Cesarean Awareness Month

The beginning of April brings with it unexpected rain showers, the budding of new crocuses in winter’s forgotten garden, the first warm breeze and that joyous first jacket-less day.  It also brings the start of Cesarean Awareness Month.  ICAN, the International Cesarean Awareness Network works to promote knowledge around cesarean sections and educate the general public, especially pregnant mothers and their partners.  Take action and find an ICAN chapter near you, or begin the first in your town – www.ican-online.org  We just received the CDC’s (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) 2007 cesarean section health data, with unfortunate results.  It was the 11th consecutive year that that c/sec rate increased, this time by 2%, leaving the United States at a nation-wide rate of 31.8%.  Eleven years and counting, how many more years will we have to look at these rising statistics that are hurting women and their babies?  Our society really has to step back and objectively look at our healthcare system when 1 in 3 women who  give birth end up with major abdominal surgery,  with serious risks to both mother and baby.  How many unnecessary cesarean sections are being performed, and for what reasons?  How many women are being denied a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean)?  A great organization to learn more about cesarean sections is from Childbirth Connection, www.childbirthconnection.com.  Their website offers an abundance of resources, statistics, comparisons, and information on both vaginal deliveries and cesarean births.  If you are a pregnant woman wondering what path is right for your birth, take a look at their pamphlet entitled “What Every Pregnant Woman Needs to Know About Cesarean Section.”  A pdf of this file can be found at http://www.childbirthconnection.com/article.asp?ck=10164.  To read more about birth and women’s health data visit the CDC’s website at www.cdc.gov  Let’s all follow in ICAN’s footsteps and promote cesarean section awareness to the public.  As I touched on in a previous posting, we are living in a historic time of change.  We need to take this opportunity to use our rights and create change with our local practitioners, educators, legislators and other activists.  Our society has been progressively moving down a modernized and technology-driven path for centuries now.  I feel as if we are nearing the tipping point, if we are not there already.  Change needs to happen in many aspects of our world, childbirth and women’s rights being one of them.  Looking at the world we live in now, what kind of births will our children, and grandchildren one day experience?  The way of the future lies in our hands, and so let us take this month of new beginnings, new spring, new growth and spend time each day doing something to work towards a better birthing experience for all.  Please post and reply and share your thoughts on this subject with the Orgasmic Birth team, and let us know what steps you are taking to recognize Cesarean Awareness Month.  I look forward to hearing how cumulatively we are coming together to create change!