Do Your Research and Question ALL the Things!

I was a bit disappointed, if I'm being honest, about a post Improving Birth did today about Florida birth. The Facebook page stated matter-of-factly that no, ladies in Florida, vaginal birth is not illegal for you. Duh. (That's the tone I took from it, but maybe I'm sensitive). 

Anyway, the fact is that vaginal birth after cesarean in birth centers IS in fact illegal in Florida. True, it's one form of birth among many different types, places, etc. But my gripe is that Improving Birth is a resource for a lot of women, and one that many take at it's word as experts. How disappointed would I personally be to get my hopes up that Improving Birth says the birth I want is legal, only to find out it's not? 

I posted my response there about how it should be my right to birth where and how I want if I'm otherwise healthy, and that doing so would make me feel safe and raise the chance of my successful VBAC, but I don't like that most women won't read the comments and learn specifics. Usually when I make a fuss about VBAC restrictions in Florida, I'm met with "well, you could always do a homebirth!" I was met with just that here...The thing is that going "off the grid" shouldn't have to be our only option, though. Home births are great, but for those of us that would like to be near emergency care in case we LEGITIMATELY (not routinely) need it, we should be allowed that simple, not at all outrageous, scenario to feel safe in our labors, which is what most likely would result in successful VBACs.

The bottom line is: I feel like the message shouldn't have been delivered in such a "duh!" way when there's obviously stipulations and it's been shown time and time again that where and how you birth is incredibly important and indicative of your outcome. My two cents.

What do you think about VBAC restrictions? What sort of opposition have you come across in your pregnancy or labor/birth experience, VBAC-related or otherwise?

Guest Post: "Henry Louis' Birth"

I was told on Monday that my OB does not "allow" pregnancies to go beyond 42 weeks, and while this wasn't news to me it made me antsy because my first son was so eager to be here he came rushing out the day after his due date. This one was more than content on staying put.

Induction was set for 730am Friday. My waters broken at 9:18am and I was told there was meconium in the fluids. This altered my plans for intermittent monitoring. I would now be hooked up to wireless fetal heart rate monitors that would dictate the remainder of my labor. My contractions came on strong and hard, piggy-backing 2 and sometimes 3 without a break in between.  I was checked at 11am and found to be at only 5cm, they began talks of pitocin and augmentation of labor. This jumped my BP up and I began to panic. I remembered from all my readings, especially Ina May's words, fear and panic are the worst enemies of progression in labor. So I dug down, and found my mantra, "OOOOOPENNNNN".

After being checked again at 1:45 I was found at 7+ fully effaced and baby was at 0 station - here's what I had been dreading - transition. I knew it would be painful, but I didn't know it would be so short this time!! At 2:22pm I brought my son Henry Earthside in two pushes with the guidance of my midwife, husband and mother. He was born perfectly healthy, APGAR of 9, 7lbs even 21.5 inches long. And every once a little gentleman.

It may not have been my ideal way to go into birth, and the start of labor shocked my body so that my contractions were honestly way more painful than that of a naturally progressing labor, but it was short sweet and to the point! I labored for 5 hours 4 mins with no augmentation (other than AROM) no tearing, no medical interventions or drugs. I'm a birth Amazon 😁



This post was written by Megan from CT. She previously worked in healthcare but is now a SAHM to her two little boys. She plans to be a certified doula by the end of 2014 and her life goal is to become an independent midwife and attend home births. You can find out more about Megan at her blog.