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

Doula Dilemma: Laboring through hurdles

By Stephanie Schaldenbrand, Birth Doula

So often I am asked, “How are you going to support me through the labor hurdles?” “How are you going to keep me from making the decision to get the epidural?” First of all, let’s define what I mean by “labor hurdles.” Labor hurdles are those moments in a birth where everything comes to a crashing point, feelings of either you are going to “die from this labor” or with support, you find your inner warrior and persevere through the moment. Each labor has these moments.

For those of us who have been in labor, we remember these moments very well. It’s that precious moment when we need our support team to really focus us on what our hopes are for this birth. These are the moments that we were very subjective to being swayed into making a decision that we didn’t want. Before the birth, ask the pregnant mom, "How hard do you want me to push you in this moment? I can get you over this hurdle but do you want me to?” Could the higher epidural rate be a symptom of labor women finding themselves at the labor hurdle and no one telling her she has the strength to make it over? Is there no one willing to stand next to the laboring mom and say, “You can do this. You are doing this.”