Doulas - Who Are They and How Might They Affect Obstetrical Anesthesia Practices?
Childbirth. It is one of the most important events in the life of a family and an experience that most women will remember and, hopefully, treasure for the rest of their lives. A pleasant birth experience can facilitate the creation of a strong bond between parents and infants. These powerful emotional ties should have lasting positive effects on individual families and society as a whole. For centuries, the concept of emotional support for women, by women, during labor has been accepted practice. It is only in recent decades that fathers have taken an active role in the birth process; women have traditionally given birth in the presence of other women. Artistic and literary descriptions of birth from ancient and primitive cultures usually depict other women acting in support of the parturient. The modern doula is a manifestation of this support person. Continued...

The following is a list of common practices labor, birth, and post partum, along with options for handling each. Use this book and others, discuss the options with your childbirth educator and caregiver, and take tours of local hospitals to discover what you want. Then make up a rough draft of your birth plan.

Go over it with your caregiver and make a final draft. Make several copies-one to keep, one for your chart, an extra to give the staff, if in necessary, and one for your baby's chart. Remember that the following procedures are not all routine everywhere and that some of the options may not be available to you.

Find out which are by asking questions on the hospital tour, in childbirth class, or during prenatal care appointments. Most of the following options are discussed in other parts of this book. Check the index for specific pages. Continued...

INCREASE IN C-SECTIONS WORRISOME

When the Baby New Year arrives next week, there's a good chance he or she will be delivered via Caesarean section. The C-section rate is soaring. Nationally, it was 24.4 percent of all live births in 2001, according to federal health statistics released this month. That was the highest it's been since the government started tracking it in 1989.

In North Carolina, it was 25.3 percent. In South Carolina, it was 27 percent. And Charlotte has one of the highest rates in the Carolinas - about 30 percent, according to some health insurers' data. That's striking, because it's twice what some experts say is medically appropriate. The World Health Organization says only 10 to 15 percent of births should be C-sections.

Also striking is that little is being said or done about this. In the 1980s and well into the 1990s, shunning C-sections was a popular movement. "The best HMOs are working to lower their C-section rate because so many of the surgeries are unnecessary and expose women to extra danger," wrote Newsweek magazine in a 1996 report on HMO quality. more from The Charlotte Observer
Back to top

Other Birth Related Websites

RECOMMENDED BOOK LIST

**** PREGNANCY, CHILDBIRTH, AND THE NEWBORN(expanded and updated)
by Penny Simkin

**** MIND OVER LABOR
by Carl Jones

The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth
by Henci Goer

The Complete Book of Pregnancy and Childbirth
by Sheila Kitzinger

Birthing From Within
by Pam England

The Birth Book
by Dr. Sears

Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way
by Susan McCutcheon