Register for the ICAN Conference!
Registration for ICAN’s 2011 conference is now OPEN at http://conference.ican-online.org/registration.htm Join us in St. Louis, MO for ICAN’s Gateway to a Better Birth conference, April 8-10, 2011. Early Bird Registration is only $99 for a limited time! Speakers include Henci Goer, Pam England, Isa Herrera and Dr. George Macones. This is a fantastic opportunity to […]
Cesarean Rate Reaches (Another) Record High
32.9% of Births Resulting In Major Abdominal Surgery; 13th Consecutive Year to Show Increase Redondo Beach, CA, December 21, 2010 – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics has reported that the cesarean rate hit another record high in 2009, with a preliminary rate of 32.9 percent. The findings reflect […]
Rise of unnecessary cesareans
MyHealthNewsDaily recently reported on the rising rate of cesareans, especially among first-time mothers. “The most concerning problem is the high rate in first-time mothers,” said Dr. Jun Zhang, a medical researcher at the National Institutes of Health and co-author of a new report on cesarean delivery practices. In his study, published in the American Journal […]
Cesarean Images – How Do You Feel About Them?
At our monthly ICAN of the Twin Cities meeting this past Monday, we watched three breech birth videos: a vaginal breech at home, a vaginal breech in the hospital, and a cesarean for breech. After the videos, we talked about how difficult it is for some of us to watch cesarean videos because it looks […]
Not too posh, but still pushed
A recent study published in the British Medical Journal has been making headlines in TIME and Salon, among other outlets. Headlines herald the findings as proof that women are “not too posh to push” and can’t be blamed for the rising cesarean rate. Instead, women are having cesareans for “medical reasons.” From the BBC: It […]
Disrespect and abuse in facility-based childbirth
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has published a report on disrespect and abuse in facility-based childbirth around the world. From the Executive Summary: Lack of respectful and non-abusive care at birth may encompass many points along a continuum that spans dignified, patient centered care, non-dignified care, and overtly abusive maternal care. Examples […]
Cesareans 17% more likely at for-profit hospitals
California Watch, a nonpartisan investigative reporting initiative, has released a study showing that for-profit hospitals in California are performing cesareans at higher rates than non-profits, even in low-risk pregnancies. A database compiled from state birthing records revealed that, all factors considered, women are at least 17 percent more likely to have a cesarean section at […]
Best of the Birth Blogs – Labor Day Edition
Your weekly one-stop for highlights from the birth blogosphere. Visit weekly for the latest on childbirth, especially related to cesarean prevention, recovery, and VBAC. To nominate a blog post to be featured here, email me at blog@ican-online.org. Happy Labor Day! Rixa at Stand and Deliver gives a great round-up of recent birth-related news coverage. Also […]
Call for 2011 ICAN Conference Speakers!
ICAN (the International Cesarean Awareness Network) is hosting its biannual conference April 8-10, 2011 during Cesarean Awareness Month, at the Hilton St. Louis Frontenac in St. Louis, Missouri. The ICAN conference is a unique opportunity for speakers, as it brings both the consumer and the birth professional to learn and grow together. Rising cesarean rates […]
One-third of first-time mothers having cesareans
A study published in this month’s American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology has made headlines, including the Los Angeles Times. Results of the study show that 1 in 3 new moms are giving birth surgically: Overall, cesarean deliveries account for about a third of births in the U.S. While much attention has recently focused on […]
Orgasmic VBAC
Jennifer posted a wonderful story of her orgasmic VBAC on Livemom.com: I pushed for two hours, which isn’t too bad compared to the 43-hour marathon labor stories we hear. I was pretty vocal; mostly pissed that there was zero pain-relief from the epidural. I think the contractions were more painful because I had the expectation […]
Antibiotics Before Cesarean?
ACOG has issued recommendations that all women scheduled for cesareans be given antibiotics an hour beforehand and “emergent cases” should be started on antibiotics “as soon as possible.” According to Medpage Today: Although antimicrobial prophylaxis to reduce postoperative maternal infections is already common practice for C-sections, clinicians need to stop waiting until after clamping the […]
