His and Her Health

Hi all.....I'm new here, I hope this works.<P>I was excited when I heard they were going to have Henci Goer on the show.....she's very informative. However, it seems Jennifer has an agenda against vaginal birth. I guess she received some nasty injuries during her own vaginal birth and now is on the bandwagon to champion c-sec by choice for no medical reason.<P>She gave out some wrong info.....saying that it's impossible to have a large baby without having vaginal injury. I am here to say she is WRONG. It may be impossible when you have a traditional OB hospital attended birth, but I had my first vaginal birth after 3 previous c-secs, and had a 9 pound baby with a 15 inch head, and I received no injuries. The difference was that I had a waterbirth, and I had a midwife who didn't try to force me into the traditional supine position with my legs up. I was in a full squat in water, and my 9 pound baby came out easily. <P>I hope they re-visit this topic, and leave the anti-vaginal birth agenda out of the conversation. I have had 3 c-secs, 1 emergent, 1 scheduled, and 1 unscheduled, and they are always a major surgery with lots of risks. Jennifer went on and on about vaginal births gone wrong.....I'd love to share my c-sec gone wrong stories with her.......I have a couple of doozies that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.<P>Anyway, I'm glad to meet you all and especially to have a place to discuss this TV show.<P><P>------------------<BR>Susanne,<BR>Mom of 4<BR>3 iatrogenic c-secs and then a wonderful home waterbirth VBAC

Another thought is that gravity works, and it makes more sense for women to give birth in a squatting possition, and maybe if they started doing it that way in hospitals, fewer women would have vaginal birthing injuries. Of course sometimes C-sections just HAVE to happen, and there is no other way, but I don't see how it could possibly be better to get cup open (electively!) than to have the baby come out the hole it was meant to. And besides, can't a C-section sever nerves vital to sexual function? (I'm not sure, but it does make sense!) And what about the impact of the scar on a woman's body image? I am sure that it really upsets some women, and if it's not necessicary then why do it?

I had 2 emergency cesarians, and was orgasming without feeling it for a while- which I didnt know I was unless I had my hand over the pubic bone area and could feel the spasms. I am happy to say that the nerves seemed to regenerate over time. Your husbands attitude matter alot, about the scar. Even though it was an emergency, they were able to keep a very low bikini cut scar. If I was expecting again, I would check with the dr to see if they have any knowledge in avoiding nerve damage in this area , and ask them to read the latest med research on it.

Wow, thankfully I haven't had any orgasmic problems from the c-secs, but I have had body issues from all the scars. I have 3 separate scars......1 vertical and 2 low transverse. The first c-sec was truly emergent because they put the baby into distress (from an overdose of pitocin and a bad epidural), and they had to do the vertical to get the baby out fast, but the other 2 weren't emergencies. The second low transverse was SUPPOSED to be cut along the same line as the other one, but the guy must have missed, or maybe he didn't think I mattered enough to get it right, because it's a half inch lower than the other one.....and it's crooked too. What the heck am I supposed to do with all these scars? The vertical scar has spread about an inch wide from my subsequent pregnancies, and I have hernias all throughout the scarred areas. Like I said, I invite Jennifer to hear my c-sec-gone-wrong stories (including the part where my baby's face was cut during a scheduled c-sec) and she can even see my scars, and see if she still thinks c-sec is such a good thing. Heck, I'd even show her how well I came through my vaginal birth.....unscathed......because that's how babies are supposed to come out. Some c-secs are needed, about 5% of the time, but I find it really disturbing when I hear doctors advocating that any and all babies should be surgically removed on demand regardless of medical evidence to the contrary.<P>

I agree with you. My mom and grandma sure have some stories to tell on that front. My mom was about to die of shock during labor with my twin sisters, so they had to stop and do a C-section in the middle of the hallway (they didn't have time to finish taking her to the OR). One of them had hydrocephalus, and so she could not have been born vaginally, her head was HUGE. But they sure made a mess of my mom with the scars. I was also born C-section. My mom was always so ashamed of her body from these...her scars are shaped like a large, crooked anchor...one roughly cut and verticle, and the other low and curved. My dad always used to joke that she must have been a sailor. It wasn't very funny. My grandma, on the other hand, was actually dead for 5 minutes when my uncle was born. I have never really heard the whole story, but he was a C-section baby, and he probably did not need to be. It seems with childbirth, there is so much that can go wrong...both naturally and through C-section, and both methods have their different risks and benefits, and they should not ALL be C-section, certainly, because it's not some sort of superior method of childbirth, just an alternative for those who want or need it.

This is to Redcatnip. Question when you went for you checkups didn't your doctor say that if you delivered after 2 c-sections that it would or could kill you. I'm pregnant right know at 6 months and I too have had 3 prior c-sections and I have asked over and over again can I try to deliver vaganaly but he won't budge. please help me understand why this is so. thanks<BR>

Pardon my french, but that's a load of crap. There have been studies done, and the difference in risks after 1, 2, 3 or more pevious c-secs, is inperceptably small. I couldn't find a doctor who would 'allow' me to have a VBAC after 3 c-secs, so I used a midwife instead. I could have birthed in a hospital with a midwife, but I disliked the whole hospital experience and didn't want any part of it again, so I chose a homebirth instead. <P>If you have a doctor who is telling you it's too dangerous to have a VBAC, chances are what he really means is that it's too dangerous for HIM to let you have a VBAC (meaning liability and risk of lawsuit), because, unless you have some health circumstances you haven't mentioned, like a vertical uterine incision or uterine abnormality or severe clotting disorder or some other chronic medical condition, it's nearly always safer for both mom and baby to have a VBAC rather than surgery.<BR>I would look for another doc if I were you. I went through probably 6 or 8 docs before I made the decision to use a midwife, and I went through several midwives before I found the perfect match for me. Birth is a normal body function, and it really can still function smoothly and perfectly, even after multiple c-secs. My homebirth was glorious.....an experience I would wish for all women......<P>Here's an interesting site that gathers several sources of info about VBAC's after multiple c-secs: <A HREF="www.plus-size-pregnancy.org/CSANDVBAC/vb...BA2C%20Studies" TARGET=_blank>www.plus-size-pregnancy.org/CSANDVBAC/vb...usanne,<BR>Mom of 4<BR>3 iatrogenic c-secs and then a wonderful home waterbirth VBAC

Susanne, after having five babies in various hospitals (all vaginal births) and feeling frustrated by doctors who thought they were God, when I met my second husband (who had been a paramedic for several years before we met), he and I discussed home birthing. We have since had two children together, and he delivered both of them in our own bed in our own home. It was absolutely fantastic. Bottom line was that *I* knew what my body was capable of, and I had the expertise of my husband to help me. I had excellent prenatal care, but the birth experience was OURS and OURS alone.<P>Anyway, that's a little off topic, but I just wanted to say that I empathize with you a little. <BR><P>------------------<BR>Tracy B....wife to Darryl<BR>Mom to many....