Tag: cesarean section

Cesarean Awareness Month

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Do you know what all these women have in common? You may have already guessed that they are all women who work in birth. This group includes a Unit Director, Clinical Specialist, Midwife, many Labor & Delivery Nurses, Unit Secretary, Test Nurse, Unit Assistant’s to our inpatient and outpatient facilities and a NICU Nurse.

But would have guessed that they have all had cesareans? Believe it or not, there are even more women that I work with (including myself) who have had at least one cesarean birth. A number of women in this group have also gone on to have successful VBACs.

Indications in this group for c-sections:

  • Multiples
  • Fetal Intolerance to Labor
  • Failure to Descend
  • Failure to Progress
  • Breech
  • Persistent Category II Tracing
  • Attempted Home Birth

When I care for women labor, there are often times that they ask if I have children of my own & how I birthed them. When I share that I have had two births by cesearan, they primary reaction is surprise. “Really? You’ve had a c-section?” Yep. Just because we work in birth does not mean we all have vaginal deliveries. Have you guys ever heard of the “nurse curse”. Just kidding… kind of.

While there are a number of reasons for why we have cesareans, we as birth workers work so hard to avoid taking you there. According to the International Cesarean Awareness Network, “Researchers estimate that almost half of the cesareans performed could be safely prevented”. Advocating for our patients and educating them of their choices during labor and birth can help reduce the amount avoidable c-sections. It’s not enough to just inform our patients. It’s also important that we work on removing our own biases when it comes to cesareans. ICAN is a great resource for birth workers to use as a resource for ourselves and guide our patients.

We also know from our experience in birth that there are cesareans that are necessary and can save the lives of birther and baby. The emergency cesareans, the cesareans for anatomical differences, cesareans for babies who cannot rotate out of a malposition despite all the hard work by the birther, cesareans for previous birth trauma, and the list goes on.

It is so important for birthing people to be able to process their cesarean birth. Birth workers can help them be heard by asking and listening. That is all. It is their choice whether or not they would like to share or not, but we can always offer an ear.

Women who have cesarean births have a very different road to recovery comparatively to vaginal births. We can help support them through and educate them on what to expect in the early days, months and coming years.

Having open discussions with patients and birth workers regarding vaginal birth after cesarean is also instrumental in preventing future avoidable c-sections.

Have you had a c-section? Would you like to share your story?

For more information and resources check out below…

Hi, my name is Kim & I love birth.
I have been a Registered Nurse for ten years, with the last five specializing in Labor & Delivery.
I love human connection & the art of story telling. I believe it can be a major catalyst for change.
I would love to help you share your story or advice so that we may better support each other and the people we care for. 

Do you love birth? Heck yeah you do!

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Rebecca

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Founder of Iris Doula Care, Birth Doula

Griffin, Georgia

I knew from a young age that I wanted to be involved in birth work. At age 10 years old I was able to witness the birth of my younger sister. It was not the plan for me to attend. My mother’s quick labor, lack of babysitters and wildly different hospital policies than today made this possible. And while this experience would have scarred some young people, it lit a fire inside of me.

I found my passion early and began to pursue it, serving expecting women. It was not until the births of my own children that I realized how proper support is vital during birth and postpartum. You see, each of my births were vastly different. This has allowed me to view birth, postpartum and even loss in multiple lights.

  My first born came earth side at 40 weeks and 4/7 days. We attempted natural induction methods at home and we tried all the things. I mean ALL of them! From my experience, castor oil was not the best route to take. While it did kick start labor, I was not effaced enough for things to progress smoothly. About mid-way through my labor, we discovered that he was occiput posterior or “sunny side up” which contributed to progression being slow and painful. After thirty long hours of contractions, I chose to have an epidural and it picked up quickly. I mean, I still pushed for two hours, but in spite of the ups and downs, I was able to birth him OP after thirty-eight hours of labor.

  My second pregnancy, unfortunately, did not come to full fruition as I miscarried at 10 weeks gestation. I went to my local ER around 10:00 pm after speaking with my midwife about spotting I was having. We waited to be seen for hours. My spotting changed drastically to large amounts of bleeding while waiting in the ER. When I asked for assistance the staff offered me nothing, not even something that I was able to change into. I was told, “we see blood all of the time. It’s not an emergency”. The intake nurse also told me that she had personally had multiple miscarriages and that they were “no big deal”. I’m uncertain as to why she thought that was appropriate to say to a mother who was terrified about losing her baby. If that was not enough, I was also trying to contact my boss who was out of state on vacation. When I finally reached her to let her know what was happening she said, “I’m on vacation. You will need to find someone to cover your shifts”. At the time I worked for a maternity clothing store. I never returned to work.

