And KABOOM! Here's your Baby!

If you've never seen a cesarean section and want to watch one that doesn't actually show the incision and the blood, you can watch the one that was shown live on the Today Show this morning.

I like when someone says "happy birthday!" to the baby :)  Too cute.

"What percentage of deliveries are by c-section?" Note that the doctor says 25-30% and recall how the World Health Organization says anything higher than 10% is bad for moms and babies. Also pay attention to how she lists "baby too big" as a reason to do a c-section, which is actually something that they tell moms to get them to do c-sections.  In reality, guessing a baby's weight is done by ultrasound and is frequently inaccurate. Furthermore, many women have successfully given birth to babies of even 11 lbs or more vaginally!

The doctor also lists "if the mother has had a cesarean section before" as an indication to have a c-section, and then when asked "if she gets pregnant again and the baby is a normal size she can have a vaginal delivery?" and the doctor says "absolutely, absolutely."  Hmm... that seems like mixed messages.

In case you didn't know, to sew up the uterus they actually take it out of your body and place it on your abdomen.


Did you notice how she went over to the mom and said to her "its very easy to get left behind... and everyone forgets about the mom."? How sad! She's just stuck to the table behind a sheet while doctors are inside her body and they don't even give her the baby to hold! They take it away for a really large amount of time to do suctioning and tests which they could definitely do while the baby was with mom.

This is a great reason to have a doula. The doula can tell mom what's happening, where the baby is and what they're doing to it, request that mom be able to hold her child for a bit, etc. She can stay with mom while the is being sewn up for the next 45 minutes, especially if dad has to go be with the baby in the nursery.

This brings up a great topic: a C-section Birth Plan.  Dou-la-la wrote a really great post about this recently in which she wrote:

Why bother with a birth plan if you're having a c-section because you don't really have any say in what happens, right? Wrong. Even when you are expecting a c-section, there are still choices that you can make during and/or after the birth. Knowing what your options are can help you feel more a part of the birth experience rather than just an observer. While researching your choices, you will become better informed on what your doctor and hospital's expectations are and what you can/cannot do in a hospital setting.

I suggest going to read the post at the link, because she makes a good case for thinking about a c-section birth plan even if you never in a million years think you'll end up with one. There are also some awesome suggestions for things to include in just such a plan!