----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2003 9:48
PM
Subject: Re: [ozmidwifery] I've had a
baby (long)
ditto ditto ditto - Jayne &
Justine!!!
I too felt the exhileration in Jackie's e-mail -
and rightly so!!! Well done Jackie!!!!
When Jackie compares caesarians to
natural/home birth - she would be referring to those women who 'choose'
to have 'elective' caesarians and the whole genre of the ill-informed... not
those who must have them for emergency/medical reasons - there is a
difference.
I too feel enraged by this new belief that
caesarians are just another birth choice.... and enraged that women just hand
themselves over to their obs.
The Today show was irresponsible and down right
unethical in their advertisement for caesarians - I don't even think Hitler
could have pulled off a more rose-coloured blatant piece of propaganda as the
Today show did.
Imagine a young expectant Mum, who does not
seek out to educate herself (on natural birth).. sits down with her cuppa to
watch this "marvelous" birth on the Today show last week...
she would have perceived the caesarian as -
(a) a safe and EASY birth choice
(b) a medical procedure
(c)convenient
(d) pain free
(e) as easy as squeezing "a tube of toothpaste"
as quoted by Dr Gordon
(f) and that she will be "as right as rain in a
couple of hours" quote Dr Gordon
she would have also received the message that in
pregnancy,- women hand themselves over to their wise obs... and in birth - you
are a mere bystander...(a vessel for the baby to be pulled out by your wise
obs.... your baby will then be returned to you all wrapped up... for a few
minutes - then you can get your rest).
Then, this young Mum will talk to another
Mum, who tried the 'natural' approach in hospital (which was disasterous
as it was so medically managed).. who states that for the next baby she is
going to get "cut open" because it's easier (this is a true story - I am
quoting my neighbour!!).
Result = "I am too scared - please let me
have a caesarian - its safe and easy - and i'll be right as rain
afterwards!"
= healthy women with healthy babies - having
caesarians.. and it becoming the norm
THIS IS WHAT ANGERS ME!!!
kind regards,
Nicole
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2003 6:09
PM
Subject: Re: [ozmidwifery] I've had a
baby (long)
I agree Jayne, and BLOODY GREAT job Jackie.
Remember our chat in Darwin. I have ‘borrowed’ your marathon
analogy re being rescued from natural birth! Thanks
Also Sylvia.
I think you need to consider a few factors of current maternity
services in Australia.
To have a natural birth today is hard
enough, to secure a homebirth is near impossible and the resultant
exhilaration is shared by so few. I found this when I (naively)
referred to the birth (at a local mother’s group) of my first (HB) as the
most beautiful, sacred thing I had ever done and that I later felt like
Xena, Warrior Woman! I was greeted with “give me an epidural any
day” Gawd I was so out of it for 2 days after etc etc. I was totally
ostracised as a zealot and made very unwelcome.
Re the C/s stuff.
Women who genuinely need a C/s have my upmost respect and sympathy,
but these are so fewer than the numbers performed. I also really
admire the women who realise they were dudded and make different choices
for subsequent babes, they have achieved real personal growth. I
never make women feel bad for having a C/s, but the same respect is not
afforded homebirthers who are often made feel very guilty for indulging
and putting their babe at risk etc. But what I AM SO ANGRY ABOUT is
that it is the fear and lack of information sought from so many women
continues the misinformation and the very real public perception
that C/S is the safest, nicest way to give birth and that women like me
are zealots. With so many women researching more about the purchase of a
car or major appliance than the birth of their child the perception and
lack of evidence and subsequent high morbidity continues. What
we know is around 1% of women actually choose an elective C/s for no
medical reason and yet there has been so much media around this being the
‘new way’ the majority of women are lied to and scared half to death
and then believe they “had to have a C/S”.
Women like me are denied
their basic right, unlike the woman who schedules her C/s to suit her
diary (remember as a taxpayer I pay for the unnecessary C/S then I go and
fully fund my homebirth). To make midwifery care and homebirth a
real option is not to deny women the choice of C/S or Obs or anything else
and yet the polarity of the debate continues to be down on those with
little or no rights/choices!
For the few women that have
experienced the amazing high of natural birth (esp at home when a woman is
totally in her domain) the high is like no other. I defy any woman
on the planet who has experienced this to say she would choose another
way. Welcome to the club Jackie, and so glad you had a soft landing Ena!
Bet Dad is also grinning!!