The ER doctor conducted an ultrasound that showed the baby only measuring 6 weeks and I had likely lost it weeks ago. I was able to leave the ER after that traumatic experience and release everything in the comfort of my home. Though I would come to conceive my rainbow baby, the baby I lost that night forever remains in my heart and will never be replaced.

   My third pregnancy and second full term birth was a whirlwind. I chose to be cared for by a midwifery group during this pregnancy and was pleased at how attentive they were to me. They found my baby to be OP (again!) around 37 weeks gestation. I spent the next few weeks trying all the tricks in the book to get baby in prime birthing position. It was not until I visited the chiropractor, whose adjustment immediately provided me relief, that baby moved into the occiput anterior position. I was had my adjustment at 9:00 am and by 2:00 pm contractions began. They continued on into the night and gained intensity with every hour. We made our way to the hospital when I began groaning that was coming from deep within. I was sure I was going to have him in the car.

We arrived at the hospital and I was 6 centimeters dilated. I begged the midwife for an epidural and she informed me that I most likely did not have time. As I moved from the triage room to the birthing suite and was transitioning on the walk over. When the midwife broke my water, my baby decided he wanted to come too. The midwife began to yell for assistance, basically holding him inside until she had an extra pair of hands in the room! Moments later and medication free, I delivered our second baby boy. My labor time was drastically reduced by my baby being in the correct position for delivery. I always recommend people seeing a chiropractor during pregnancy for this very reason.

My fourth and final pregnancy was quite an adventure. I had a tougher time with morning sickness and fatigue, but attributed it to being a mother of two young boys. After finding out we were having a girl, our hearts were filled with joy! The rest of the pregnancy moved along smoothly until I had an ultrasound during my 35-week appointment. I had never had this done with my previous pregnancies, but they were concerned about the presentation of my belly upon palpation. I am so very thankful that an ultrasound was performed because it was found that our baby was in the frank breech position and that my amniotic fluid index was exceptionally low, (4 on a scale of 1-10). My midwife sent me to the labor and delivery unit to be monitored and receive fluids two days before Thanksgiving. Thankfully, my baby was showing no signs of distress during our stay. I was released to home in the morning to continue with rest and increasing my oral fluids. The plan was for me to return for a follow-up on Saturday to have another AFI and NST.

I rested as much as I could over the holiday and even able to squeeze in an appointment with my chiropractor who attempted to assist baby into optimum positioning. When I returned on Saturday, which also happened to be my birthday, baby was still in a breech position and my AFI had decreased again. Because of the findings, it was recommended that she be delivered that day at 36 weeks gestation for her wellbeing. I immediately began being prepped for a cesarean delivery and while unexpected, received the most wonderful birthday gift in my arms a couple hours later.

I found my c-section birth to be my most difficult for various reasons. The ones most prominent in my mind are the spinal tap caused me to itch uncontrollably all over my body and was quite painful. I also had a skin reaction from the steri-strips along my scar line. While I am thankful for modern interventions in times like these, I was disappointed with how difficult my recovery was. It was so different from my vaginal births. I had not realized all the different struggles that can come along with birthing this way.

My variety of births has given me perspective that no everyone possesses. And while I did not plan it this way, I consider it to be a privilege. My stories can help past and future mothers, and/or families who are experiencing a similar situation. I hope to use my personal experience in providing the most exceptional care for the birthing community.

Jasmin

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Jasmin

Founder of More Than Maternal, Masters in Business Administration

Wilmington, North Carolina

Pregnancy was never part of the equation, at least not at the time it wasn’t.

My life was in the ultimate transition when we found out that we were pregnant. I was a new graduate student who was newly moved, newly employed, and newly engaged while on the rocks with my fiancé. And to add icing on the cake my fiancé (who’s in the military) was just informed that he was ordered to deploy to Japan for six months. Not only did it mean that he would be away for most of my pregnancy; but that I would also be alone working in North Carolina, pursuing my MBA, while attempting to heal a fractured relationship from thousands of miles away. To say I was overwhelmed would be an understatement. I was confused for multiple reasons (one because our birth control failed us), unprepared, and wasn’t sure I had the strength to handle all of this on my own.

I was very scared.  We both were. So much so, to the point where I decided to seek alternative options. I made an appointment at Planned Parenthood to consider what options were available for us. There we received our first ultrasound that officially confirmed our pregnancy. There are many people who have strong opinions on organizations like Planned Parenthood; but as a woman, I can only speak to my experience alone. For someone who felt lost and confused, it was there that I received my first level of support and education when it came to my reproductive rights. I never once was pressured to do anything I wasn’t comfortable with it. As I recall the doctor saying, “we will always be here, take the time you need to make sure you truly want to do this. This is your decision and yours alone. We know how hard this can be and we are here to support you with whichever decision you decide to make”. Those were the words that I desperately needed to hear. It was supportive, it was compassionate, and it was empowering. Most importantly, it wasn’t judgmental, and it reminded me that I am ultimately the one that is in control. It gave me the agency to realize that no matter how overwhelming these next nine months might be, I had the willpower, strength, and faith to pursue this new journey.

