moms.
8. Did you try to prevent a cesarean? If so, how? (Did you switch doctors or midwives? Did you pay out of pocket for a homebirth? Did you stay home longer than you normally would have? Hire a doula? Stuff like that...)
I had all of my prenatal, birth, postnatal care with a well established midwifery center in my town. Yes, I did have to pay out of pocket for the birthcenter fee but all other care was covered by state childrens medical program. I also used a healthy diet to minimize weight gain and treated any health issues with naturopathic methods. But above all I trust Jesus Christ as the great physician to care for me! :-)
9. Advice for pregnant women in talking to those offering birth horror stories?
Tell them that you are believing to have an exceptionally great natural birth expieriance but appreciate that they are trying to "prepare" you.
10. Where did you get a positive view of birth? Where should others turn?
I was blessed enough to have many healthy, natural birth stories among my family and friends to encourage me. And when I compared them to the horror stoies others told of hospital births the choice was so clear!!
11. If you have had a VBAC, what resistance did you have? (If any.)
12. What is the hardest part of having a VBAC?
13. What was pregnancy like for you? What advice do you have in general for pregnant women? Feel free to add stories or quotes here.
My first pregnancy I had NO problems whatsoever --I didn;t even realize I might be pregnant until I was 4 months along. With my second I had a few occasional days of feeling vaugely nauseous. Otherwise I had 2 incidents in my second pregnancy -- At 10 weeks I had light spotting so I went in to get see what was going on. The midwife couldn't get a heartbeat so I was sent for an ultrasound which discovered that my uterus is tipped back so baby was too far back to be heard that early.(Spotting is a normal thing brought on by hormone changes. I just didn't know since I "missed" my first trimester entirely on the first pregnancy.) The second incident was my fault as I was simply going about life as I would any other time and did not consider the effects of staying up with my sister in law all night while she was in labor at the hospital. I went directly from that to my 36 week check up where I was found to have high blood presure and very swollen feet. I'm sure all the coffee during the night was the primary cause. So I had to put my feet up and eat turkey for 3 days till all went back to normal.
Both of my births were completely natural and attended by only my husband and midwives, lasting only about 3-4 hours. I did of course have relatives and friends praying for me through each labor. my first labor was intense but very much bearable. My second labor was much more painful back labor due to my daughter's position. Squatting while leaning into the bed was the best position I found.
14. Anything else you’d like to add?
Having a strong Bible based Christian belief in God and trusting Him to take care of me and my babies is the one thing I can definatively say brought me through both pregnancies with no serious issues.
By Rachel Bailey (not verified) at Wed, 10/24/2007 - 4:33pm |
Questions:
Questions:
1. Please give me your full name, how you want to be identified (full name, first name only, anon, etc.), your general location, number of children, number of cesareans, number of VBACs, anything else pertinent to your story.
Rachel Bailey, Wasilla Alaska, 2 kids, no c-sections
2. Did (do) you ever believe that you might have a cesarean? When did you first think that a cesarean was a possibility for your birth?
I never considered or believed that c-section would be an option.
3. When did your practitioner bring up a discussion about cesarean? Before labor? During labor? Was it a surprise?
It was never necessary to discuss it except as the legally required mention during a prenatal education visit.
4. If you had a cesarean, do you think you could have done anything to prevent it?
5. If you had a cesarean, did you or your baby experience complications? If yes, which ones and how did you feel about this?
6. If you had one good piece of advice for pregnant women or women considering having a baby, what would it be when it comes to cesarean prevention?
Go through a reputable midwifery, not a hospital!!! Ask around for referances, search online to find midwives in your area, ect -- but always talk to previous clients and choose someone you are comfortable with.
7. What is one sure way to have a cesarean?
Let the Dr break your water before the actual birth and/or be induced are the reasons I hear most often from other moms.
8. Did you try to prevent a cesarean? If so, how? (Did you switch doctors or midwives? Did you pay out of pocket for a homebirth? Did you stay home longer than you normally would have? Hire a doula? Stuff like that...)
I had all of my prenatal, birth, postnatal care with a well established midwifery center in my town. Yes, I did have to pay out of pocket for the birthcenter fee but all other care was covered by state childrens medical program. I also used a healthy diet to minimize weight gain and treated any health issues with naturopathic methods. But above all I trust Jesus Christ as the great physician to care for me! :-)
9. Advice for pregnant women in talking to those offering birth horror stories?
Tell them that you are believing to have an exceptionally great natural birth expieriance but appreciate that they are trying to "prepare" you.
10. Where did you get a positive view of birth? Where should others turn?
I was blessed enough to have many healthy, natural birth stories among my family and friends to encourage me. And when I compared them to the horror stoies others told of hospital births the choice was so clear!!
11. If you have had a VBAC, what resistance did you have? (If any.)
12. What is the hardest part of having a VBAC?
13. What was pregnancy like for you? What advice do you have in general for pregnant women? Feel free to add stories or quotes here.
My first pregnancy I had NO problems whatsoever --I didn;t even realize I might be pregnant until I was 4 months along. With my second I had a few occasional days of feeling vaugely nauseous. Otherwise I had 2 incidents in my second pregnancy -- At 10 weeks I had light spotting so I went in to get see what was going on. The midwife couldn't get a heartbeat so I was sent for an ultrasound which discovered that my uterus is tipped back so baby was too far back to be heard that early.(Spotting is a normal thing brought on by hormone changes. I just didn't know since I "missed" my first trimester entirely on the first pregnancy.) The second incident was my fault as I was simply going about life as I would any other time and did not consider the effects of staying up with my sister in law all night while she was in labor at the hospital. I went directly from that to my 36 week check up where I was found to have high blood presure and very swollen feet. I'm sure all the coffee during the night was the primary cause. So I had to put my feet up and eat turkey for 3 days till all went back to normal.
Both of my births were completely natural and attended by only my husband and midwives, lasting only about 3-4 hours. I did of course have relatives and friends praying for me through each labor. my first labor was intense but very much bearable. My second labor was much more painful back labor due to my daughter's position. Squatting while leaning into the bed was the best position I found.
14. Anything else you’d like to add?
Having a strong Bible based Christian belief in God and trusting Him to take care of me and my babies is the one thing I can definatively say brought me through both pregnancies with no serious issues.