When you are the statistic: Uterine rupture loss
Above: “I donated my wedding dress to be made into gowns for deceased infants to be buried in. I had pictures done in my dress before I donated it. This is one of my favorites.” – Kaila Flory Kaila Flory lost her baby to a uterine rupture eight...
Calling women who plan home VBACs “stupid” misses the point
I’m in an online group for labor & delivery nurses where the discussion of vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) at home came up. While some understood the massive VBAC barriers many women face, others simply said, “Find a hospital that supports...
“Hospitals offering VBAC are required to have 24/7 anesthesia” is false
Since this article was published, ACOG released even stronger guidelines specifying that any Level 1 hospital should be offering VBAC. In 2010, I was sitting next to an OB/GYN during a lunch break at the National Institutes of Health VBAC Conference. She was telling...
“No one can force you to have a cesarean” is false
Update: Since this article was originally published, it has been updated with several new resources (listed at the bottom) as well as a video. “No one can force you to have a cesarean.” I see this all the time in message boards. Don’t worry about...
Shoulder pain is a symptom of uterine rupture
I’ve written before about the symptoms of uterine rupture as well as how having an epidural does not interfere with the diagnosis of uterine rupture. One uterine rupture symptom that some parents – and professionals – are surprised to learn about is...
Applying medical research to clinical realities
Isabel recently asked over on Uterine rupture rates after 40 weeks: “I wonder however if there are studies that compare the method of induction. My Doula said that the increase rates of uterine/ scar rupture was due to using high dosages of Pitocin, but now the...
What I told the California Medical Board about home VBAC
A little backstory Back in October, I attended my first Interested Parties Meeting held by the Medical Board of California regarding new midwifery regulations as required by AB1308. (Read more about AB1308 here.) Up for discussion was which conditions or histories...
How a husband went from pro-cesarean to pro-VBAC
“I have just seen so many women who have husbands who aren’t supportive because they don’t understand. My husband would love to help more men understand.” A couple recently shared their VBA2C (vaginal birth after two cesareans) journey with...
Resources for processing traumatic births and losses
A dear woman contacted me. 15 months after her cesarean, it was still hard for her to read my posts without crying. This simply broke my heart. She is not alone. There are many women who carry the grief and pain of their traumatic vaginal or cesarean births or the...
Induction is wrong, wrong, wrong… wait, what?
I hear all the time how induction in VBAC is contraindicated. This is false. This is the kind of misinformation that materializes when we demonize all induction rather than specifying between elective and medically indicated inductions. It’s important to use...