I soon realized that there were so many things to do in such a little amount of time that I didn’t know where to start. My schedule did not afford me the time to read pregnancy blogs, watch YouTube videos of pregnancy “must haves”, or dissect pregnancy articles that were mostly based in personal opinion.

The advice I received from family members were valuable, but also outdated. Doctor’s visits were centered on my baby and less so on me. I slowly felt like people weren’t seeing me as Jasmin, but more so as a vessel for this beautiful growing baby. My values of career, ambition, fun, and free spirit were being dimmed by everyone’s growing value (and concern) of my baby. It all started to feel like a zero-sum game where I needed to choose either my identity or my baby, making little room for both to harmoniously coexist. Working too hard at work or school left me with feelings of “don’t overdo it, you don’t want to add stress to the baby”. And sleeping the whole day would leave feelings of guilt and self-talk of “I could/should be doing x y z right now.” I felt like I had to choose one over the other but could never have both.

It wasn’t until I was introduced to pregnancy’s two best friends-surrender and intuition- that I finally understood the power of pregnancy, and ultimately myself.

Surrender means to yield power, control, and possession of another upon compulsion. Surrendering taught me that I was holding onto the power of other’s people’s opinions, the control of maintaining an image of feminine perfection, and the possession of my inner struggles. I needed to surrender all of these things so that I could fully embrace my transformation. Intuition means to understand and know something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning. This gave me the permission to trust my ability to go inward for answers instead of looking outward. I found that looking outside for answers was leaving me with self-doubt, procrastination, and worry. Thinking with my body and spirit allowed me to trust my internal compass of judgement and discernment. It gave me the confidence to speak up, ask questions, and question others when I felt that something was array with me or my baby. These two virtues that once were dormant, were now louder and prouder than ever. It empowered me, directed me, and nurtured me. Ultimately it gave me the autonomy to see not just in me, but in every woman, how powerful and capable we all are. 

This lesson was also a foreshadow of what I needed to harness for my labor. Like most moms, I felt relatively prepared to deliver my baby. My birth plan was ready, my hospital bag was packed, and my fiancé finally returned home. The distance in our relationship was needed time away for us to carefully reflect, acknowledge our challenges, and heal ourselves separately. We didn’t know it at the time, but it was the best thing that could’ve happened for our relationship. We reunited better than when we left and were ready to heal our relationship together and united.

What we were not prepared for was that a life in North Carolina was prime for hurricanes, and there was a massive one coming our way. Hurricane Florence, a category 4 hurricane, was set to cross our path and cause major damage. All women, 36 weeks pregnant and further, were required to evacuate immediately. This meant driving to my in-laws in Delaware and possibly having the baby there. Not the plan! Those scary feelings, similar to when I first found out I was pregnant soon began to rear their nasty heads. Yet this time I had self-confidence, surrender, and intuition on my side. Although still there, those feelings in no way overcame me like they did the first time. This time I felt calm, knowing, and internally strong. No matter what was going to happen, I knew deeply that me and my baby were going to be okay.

Two weeks later and one week past my due date, we were on our way back from Delaware and on to the hospital. I walked into an induced labor, artificial breaking of my waters, an epidural, and stalled contractions at nine centimeters. This ultimately landed me in a c-section for my delivery. All my steps through labor were manufactured, never ever considered by me or written in my birth plan, and completely out of my control. Everything that I had planned did not go as planned (I hope you see a theme here 😊).

Was it hard? Yes. Was it disappointing?  Yes. Do I wish I prepared differently? Yes. Did I cry a lot? Yes. But did I trust the situation and my intuition enough to surrender to the process? Yes. Did I ultimately deliver a beautiful and healthy baby boy? Yes. Did I come out as a healthy and happy mom? Yes, and yes.

The things that I once feared are now my weapons of strength and measures of growth. I successfully received my MBA from Duke University, work in Early Education nonprofit, am happily married, have a beautiful support system here in North Carolina; and all while having more compassion, self-confidence, and understanding of myself.  

All in all, the pregnancy journey was truly that- a journey. The highs, the lows, the “a ha” moments, the transformations; are all factors in showing a woman the power that is within her. Which is what ultimately led me to create a practical and compassionate app solution called More Than Maternal.

More Than Maternal was created for women with busy lifestyles to nurture and prepare them fully and confidently for the arrival of their baby. It uses four intentions: mindset (mental wellness & building connections), money (financial planning & assessments), means (employment planning & workplace adjustment), and mission (self-advocacy & maternity rights) so that women feel centered, prepared, and powerful as they navigate their daily lives while pregnant.

