Multiple Cesareans Present Increased Risk to Placenta

This video from NBC 4 in NYC is making the round on the blogs. It tells the story of a NJ woman who discovered she had placenta percreta (placenta growing through the uterine wall) and placenta previa (placenta covers the opening of the cervix) during her pregnancy. She had 3 prior cesarean births and did not realize that they presented an increased risk for placental abnormality.

She luckily found out about the complication before birth as it would have presented an issue for increased risk of hemorrhage and/or hysterectomy. The comments from both the mother and the physician interviewed are important.

The mother comments, "if you haven't given yourself the chance at labor, you should". This is a woman with 3 previous cesareans. While we do know her circumstances exactly, we can guess that her 2nd and 3rd cesareans were scheduled. If she were given the chance to have a trial of labor and successful VBAC, her odds of developing placental abnormalities would not be as high.

And the doctor comments, "if we don't do anything about decreasing cesarean section rates in this country we are going to have a lot of mothers who are going to lose their lives". NJ had a cesarean section rate of 40% in 2009.

Update:

According to Rixa's Stand and Deliver blog, the journalist quoted the 40 deaths wrong. There were 42 maternal deaths total, with 12 of those being attributed to "preventable loss" such as placenta acreta. This is still a disturbing number of deaths.

Test to Predict Necessity of Cesarean?

According to this BBC article, there are now European companies using a test to determine if a prolonged labor will result in cesarean section. They base the outcome on the presence of lactic acid in the body. The higher the acid, the more likely it is that the uterus will become fatigued and not be able to birth.

Could this test be a good thing that would allow mothers to go one with longer labors if their acid levels remain low or another tool to further burden women with more unnecessary cesarean sections? Looking at the article it seems like it would swing more towards the latter. The doctors interviewed did not seem to grasp what could be the cause behind the increases in prolonged labors: artificial inductions, no positional change, lack of motility, etc. Perhaps they should look into fixing the standard hospital birth experience before coming up with more technology to interfere with a natural life process.

My Body Rocks Cesarean and VBAC Workshop

Karen Brody, playwright and activist who created "Birth", is holding a workshop in the DC Metro area for women who would like to tell their cesarean and/or VBAC story. This workshop combines storytelling, movement therapy and yoga nidra.

For more information please visit her website. She also offers a pregnancy circle. I had an opportunity to talk to Karen recently about this workshop and it sounds like a wonderful opportunity for all mothers who had cesarean births and VBACs.

http://www.mybodyrocksproject.com/index.html