Survey for Cesarean Mothers

If you have had a cesarean section, could you please take a moment and fill this survey out, it would be a great help in a project Momotics & The Healthy Baby Network are working on.

The more women replying, the more accurate numbers they will get from all walks of life.

Post Cesarean Feelings

Mainstream Birth Reporting

In the past two weeks, there have been a number of crappy mainstream morning shows reporting on childbirth. From water birth with Good Morning America and an ignorant Ob/GYN as their "expert" to an elective cesarean section for a "big baby" on the Today Show.

While watching both segments, I continued to get the though of how much bad, inaccurate, and biased reporting was taking place... 'I'm up to my eyeballs in bad information"
Then it struck me... a commercial I had seen in the past that I could compare it to...




But what is the point? People are going to believe exactly what these television "experts" have to say, despite the information to the contrary.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

After watching this video, there are some things that need to be cleared up.
First off, there should never be anything routine, or scheduled when it comes to a cesarean, especially one being aired on TV. They should ONLY be happening for real medical reasons.
Then the doctor, mid surgery starts discussing cesarean section rates, which she is grossly inaccurate on. She quotes that depending where you are 25-30% of babies are being delivered by cesarean section when the fact is, this hospital which this planned cesarean took place at has a surgical birth percent of well over 40% and the national average as of 2007 was 31.8%.
Then they tackle the reasons for cesarean section, starting with "baby too big"
Well who gets to decide if that baby is too big? Third trimester ultrasounds that are infamous for being inaccurate up to 2 full pounds? The Doctor who wants to be out on the golf course by noon? Come on! Women birth "big babies" daily!
Then another listed reason was a mother with a previous cesarean section, and this stigma is the reason out maternal mortality rates are climbing with the cesarean section rate, while the VBAC number is dropping. Having a previous cesarean section is NOT a reason to sign up for an elective cesarean in the vast majority of cases.

After weighing this little boy, 10 pounds even, everyone starts to exclaim how they chose the right way to deliver this baby! Oh and don't forget, Mom Kerry was PAST HER DUE DATE! OMG EMERGENCY!
HURL!
But wait! It gets worse.
Their "medical expert" Dr. Nancy chimes in that because of the history of big babies in both families (these were not petite parents by any means) and because she was past her due date, a cesarean section was the SAFEST option. Where did she get her medical degree from? A cracker Jacks box? Apparently they just had those out to anyone today. What a grossly INACCURATE and DANGEROUS piece of information to be giving out!!

The Today Show should be completely ASHAMED of themselves for giving this kind of dangerous information out, not only that but completely leaving out ALL the MAJOR medical risks of a cesarean section.

Morning Show Fail!

VBAC : Is it Safe?

Link between C-Sections/Diabetes?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080826080810.htm

Caesarean Babies More Likely To Develop Diabetes

ScienceDaily (Aug. 27, 2008) — Babies delivered by Caesarean section have a 20 per cent higher risk than normal deliveries of developing the most common type of diabetes in childhood, according to a study led by Queen’s University Belfast.

The team, led by Dr Chris Cardwell and Dr Chris Patterson, examined 20 published studies from 16 countries including around 10,000 children with Type 1 diabetes and over a million control children.

They found a 20 per cent increase in the risk of children born by Caesarean section developing the disease. The increase could not be explained by factors such as birth weight, the age of the mother, order of birth, gestational diabetes and whether the baby was breast-fed or not, all factors associated with childhood diabetes in previous studies.

Dr Cardwell, from the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, said: "This study revealed a consistent 20 per cent increase in the risk of Type 1 diabetes. It is important to stress that the reason for this is still not understood. It is possible that children born by Caesarean section differ from other children with respect to some unknown characteristic which consequently increases their risk of diabetes, but it is also possible that Caesarean section itself is responsible.

“Type 1 diabetes occurs when the immune system destroys the insulin producing cells in the pancreas, and one theory suggests that being born by Caesarean section may affect the development of the immune system because babies are first exposed to bacteria originating from the hospital environment rather than to maternal bacteria.”

Dr Chris Patterson said: “The study findings are interesting, but unless a biological mechanism is established it would be unwise to read too much into this association between Caesarean section delivery and diabetes.

“Fortunately figures from the Northern Ireland Type 1 diabetes register indicate that only around two per 1,000 children will develop diabetes by their 15th birthday so a 20 per cent increase is on quite a low baseline risk.”

Diabetes is a serious condition that, if not managed, can lead to fatal complications including heart disease, stroke, kidney failure and amputations. There are 2.3 million people in the UK diagnosed with diabetes and 250,000 with Type 1 diabetes. In Northern Ireland over 62,000 people have diabetes, 6,000 of them with Type 1 diabetes.

Around one in four babies in Northern Ireland are delivered by Caesarean section, which is significantly higher that the World Health Organisation’s recommended rate of 15 per cent.

Iain Foster, Director of Diabetes UK Northern Ireland, said: "Not all women have the choice of whether to have a Caesarean section or not, but those who do may wish to take this risk into consideration before choosing to give birth this way.

"We already know that genetics and childhood infections play a vital role in the development of Type 1 diabetes in children, but the findings of this study indicate that the way a baby is delivered could affect how likely it is to develop this condition later in life. Diabetes UK Northern Ireland would welcome more research in this area."

Tori Spelling

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kj_01uUs4Xg

I have to admit I am a total reality TV junkie, and I recently got hooked on Tori & Dean Home Sweet Hollywood, and this weeks episode (preview reel linked above) was so sad. She of course had a scheduled c-section which she was absolutely scared to death of. With her first child she had a failed 41 week induction, and from the looks of it, it doesn't seem like she was given a choice for the repeat c-section.

She looks literally terrified to death in the clip above, and she was hysterical during the episode.
I wish celebrities knew more!!!!

What is Cesarean Epidemic?

There are blogs for everything today! Family blogs, Book Blogs, Craft Store Blogs, Midwife Blogs, Doula Blogs, Nurse Blogs.... You get the picture right?

This blog is to point a focus on the cesarean birth epidemic taking place in The United States, and other parts of the world. Posting facts, related news pieces, opinion blogs, and everything that goes hand and hand with the problem our country is facing today.

We also have a yahoo e-mail group, a cafe mom group, and a myspace group.
We are working on a full scale website also.

I hope you enjoy!