The pregnancy journey is unique and I know that my journey was for me and me alone. But I also understand the similarities we face as well. It is my hope that my story and shared experiences will continue to unite women in support, education, compassion, and self-love. 

Therese

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Birth and Postpartum Doula – Former Preschool Teacher – Former Nanny

Lomita, California

Some people know what they want to be and have as a career from the time they are young. For me, figuring out my life’s calling wasn’t so apparent.

I struggled to find what really set my soul on fire. Being an inherently passionate person, I knew I wouldn’t truly thrive until I found something authentic and that I innately loved doing. My jobs usually centered around caring for children and working with families because I love human connection. For many years I was an infant and preschool teacher, a nanny, a children’s gymnastics instructor.


I felt fortunate for not only the children I had the opportunity to teach and watch grow, but for the variety of families I met and was able to build meaningful relationships with. Each family was unique and different from the other. Each with their own daily routines, needs, cultures and beliefs. While all of these jobs brought me happiness, I didn’t feel completely fulfilled. Something was still missing.

Fast forward to many years later, I became pregnant with my son. Unfortunately, my birth experience was full of a uncompassionate hospital staff. I was 41 2/7 days with no cervical dilation and no effacement. I was scheduled to be induced the next day at 41 3/7. When I arrived to be induced, I was hooked up to the fetal heart monitor. I was told I was having contractions even though I could not feel what was happening. At that time I was not familiar with the labor or process of birth. Not like I am now. I sometimes wonder if I was actually in the very early stages of labor. After an ultrasound and pelvic exam, I was told my son was in the range of 10 pounds. The physician came into my room and recommended scheduling a cesarean section for the next morning. She was felt that because of his size, if I was induced it would ultimately end in surgery. I trusted her opinion, prepared myself and came back for my c-section the next morning.

After I checked in, I was looking over my new birth plan that I had spent hours researching and putting together the night before. Even though I understood why a cesarean was being recommended, I knew still had options to make it my own and I optimistic that they would be acknowledged. When I began to show it to the nurse I was told, “the doctor will do whatever is safe and best for you and the baby. You don’t need that”. The birth plan never left my hand. At that moment, I was in disbelief. I didn’t feel adequate enough to respond to her.


Before being brought into the operating room, I asked if it was possible to use the restroom. The same nurse rolled her eyes and told me that I was getting a catheter. To stop wasting time. That they were on a schedule. Again, I was taken back. I listened to her, got on the gurney and was wheeled into the OR. It was Super Bowl weekend and the anesthesiologist kept talking about how he had a plane and sushi waiting for him. When I attempted to express concerns in the OR, the anesthesiologist reminded me that I was in his operating room and things were going to go his way.

My son was born at a healthy, 8 lbs 9 oz. Big, but not as big as he was estimated to be.

I realized that almost every person who is part of your birth, you will remember, good and bad. Looking back now, I thought I would know how to navigate childbirth because of my decade’s worth of childcare experience and education. But I didn’t know how to advocate for myself. I had no preparation for the birthing process.

Many years later still trying to find my groove in life, I took an online career assessment test to help guide me. The results had a few options. A doula was listed as one. I vaguely remember hearing the word doula in the past but didn’t know what a doula purpose was. After independently researching and educating myself, I was intrigued. I started watching countless videos, reading blogs, doula and birthing books. I couldn’t believe a career like this existed. I immediately signed up to attend doula training. After the workshop, I left on cloud nine. I was completely hooked. I couldn’t wait to dive into this whole new world.

While attending my first birth as a doula, I had a moment. A flash when I realized everything I had done and everything I had been through led me to becoming a doula. My work with families and their children, my birth experience. I will never forget how proud I was watching my first client confidently hand over her birth plan we had prepared together and the medical staff who respected her wishes. I watched her and helped guide her in achieving her ideal birth experience.

Just like all of the families I have worked with over the years, each birth is unique and different from the other. Each with its own set of needs, vibes, and environment. I am here to support each one of them.

While I still feel pretty fresh on my doula journey, I cannot say how good it feels to be in this place now. A place where I have found my calling. I love every single aspect of what this doula work entails. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work with those who are birthing and share such an intimate, beautiful and life changing experience with them.

Hi, my name is Kim & I love birth.
I have been a Registered Nurse for ten years, with the last five specializing in Labor & Delivery.
I love human connection & the art of story telling. I believe it can be a major catalyst for change.
I would love to help you share your story or advice so that we may better support each other and the people we care for. 

Do you love birth? Heck yeah you do!

Don’t miss our weekly story. Subscribe below to get new stories & advice delivered directly to your inbox.