There are many reasons why I love working at Lamaze Family Center Ann Arbor; I love making connections with expectant families, helping moms forge new friendships and find resources in our community, and hearing how birth fundamentally changes a family and a woman's perspective of her body and her strength.
One huge plus of working here is our strong working relationship with the University of Michigan Hospital, as we provide their patients with childbirth education classes as a separate, non-hospital-based entity. One of our recent requests after meeting with Dr. Tim R.B. Johnson, Chair of the University of Michigan's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, was to have our educators view a Cesarean birth, and I was lucky enough to see one this morning.
I arrived at the nurse's station and was greeted warmly by the two nurses I shadowed. After donning my jumper, which resembled a biohazard/Pillsbury Doughboy outfit, I put on booties, and was given a face mask to put on once we reached the OR. I met Mom and Dad, who were excited to meet their baby. Mom felt well-supported and prepared to deliver via Cesarean (for a condition that was medically indicated). Dad asked me lots of questions about Mom's recovery, breastfeeding support, and where he would be in the OR, and after a meeting with the anesthesiologist, Mom was wheeling into the OR.
The last time I was in the OR was for my son's Cesarean birth about 3.5 years ago. What I didn't realize from the last time I was there was the amount of busyness, charting, counting supplies, quality checks, and comforting words to Mom. I was not emotionally prepared and in labor when I arrived at the hospital.
This morning, Mom was very calm and excited, but understandably nervous about baby and if he would cry when he arrived in the world. She was assured that he might take a moment after having fluids suctioned, but it was normal. She need not have worried, as Baby greeted the world with a hearty cry, covered in white vernix, as he was about a week early.
Baby was skin to skin with Mom, in just a diaper and hat, within 12 minutes of being born. Signs all over Labor and Delivery exclaimed the benefits of early skin to skin contact between mom and baby (as do we in our Lamaze childbirth and breastfeeding classes), and the hospital staff took it seriously and made sure Dad was involved and helping support Baby on Mom's chest. Dad was invited to see Baby right away while the nurse was cleaning him and checking his vitals. The atmosphere in the OR was upbeat, efficient and happy as both Mom and Baby were doing very well.
The nurses were incredibly nurturing and confident, which helped Mom and Dad, but also were super helpful to me as an observer. One of the nurses actually walked me through the steps of the surgery before baby was born and as the OBs made their incisions and delivered the baby, and kept me updated on the newborn procedures of Baby.
Three other of our educators are observing a Cesarean birth as well this week, and I know that this opportunity is amazing, unique, and very appreciated. Our families that enroll in Lamaze childbirth classes will benefit from our firsthand accounts of all types of births at UofM.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Cesarean Awareness Month: Support for VBACs at LFC
Did you know that April is Cesarean Awareness Month? According to the International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN), the U.S. cesarean rate stands at 32.9%, but some states have rates of more than 40%.
“Cesareans are far from the niche occurrence of yesteryear. Every woman in her childbearing years MUST sit up and take notice of this alarming and astonishing rate of surgical delivery,” says ICAN President Desirre Andrews. “Now more than ever, women and babies need access to evidence-based care.” Click here to read the ICAN blog.
Lamaze Family Center's evidence-based childbirth classes help give families real tools and support to prepare for their births and make empowered choices. We teach families to recognize the "cascade of interventions" but also be flexible and realistic.
Additionally, we offer a Review Workshop class for second- (or third- or more) time moms who want refresher for their next birth, and we are hearing more and more from moms who are seeking a Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC). Our next class meets Wednesday, May 25. This class isn't just for moms who have taken Lamaze previously; moms and their partners can enjoy devoted time to think about their next birth and reassess their priorities, hopes and plans for the upcoming birth.
Want to celebrate a recent VBAC or honor a friend? Buy your baby a VBAC onesie! Gotta love Etsie.
ICAN is asking for birth stories, and I'd love to hear some second-time birth stories to share with our readers. Email me at meredith@lamazefamilycenter.org
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