Kari Jo's VBAC of Drake
I spent nearly all my “active” labor with my first son, Tavin, being as inactive as possible: in bed, hooked up to an IV, continuous EFM, narcotics first—and then an epidural at 9cm. My bag was ruptured to “help speed things along.” I pushed for two hours before Dr. L said it was looking like […]
Hilary's Birth of Jonathan
Jonathan’s Birth Story, 3/31/07 I have been fascinated with childbirth as long as I can remember. So, when my own pregnancy happened, I felt very confident that I would have the vaginal birth that I planned on and assumed would happen. My pregnancy was complication free, I never measured “big,” and everything looked great. At […]
Katie's Birth of James
My son is kind of a double anomaly-he came on his due date, April 17th, and my water broke before labor began, two things that I was told very rarely ever happen. Those weren’t the only two things about my labor that were completely and utterly unexpected. I planned very much on delivering naturally-I was […]
Amy's Birth of Krogan
Amy’s birth of Krogan: My appointment the day before Krogan’s birth, the midwife swept my membranes (at 39 weeks) without asking me if that was what I wanted. I did not want to be swept and she had reviewed my birth plan the week before that stated I didn’t want any such interventions. Krogan was […]
Elizabeth's VBAC
My story begins in March of 2008 with a positive pregnancy test for my first baby, which readers of the ICAN blog should know by now ended in a c-section. To cut to the chase, this c-section in December of 2008 was horrific. I had labored for 40 hours, something like 30 of those narturally. […]
The family centered cesarean
The Family Centered Cesarean: A Woman-Centered Technique by Stephanie Stanley, Chapter Leader ICAN of Phoenix A natural cesarean? You may have heard the term being used lately, largely as a result of this video that is circling around, but what exactly is a natural cesarean? Seems like an oxymoron right? The natural cesarean, or family […]
Olivia's Birth Story–A whole lot of surprises!
Telling the story of my most recent birth requires the telling of the one that preceded it. They are so intimately connected that they have become parts of the same story. My pregnancy with my firstborn, Bruin, was wonderful. I really liked most of the doctors who made up my OB team, and felt confident […]
Dawn's Birth of Markalee
Baby Markalee My first c-section was with my sixth pregnancy, which I carried as a surrogate mom. I unfortunately wasn’t matched with the best doctor or couple. The doctor claimed the baby was large and was going to get stuck in the birth canal during birth. The couple I was carrying for just wanted the […]
Stephanie's HBAC of Maya
The Birth of Maya I began this pregnancy feeling an intense amount of pressure to do things right this time, to have a VBAC, to prove that I could do it and avoid all the heartache that clouded the birth of my son, born via cesarean just 25 months before his sister. I was excited […]
Activism & You
From Kelly Fischer, Chapter Leader of ICAN of Northeast Iowa. 1. Thank A Provider – solicit your chapter supporters to each write a thank you letter to at least one of their care providers, or as many as they’d like. For any care providers who are local and hospital based, offer to drop off the […]
Ellen's Birth of Lucy
Lucille Catherine graced us with her presence on July 21, 2011 at 2:11pm. It was easily the most beautiful moment of my life, but at the same time, the most heartbreaking. When I look back at her birth, I remember it initially as a time of joy and love and then the trauma and resentment […]
Kara's Birth Stories
For pictures and more, check out Kara’s blog, Emotional Healing From Cesarean. Jason’s Birth- Unplanned Cesarean Before the birth of my first son I believed that birth was easy. You go to the hospital, get your epidural, and in a few hours pop out a baby. Of course I had heard the horror stories of […]
