16/07/2017
Over the last 6 years, I've heard women being given so many reasons why they're unable to, or unlikely to, give birth naturally....without needing intervention/induction/caesarean/"help."
"You're too small" (ie your pelvis won't fit a baby through)
"You're too fat"
"Your baby is too big"
"Your baby is too small"
"It's your first baby" (ie we have no proof your body works)
"You've had too many babies" (ie your uterus is too overused and worn out)
"You birth too slowly"
"You birth too quickly" (yep! Have seen women told to have inductions with their next babies so they would be sure to make it to hospital)
"You're 41 weeks and not dilated. You'll never go into labour on your own"
"Your baby is in the wrong position"
"You've got twins (or multiples)"
"You're too young"
"You're too old"
"You've had a caesarean, VBAC is dangerous"
"You tore/had an episiotomy/needed help with vacuum or forceps last time, maybe you should consider a caesarean this time"
OK, so let me get this straight.
Unless you are a 25-35 year old, size 12-14 woman, pregnant with your second or third baby and no prior caesareans, with a 7lb-8lb baby who is in the head down, anterior position...and you go into spontaneous labour between 38-41 weeks, and labour for somewhere between 4 and 12 hours (with steady, linear "progress")......then you aren't a "good candidate" for natural birth?
Does that not seem a ludicrous notion?
What if we were to say things like:
"Your body is perfectly designed to do this"
"Your uterus is strong and capable"
"You have conceived and carried this baby safe in your womb, and you have the ability to birth this baby too"
"Your baby is the perfect size for your body, and will choose the position s/he needs to be born"
"Your baby will be born in exactly the way s/he needs to be born"
"You and your baby will work together when the time is right for him/her to be born"
"Your past births do not define this birth"
"You are strong and fit and healthy, age is irrelevant"
"Women have been having babies since time began"
"You have everything you already need to birth, within you. We are here to hold your space, support you in your choices, and be here *if* the need arises for medical assistance" (because the truth is, there ARE times medical assistance WILL be needed. It's just that LIFE-SAVING interventions have now become ROUTINE interventions, and that is where the real issue lies)
What if we were to support women so that they could feel EMPOWERED and UNAFRAID and STRONG and CAPABLE?
What if we were to explain risk to women in an honest, factual, evidence-based way?
Instead of telling them:
"You're considered a geriatric pregnancy, we will have to induce as per hospital policy at 39 weeks because there's approximately double the risk of stillbirth" and "You may be healthier than most 25 year olds, but that doesn't change the fact that your uterus is still old".....
Why don't we tell them:
"Research shows that there is a slightly increased risk of stillbirth with full term women over 40, but this risk is still minimal - the stillbirth rate for women over 40 is 0.81% compared to 0.47% for women 18-35yrs....so you're still looking at under 1%. The risks of induction and caesarean are x, y, z (way too many to list here).....it's up to you to consider these risks and make an informed choice?"
Here is a fine example of a woman who was stuck with the "high risk" label because of "advanced maternal age/geriatric pregnancy" (43 years old, first pregnancy/birth).....whose body (and yes, her "old worn out geriatric uterus" - sigh) worked just beautifully, bringing her baby safely into the world earlier this week. She breathed through her surges, allowing her body and her baby to do exactly what they needed to do. She smiled and laughed and joked between surges, until the intensity took all of her attention. When her baby needed to be born quickly in the end, despite the rush of people and bright lights, she followed her own body's cues and mustered all of her strength to bring her baby safely into her arms.
Women are STRONG and CAPABLE.
Birth does not fit neatly into a box. It does not need to be "fixed" - because it.....WE....are not broken.
So, I would love for you to SHARE with me your own stories/pictures of "birthing outside the box" - pop them in the comments, and with your permission I may even compile an album/blog post with them to inspire other women, particularly those that don't fit in the tiny (and forever getting tinier) box of "low risk"