Justine
Oh
Sylvia, you are right but I honestly don't think that Jackie meant to
imply anything :( She is obviously on a wonderful high after
the birth of her baby.
Jayne
-----
Original Message -----
From: Sylvia
<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Wednesday, December 10,
2003 11:04 AM
Subject: RE: [ozmidwifery] I've had a baby
(long)
Congratulations on the birth of your
daughter. What a happy story that was.
However, whilst I in no
way support the Today show story and a 'live' caesarean was just
terrible and sensationalist television you finish your letter with the
comment 'that's not childbirth'. And I agree with this - it's not
vaginal birth, but an operative 'delivery'.
What upset me was your closing
comments which I felt smacked of a superiority in having done it
'naturally' . This type of belief only adds to the pain and
confusion of those women who have been subjected to caesareans. As
a neonatal nurse and a midwife I often see mothers who, rightly or
wrongly, have had an operative delivery followed by their baby requiring
admission to a tertiary neonatal unit. Not only as these women
having to cope with the stress of a sick newborn but they must also cope
with their perceived 'failure' to deliver naturally. It's
devastating to witness and I would like to remind those of us fortunate
enough to have experienced a wonderful birth such as described here that
women whose children are born via LUSCS are already mourning, and do not
need others implying that they are somehow lesser mothers because of
this operation.
Thank you.
Vance & Edwina
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Dear Jackie, Andrew and
Ena,
Congratulations to you all! What a
wonderful birth story, I can see the smile on your face from here!!. I
am so happy for you, especially Jackie whom I have met and always
admired as a midwifery role model and a mentor during my grad program.
Lots of love Edwina J
-----Original
Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of
Jackie Kitschke
Sent: Friday, December 05, 2003 12:05
AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject:
[ozmidwifery] I've had a baby (long)
Dear
all,
I have been lurking on and off over the last
few months with a midwife and consumer view as I have given birth
myself to a girl, Ena, on the 19.11.03. Having loosely followed the
thread of fetal hearts, Today show etc along with my own experience I
have a couple of comments.
We
had Ena at home and employed the services of the wonderful Roz
Donnellan-Fernandez. She came and saw me about 5 times antenatally and
would be here for a couple of hours so that even though I didn't see
her lots of times (the frequency was my choice) I had plenty of time
to convey to her how I felt, what outside factors may influence me etc
and my husband Andrew had plenty of time to ask questions etc.
We also invited a midwifery student, Jessica,
to share our experience and so the four of us welcomed Ena into the
world on a stormy evening.
I
used the lessons taught to me by the many women I have met over the
years including telling no-one our due date (handy as we went a week
over), restricting visitors till 2 weeks, (handy as we had some
postnatal issues), preparing lots of food before hand and taking
plenty of time off before hand (well I am an elderly (38)
primagravida!!).
The birth was the hardest,
bestest, most overpowering thing I have ever done and gave us a girl
(first one in Andrew's family for 48 years) in our bathroom. We needed
to transfer to hospital for Ena which was fortuitous as we discovered
her platelets were 20,000 as I have an antibody on my platelets which
were destroying hers and my platelets were 50,000 as I have a lupus
anti-coagulant on mine (very unusual to have both or even one but it
was a week where everything was unusual!!). So it was lucky I had a
normal birth as an operative birth would have been dangerous for both
of us and as it was a 6 hour ROP labour I am not sure if wouldn't have
elected to have pain relief or what heaps of monitoring would have
done. I am now at home with a baby who is wondering what all of the
fuss was about (there were a few other issues which I won't go into
but were all resolved! ). I used the maternity services as necessity
required and my birth experience was great. I am so glad I didn't have
to recover from a LUSCS as I was pumping etc as Ena spent some time in
the nursery asleep from phenebarb due to some twitching. I
wanted there to be lots of milk for her when she woke up, which there
was (not bad considering my Hb was 7.4 due to a retained placenta and
PPH) all thanks to the LW staff at the WCH keeping all visitors out,
keeping me in LW and having Andrew stay with me. (I was treated like
the Queen of Sheba by everyone and I don't know how Ican ever thank
all of my friends and colleuges for what they did for
us).
Watching part of the Today show really angered
me as that is not childbirth. Mess in the bathroom, exhilarated
mother, exhausted and relieved support people and beautiful, 4.230kgs,
caput and moulded head daughter is
childbirth!!!!!
Jackie
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