New York Natural Birth

C-section rates in the United States have terrifyingly risen to 32.8% in 2010 (Division, Pg. 5). This rate is alarming since there are many negative risks associated with C-sections.

The most obvious risks are a higher infant mortality rate, post-surgery complications for the mother, and increased complications for a second birth. C-sections should be avoided unless absolutely necessary. To increase your chances of avoiding a C-section, follow these four tips below.

1) Select your birthing facility and doctor carefully. Birthing in a facility or with a doctor that has a higher percentage of C-sections increases your chance of having one. It is important your birthing facility has the same beliefs that you do and supports natural births. The film, The Business of Being Born produced by Ricki Lake, has astounding information on this topic. Learn more here: http://www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com/.

2) Hire a doula and be sure you have ample support during the birth. Doulas are trained professionals with extensive knowledge on natural births and different non-intrusive techniques to support the natural process.

3) Plan to have a natural birth. No inductions, no epidural, no manual water breaking, no c-sections, and no early hospital admittance. When unnecessary, these intrusions to the natural birthing process only further complicate labor. Allow your body to birth the baby at its own rate and timing. Only allow medical intervention when absolutely necessary.

4) Educate yourself and embrace the birthing process. This will help you be prepared when labor begins and will help you to relax. Relaxing and giving in to your natural instincts all help to ensure your natural birth goes smoothly. For more information visit www.bradleybirth.com and www.calmbirth.org (Northrup, Pg. 488).

Works Cited: Division of Vital Statistics. Births: Preliminary Data for 2010. National vital Statistics Report 60.2 (November, 2011). Web (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr60/nvsr60_02.pdf).

Northrup, Christiane. Womens Bodies, Womens Wisdom: Creating Physical and Emotional Health and Healing. New York: Bantam Books, 2010. blog comments powered by Disqus