Upcoming December ICAN of DC Event

ICAN of DC is pleased to present a free showing of the film, "It's My Body, My Baby, My Birth" on Sunday December 20, 2009 at 3:00pm at the Marting Luther King Jr Library (901 G St NW Washington DC) in room A-9. This excellent film tells the story of 7 mothers and their journey to natural childbirth.


The schedule will be as follows:


3:00pm: Welcome
3:15pm-3:45pm: Film
4:00pm-4:30pm: Dicussion: Birth Choices in DC


To get a ticket to this free event please visit:

http://icanofdcpresents.eventbrite.com

Space is limited, so please make sure you get a ticket.

The District of Columbia chapter of the International Cesarean Awareness Network provides an online forum for women seeking information about cesarean prevention, recovery and support for healthy and non-surgical birth after cesarean surgery(VBAC)

For more information about our monthly meetings or to join please visit our Yahoo! Group page:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/icanofdc/

Local Woman Seeks VBA3C

I came across this video on the main ICAN blog page. It is about a local woman who has had 3 previous cesareans and is pregnant again. This time she would like the opportunity to try for a vaginal labor. Unfortunately she has been denied care by physicians due to the previous cesareans. Whether it is three previous cesareans or one, this is a critical issue for many women throughout the United States.

So what does the research say about the risk of vaginal birth after cesarean? Well, research points to a less than 1% risk in women with primary cesareans with a lower segment transverse uterine incision and a 1%-7% risk for women with a lower vertical incision and a 4%-9% risk with women who have had the extremely rare "T" or "J" incision. Given that most women of childbearing age have a lower segment transverse incision or "bikini cut", this is a very small risk. And though the incidence of uterine rupture does increase with multiple cesareans, it is still a minimal precentage of births that result in uterine rupture. Another side to look at is increased risk of rupture with induction. Research has shown that induction is not safe or indicated for the majortiy of vaginal births after cesarean, but it is still used because of fear of stillbirth or rupture.

So despite the evidence that each mother should be allowed at least a "trial of labor" when uterine rupture is less than 1% and the sucess rate of vaginal birth after cesarean should be 85%, why are more mothers not allowed to at least attempt a vaginal birth after cesarean? As the mother in the video states, many doctors are fearful of litigation. There is an unspoken understanding in the medical community that you will not be faulted for a cesarean section. It is a shame that such fear leads to extreme measures like major abdominal surgery without true medical indication.

November ICAN of DC Meeting

ICAN of DC November Meeting

"Midwifery Model of Care"

November 22, 2009
4:00pm-5:00pm
Healing Arts of Capitol Hill
320 G St NE Washington DC


Have you ever wanted to know more about the Midwifery Model of Care? How does it compare to the standard Medical Model of Care offered by most OB/GYNs? What are your options for midwifery in the DC Metro Area? Come learn more about this topic and meet other mothers who have used midwifery care for their births.

The International Cesarean Awareness Network is a non-profit organization devoted to cesarean prevention and healing. The DC Chapter works to educate and empower local women in their pursuit of their best birth. All meetings are free and open to the public.

More Coverage of Peggy Roberston's Trip to Washington

Thankfully Peggy's story has garnered national attention and is making its rounds through many other blogs and other national media outlets. And she is also making a positive statement not just for health insurance gender discrimination, but for VBAC access as well.

ABC News covered her story for their "Closer Look" segment when she was here. You can watch the video here.

Her story is also used in an ad for health care reform sponsored by the Americans United for Change. You can see the ad here.

Interesting Article on "C-Section Backlash"

In a recent article on the Daily Beast the subject of the cesarean backlash is discussed. While the author attempts to make the article unbiased, it is always in the "eye of the beholder," as it were, to interpret the meaning of the article. You can read the comments to see how across the board each person reacted.

In general, the article brings up important points: women are becoming increasingly discouraged by the current state of maternity care and the options available and the cesarean rate has increased over the past 11 years and continues to do so. But to use words like "angry" and "subculture" implies that the women who join ICAN or begin blogs, etc to heal from birth trauma are somehow fringe or misplacing their emotions. That is a disservice to the women and their experiences.

And to other women to assume that not wanting a primary or repeat cesarean somehow makes you "subculture". That is assuming a blanket acceptance from all women when it comes to cesarean. In general, most women do not assume they will end up with a cesarean. They may be open to induction or epidurals, etc, but they trust that the outcome will be vaginal birth. For some women, the shock and dismay of not getting the vaginal birth they assumed was going to happen is traumatic. For others, the treatment in the hospital creates trauma. Whatever the case, their feelings and response are valid, not angry.

And for what it is worth, the artist of cesarean art they mention in the article was not always anonymous. She used to list a contact email and her name on the website. Unfortunately she received so much hate mail that she was forced to temporarily take the site down and then, once reinstated, remove any and all personal data from it. Her healing passage, that was a help to many women who had experienced similar trauma, was seen as "angry" and "subculture".

Doulas Now Covered Under Insurance

According to a recent email sent out by CAPPA , certified doulas are now able to apply for a National Provider Identification number to submit paperwork for reimbursement for their work. This is a great opportunity for more mothers to have doulas attend their labor. How it will work for doulas getting reimbursed what they would have made is another story. But considering that doulas help women avoid unnecessary interventions and unecessary cesareans, it is very good news.

The change in policy for insurance reimbursement took place October 1, 2009, so everything is still very new. No word yet on what insurance companies and plans have added or will add doula services to their plans since the change took effect. But just to know that there is a legal recognition of what doulas do as part of the birth team is good news.

ICAN Needs Your Help

After a very successful day in Washington, DC, ICAN was asked to provide more stories of discrimination in cases of health insurance. Peggy Robertson did a great job speaking in front of a rather impressive panel of the HELP committee. You can see a video of her testimony here. (Her testimony starts at the 83:59 mark)

So if you or anyone you know has a story about insurance discrimination and cesarean section (higher premiums to out-right denial of benefits), please email your contact information and a brief summary of your story to Gretchen Humphries via email or you can snail mail to ICAN of Ann Arbor, PO Box 48, Stockbridge, MI 49285.