Category Archives: VBAC

What to Reject When You’re Expecting

By The Midwife | Published: December 18, 2012

Check this out: A fantastic new guide written by Consumer Reports (who would have guessed?) about what to reject when you’re expecting, including unnecessary cesareans, elective inductions, routine amniotomy and episiotomy, and babies routinely going to the nursery.  Coupled with advice on what to look for instead, including midwifery care!  Well researched and very refreshing. […]

Also posted in Birth Education, Cesarean Birth, Epidurals, Episiotomies, Inductions, Labor and Birth, Midwifery | 1 Comment

Josiah Morgan’s Birth

By The Midwife | Published: August 25, 2012

Another beautiful birth story to share with all of you, this time a successful VBAC in a hospital with an intense pushing phase (but all turned out well, as you shall see!). Enjoy! (And thank you, RH, for sharing your story!) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Josiah’s birth story begins the weekend before he was born. I had been […]

Also posted in Birth Stories, Good Enough to Share, Hospitals, Labor and Birth | Leave a comment

Ashley Sophia’s birth story

By The Midwife | Published: May 13, 2012

Happy Mother’s Day!  Here’s another fantastic birth story from Kim, a mother in my due date club, this one a successful VBAC with a hospital team that was very respectful of her birth plan.  Isn’t it wonderful when that happens?  Enjoy! ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ On August 20th, 2010, two little pink lines appeared on a pregnancy test […]

Also posted in Birth Stories, Good Enough to Share, Hospitals, Labor and Birth | 2 Comments

Empowering Birth in the Trenches

By The Midwife | Published: September 5, 2011

Welcome to the Empowered Birth Week Blog Carnival This post is part of the Empowered Birth Week Blog Carnival hosted by Child of the Nature Isle and Betsy Dewey. For this special event the carnival participants have shared their perspective on Empowered Birth. Please read to the end to find a list of links to […]

Also posted in Epidurals, Hospitals, Labor and Birth, Labor Support, Vaginal Birth | 7 Comments

One World Birth about to launch!

By The Midwife | Published: August 30, 2011

Just stumbled upon this via a friend on Facebook, and watching the welcome video just sent chills down my spine.  Two passionate filmmakers are creating an interactive, continuously-updated online TV channel focusing on nothing but birth, and the state of birth in our world right now, by interviewing the world’s leading experts in birth and […]

Also posted in Birth Stories, Cesarean Birth, Homebirth, Hospitals, Labor and Birth, Labor Support, Midwifery, News, Vaginal Birth | Leave a comment

The Obstetrician’s Lament

By The Midwife | Published: May 19, 2011

There is an astounding collection of writing going up on The Unnecesarean regarding the growing rift between obstetricians and the out-of-hospital birth community.  All of this is in response to the The Obstetrician’s Lament, written by OB-GYN Anette Fineberg, MD, which came out in the May edition of ACOG’s Green Journal (Obstetrics and Gynecology).  I […]

Also posted in Cesarean Birth, Complications, Hospitals, Journal Articles, Labor and Birth, Politics | Leave a comment

NIH Consensus updates on VBACs

By The Midwife | Published: March 3, 2011

One of the advantages to being a midwife is being on all kinds of funky mailing lists, which means that all softs of health information, conference invitations, and sometimes even free samples often show up on my doorstep.  A few days ago, I got just such a mailing– the NIH Consensus Development Conference Statement on […]

Also posted in Cesarean Birth, Complications, Hospitals, Labor and Birth, Research, Vaginal Birth | Leave a comment

Question CPD

By The Midwife | Published: December 17, 2007

I’ve been sick as a dog for the past three days, for the second time this season (I was so sick right before Thanksgiving that I actually lost my voice and had to call in sick to work…something which I NEVER do).  Luckily I’ve had the past 3 days off to recover, but I’m due […]

Also posted in Homebirth, Labor and Birth | 3 Comments

The news from the NAPW summit

By The Midwife | Published: January 22, 2007

National Advocates for Pregnant Women just concluded its 4 day Summit To Ensure the Health and Humanity of Birthing Women in Atlanta, GA, this past weekend. This summit, one of the first of its kind, was organized by NAPW and NAPW’s director, Lynn Paltrow, to explore the grey area where pregnancy, birth and the law […]

Also posted in Choice, Feminism, Fertility and Conception, Homebirth, Hospitals, Issues, Labor and Birth, Litigation, Midwifery, Politics, Pregnancy | Leave a comment

In the news: cesarean rate rises and VBAC rate declines

By The Midwife | Published: December 6, 2006

Well, huh, this isn’t really news, but better late than never: a very well balanced article from the New York Times examines many of the issues which contribute to the declining rate of VBACs in this country, including doctors’ rising fear of uterine rupture, hospitals’ difficultly in staffing the necessary number of qualified doctors to […]

Also posted in Cesarean Birth, Choice, Hospitals, Labor and Birth | 1 Comment