Link: In the caul birth & pic

[Willis Jackson]

I just asked DH if he wanted to see the pic and he yelled "No!" before I even finished the sentence.

[Deleted]

Jun 26, 2012 19:38:26 GMT -5 @ojo said:

as far as natural birth being something that only comes down to luck, I can't buy that. There are entire countries of women birthing without pain meds like we do here in the U.S. and nobody can convince me that it's simply because Japanese women are "lucky" or that a woman who births at Ina May Gaskin's farm is simply "lucky". It has far more to do with a practitioner and their tolerance for letting the human body do what it needs to do than whether the patient is lucky, IMO.

My doctor absolutely made a difference. She had so much patience and was so encouraging. If she didn't want me to make it through, I would have had a c-section. I pushed for two hours - that's a long time. My doctor was very very hands off and wait and see. She's not my normal doctor (mine was on mat leave when I had my baby) and now I will beg to see her again for my next pregnancy. It's also not necessarily about "getting the birth I want", but feeling like whatever happens was what needed to happen and it is with a caregiver I can trust.

[anna7602]

Jun 26, 2012 19:38:26 GMT -5 @ojo said:

as far as natural birth being something that only comes down to luck, I can't buy that. There are entire countries of women birthing without pain meds like we do here in the U.S. and nobody can convince me that it's simply because Japanese women are "lucky" or that a woman who births at Ina May Gaskin's farm is simply "lucky". It has far more to do with a practitioner and their tolerance for letting the human body do what it needs to do than whether the patient is lucky, IMO.

I want to agree with this, but I do know a lot of pro-med-free birth mamas IRL and while many of us got the birth we wanted, I also know a couple stories where all I can say is that they had terrible luck. A very dear friend of mine did all her research, was mentally prepped for a med-free birth, had an amazing caretaker, was super fit, had no pre-existing health or risk issues, etc. etc. etc. She labored for something like 36 hours without progressing. Her OB/Gyn (beware, this is really graphic) had to MANUALLY dilate her at this point because she wasn't going beyond 5cm. All of this happened med-free. She still cries when she talks about it. And after she was manually dilated to 10, she pushed for hours and couldn't get the baby out. She ended up getting a c-section.

Laboring for 36 hours + getting manually dilated + pushing for 2 hours= an incredible will on her part and her OB/Gyn's to stick to her med-free birth plan, but it simply didn't work out for her. I actually get really upset whenever I think of her birth story, and it didn't even happen to me. Crap, now I am crying as I type this.

[frlcb]

Jun 27, 2012 6:00:53 GMT -5 anna7602 said:

Jun 26, 2012 19:38:26 GMT -5 @ojo said:

as far as natural birth being something that only comes down to luck, I can't buy that. There are entire countries of women birthing without pain meds like we do here in the U.S. and nobody can convince me that it's simply because Japanese women are "lucky" or that a woman who births at Ina May Gaskin's farm is simply "lucky". It has far more to do with a practitioner and their tolerance for letting the human body do what it needs to do than whether the patient is lucky, IMO.

I want to agree with this, but I do know a lot of pro-med-free birth mamas IRL and while many of us got the birth we wanted, I also know a couple stories where all I can say is that they had terrible luck. A very dear friend of mine did all her research, was mentally prepped for a med-free birth, had an amazing caretaker, was super fit, had no pre-existing health or risk issues, etc. etc. etc. She labored for something like 36 hours without progressing. Her OB/Gyn (beware, this is really graphic) had to MANUALLY dilate her at this point because she wasn't going beyond 5cm. All of this happened med-free. She still cries when she talks about it. And after she was manually dilated to 10, she pushed for hours and couldn't get the baby out. She ended up getting a c-section.

Laboring for 36 hours + getting manually dilated + pushing for 2 hours= an incredible will on her part and her OB/Gyn's to stick to her med-free birth plan, but it simply didn't work out for her. I actually get really upset whenever I think of her birth story, and it didn't even happen to me. Crap, now I am crying as I type this.

Yeah, I would say it is a little of both. There is definitely 'luck' involved in the sense that not every woman's body progresses or does what we want it to do. But it also helps to have a provider who talks you through it and doesn't cave to your yelling over and over again that you wanting meds during transition because they know that isn't actually what you want. Or maybe that was just my story

I have several friends who have had babies born in the caul. All were homebirths.