I haven’t read this book so I’m not offering a review of it. I found the information as I was doing my daily search for information and though it was appropriate to mention here since many women have Cesarean sections or need epidurals and in my other blogs as well.
According to the press release,

Here’s a Self-Advocacy Book that Can Change Your Life!
Before the Scalpel: What Everyone Should Know about Anesthesia,a new book from Tell Me Press.
The decision has been made: you are going to have surgery. You’ve met with your surgeon. You have a good idea what will happen during …read more

It used to be that "once a Cesarean, always a Cesarean," but this isn’t the case any longer. Many women who have had C-sections want to try to deliver vaginally for subsequent pregnancies. This is called a Vaginal Delivery After Cesarean, or VBAC.
While VBACs do have risks, including rupture of the uterine walls, many women do deliver vaginally after a C-section and don’t have any complications. The problem, however, lies in how to tell in advance who may be at higher risk if they have a VBAC.
A study presented on January 30th at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine’s (SMFM) showed …read more

Lisa Barrett, a midwife in Australia, has a great blog over at Homebirth.net. You can find loads of information on birthing, from cord around the neck to VBAC (vaginal birth after Cesarean) to dads in the birth room.
Today, she discusses vaginal breech births and the importance of your midwife knowing about the procedures. She’s also posted a video of a woman delivering a baby who is in a breech position.
I’ve never seen a vaginal breech birth. Very interesting. Thanks to Lisa for making this available.
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Tags: pregnancy blog, midwife, vaginal breech birth, cesarean section, VBAC

Obesity is approaching epidemic proportions in some places. I read a statistic yesterday that found that obese women in a particular ethnic group now outnumbers women in that group who are merely overweight.
Obesity is often in the news too because of issues like seating. In Canada, airlines have been ordered to provide two seats for the price of one for obese people who can’t fit in regulation sized seats. And now, it seems that this issue is affecting hospitals.
In the United Kingdom, several leading hospitals have had to widen the doors to their maternity centers to make it easier …read more

In another "I didn’t know I was pregnant" story: a woman thought she was having a kidney stone when she was really having a baby.
After going to the emergency room for the pain, the doctor looked at her x-ray and told her that she wasn’t passing a kidney stone and was, in fact, in labor. She didn’t believe it, certain that he was looking at someone else’s x-ray. Minutes later, the doctor was proven right as delivered a 7 lb 12 oz boy – butt first.
You can read about her story here: MD tells woman: That’s no kidney stone, …read more

If you’re one of the women who have elected to have a non-medically required Cesarean section (C-section), I wish I could convince you not to do it. C-sections are *major* abdominal surgery. If you’re doing it because you’re afraid of labor and delivery, recoving from a major abdominal surgery is no walk in the park.
But, if you’re still going to do it, at least wait until your 39th week of pregnancy, regardless of your own tight schedule. While we knew that a few weeks can make a big difference in infant health, now it seems that it’s not just weeks, …read more

Well, at least he was born via Cesarean section?
Two days before Christmas, Richard Walker Sault was born in California, weighing in at 14 pounds, 2 oz. I wonder if you can call him "little guy" when they’re born that big. Doctors who were delivering baby Richard needed two pairs of hands to remove him from his mother’s uterus.
Source: Baby weighing 14 pounds born in US.
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Tags: pregnancy blog, 14 pound baby

It may not have been planned that way, but could the lack of health insurance or under-insurance of millions of Americans be resulting in more home births?
If so, this could be both good and bad.
First the good: Many women want to give birth at home. A home birth gives them more control over the natural process and they feel it’s a better experience all around.
Now the bad: Some women, due to difficulties or health issues, shouldn’t be giving birth at home without putting themselves or their baby at risk.
According to this Salt Lake City Tribune article, More moms choose to …read more

At the beginning of the month, I drew your attention to an article about midwifery, Male midwives in history. The blog responsible for that post has followed up with another very interesting one called Men in the Birthroom.
You can learn about two French male midwives from the 17th century, Jacques Guillemeau and Francois Mauriceau, and how they felt about midwifery and female midwives. If you leave them a comment, tell them I sent you!
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Tags: pregnancy blog, male midwives, midwifery, midwives

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As women, we tend to blame ourselves for a lot of things that aren’t even in our control. I’ve heard many women do this if their labor doesn’t progress – move quickly enough – especially if they end up having to have a Cesarean section (C-section) as a result.
So, why do some women have this problem?
First, the idea of labor dystocia, or failure to progress, is determined on how quickly it’s expected for a woman to take to dilate …read more