All About Babies Part IV, What I Want

So, it might be clear after my birth stories that I was less than enthused with how my second 'birth' went. I wish it could have been different, but it is true, I have a wonderful little girl just the same. If we do have kids again, this post is about what I want.

An intermission before the actual post. I have been keeping up with the crazy home birth vs. hospital debates [see below for links] and there's been a lot of mean things said. By everyone. One comment maligned home birth moms for wanting a 'perfect birth', an unattainable ideal that is just 'silly'. Well, I think we all want a 'perfect birth' and I think we should all hope for that. Reality is that sometimes it won't be perfect, but isn't life all about hoping and striving for those perfections?

Anyway, everyone has an opinion, everyone has emotional ties, and everyone interprets the statistics differently. I don't really care. This is my blog and this about what I want. :)

• I want to have a VBAC.

To reiterate, a c-section compared to a vaginal birth sucked ass. The end. 

• I want to deliver with VBAC-friendly medical staff.

I am frustrated with doctors and hospitals that pay lip service to VBACs or avoiding inductions and then switch 'sides' near the end of pregnancy. Not cool. That's not supportive, encouraging, or even honest. The goal would be to find someone trustworthy whose opinion I could bank on.

• I want a doula

Lots of statistics point to a doulas presence drastically reducing the rate of c-sections and need for pain interventions. Sign me up.  Information on doulas (and the good they can do for you) from DONA International.

• I want as few interventions as possible.

This one scares me a little because I did have an epidural with my son. I could still feel my legs and some pain on my side, but I couldn't feel pain in my uterus, where it counts!

The reason I wouldn't want a lot of pain medication and 'intervention' is because your likelihood of having a repeat Cesarean goes up as you get induced, epidurals, etc. An example: Early Epidural Double C-Section Risk After Induction.

Plus, with DS, I had some sort of narcotic drug to help with the pain and it only made me dizzy and nauseous. That's not what I had in mind.

• I want to eat my placenta.

I would totally be that weirdo. A friend's wife did that after her VBAC and it was the first I'd ever heard of it. Since then, crazy people in Hollywood have done it. I would do it just on the off chance it does help with post-partum depression. I would especially do it if I had a repeat Cesarean section. Fruit of the Womb does placenta encapsulation in Colorado.

As a Certified Nurse Midwive I talked to recently told me, there's not enough evidence one way or the other on this one. People think it might help 'replenish' the mom's energy and stave off depression, but there's no proof that it does. Here's a link to one mom who ate her placenta (it still sounds gross) but wishes she hadn't: I Regret Eating My Placenta. Anyway, that's why I say I'd do it on the off chance. :)

• I want to feel empowered.

I just want to feel capable of having a baby out my hoo-ha again. :) Having my son affirmed that I was a confident, capable person and then having a section with my daughter kind of took away some confidence and self-assurance. That's how it was for me.

Current Crazy Debate (In Order of Publication):

Home Birth: Increasingly Popular, But Dangerous by Michelle Goldberg
How To Scare Women by Jennifer Block
Michelle Goldberg Answers A Critic's Distortions of Her Home-birth Argument by Michelle Goldberg
Separating Evidence From Ideaology in the Homebirth Debate by Jennifer Block

A blog post about this debate: Smart Women Debate Homebirth

The Skeptical OB's (Dr. Amy Tuteur) Take: 
Jennifer Block: Whack-A-Mole Journalist 
Navel-Gazing Midwife Takes On Jennifer Block