Did you know: “Giving birth in America carries the same risks as it does in Iran, a far less developed nation.” How about this fact: “New analysis shows that the states reporting higher than average cesarean rates had a 21% higher risk of maternal mortality than states with cesarean rates less than 33%.” Lucina Maternity, a new non-profit organization focused on the maternity crisis in the United States, has launched a nationwide Mother’s Day campaign to raise awareness of our dismal maternal mortality rates: Save a Mother's Life through their non-profit, Maternity Crisis. Their images are easy to the eye, but graphic in words. “USA: A world leader in maternal mortality.” “This Mother’s Day 93 women will escape. Two will die.” “This Mother’s Day you’re lucky to be alive.” At first glance I thought, if I didn’t have any kids, I certainly wouldn’t want them now! Death? I don’t want to DIE. I might adopt with those kind of odds (which certainly isn’t a bad thing!). Activists often tell us that we shouldn’t go into the horrifying, death-defying stories behind childbirth touting that we might scare someone away natural birth, or having a baby at all. I think we need to pick and choose our battles. Now, I don't go to every mom I meet and tell them all about my birth trauma complete with perinatal violence and PTSD lasting *years.* But I do tell them that natural, normal childbirth without medical interventions is well, normal. For the prepared mom who has taken a good natural & evidence-based childbirth class (or done a lot of research) and has a great advocate on her side during birth such as a doula, labor will usually be manageable, some might even argue enjoyable. Sure, labor is tough and it hurts. But taking those two measures of learning and advocacy will enable the mom to empower herself with the knowledge and tools necessary to deal with labor head-on. Whereas a mom who is absolutely not prepared at all is at grave risk of a painful, long, and usually medicated or even surgical birth. These additions to the natural process come with more risks. I don’t know why folks don’t understand that. Natural birth has a certain set of risks, albeit minimal. So of course, when you ADD to the birth, you add to the risks. That just makes sense, right? I can’t be alone in that thought process. Well, I know I’m not because these are exactly the points that both the Maternity Crisis and Lucina Maternity campaigns try to get across to everyone possible. We need to be honest: Right now? Our situation IS scary. I don’t like to go into the scary details myself either. I try to take a more “reduce your risk” kind of approach. But the fact of the matter is that you can’t really get into the “reduce your risk” approach until you know there’s a risk which needs reducing. So. Maternal Mortality, that’s a pretty big risk, don’t you think? I mean come on, all those ads you see on T.V. commercials for anti-depressants or even anti-acid medication, they all put it out there: “This medication comes with a lot of risks… AND EVEN DEATH!” We might even giggle about it: That silly commercial, if death is a risk why would they offer it to me? And we just don’t really think about it again – until the commercial comes on, again, and again! The Maternity Crisis campaign feels “Creating awareness will mobilize the American public to demand change.” As a part of their awareness campaign, they are collecting donations. “Every dollar you contribute to US Maternity Crisis will be put into our awareness campaign including; ad placement, print materials and public relations.” Since postpartum hemorrhage is a leading cause of maternal deaths, the Maternity Crisis campaign is suggesting another outlet for helping this cause is to donate blood through your local blood bank. They are also asking folks to “like” their facebook page (click here) and add their awareness button to Websites which can be found here. Maternity Crisis is also working closely on a documentary project to highlight experts and those who have lost their life (or had a "near-miss") during childbirth. More on this project in the coming days! What are your thoughts? Comment below or visit our facebook page!
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Image from Amnesty International More women are dying from childbirth in the United States than in 49 other countries. Yes, it’s really that bad. What’s the deal USA? Have you heard about the conditions in our maternity care system yet? Why are our mothers, sisters, daughters, granddaughters DYING during a natural part of life? The Birth Revolution, a grassroots group of advocates seeking better maternity care, plans to ask the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists that very question. Instead of partying all day with the rest of the world on Cinco De Mayo, they will have a physical demonstration at ACOG's 61st annual clinical meeting on Sun. May 5, 2013 to ask ACOG: “Why does the U.S. have one of the worst maternal death rates in the developed world?” How bad is our situation? According to Amnesty International, “The USA spends more than any other country on health care, and more on maternal health than any other type of hospital care. Despite this, women in the USA have a higher risk of dying of pregnancy-related complications than those in 49 other countries, including Kuwait, Bulgaria, and South Korea.” The Annual Clinical Meeting, held in New Orleans this year, is a four-day long event which includes courses, discussions, networking opportunities, clinical updates and more. The Birth Revolution “begs ACOG to use its sizable influence and resources to address the dismal maternal mortality rate in the U.S.” Can’t attend the demonstration? You can make a huge difference right from your computer. The Birth Revolution is asking us to join them on Social Media, namely Twitter via #ACM13, where ACOG will be keeping those who cannot attend the conference up to date. The Birth Revolution asks that all tweets made on their behalf remain respectful and within the tone of seeking help from ACOG. ACOG’s Twitter handle is @ACOGnews. Don’t underestimate the power behind social media! Make your voice heard! If you're following along the Twitter conversations, try tweetchat.com for an easier way to follow! ACOG on Facebook: ACOG Medical Students https://www.facebook.com/ACOGMedicalStudents?fref=ts ACOG National: https://www.facebook.com/ACOGNational Information on the Event for those close-by: Birth Revolution Demonstration on Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Sunday, May 5, 2013 at Noon Ernest N. Memorial Convention Center, New Orleans, LA (By the Marriott parking lot on corner of St. Joseph St. and Convention Center Blvd.) Note: Intact America (an anti-circumcision group) will be demonstrating on the same date at the same place, however the two demonstrations remain individual. Will you join in the Twitter stream to demonstrate along with Birth Revolution? What tweets did you send? How quickly do you “prescribe” breastfeeding solutions to friends who ask you for help? How do you know that’s the right course of action? Did you consider there might be more than meets the eye? Birth trauma is one of many emotional problems that could severely affect breastfeeding. Some women “cannot” fully breastfeed. We hear about it every time we post a new pro-breastfeeding meme, don’t we? We, being the crazy lactivists who spend our days discussing boobs and sex hormones, post these memes and try our damnedest to help our fellow momma’s in their time of struggle and supply questions. “You’re not alone, I’ve been there, too,” we try to assure them. “Have you tried these 72 things to physically rebuild your supply?” We ‘hear’ these moms say to us: “I have low supply! Help me!” And we spring to action. “Don’t let this breastfeeding relationship die,” we silently plead in our own minds. But it’s not about us, the lactivists. No, we’re not really crazy… Just very, very passionate. But sometimes, our passion gets lost. It wanders off into “breastapo” territory (as a friend so lovingly calls me sometimes!) and doesn’t return until we have a nice, hot shower and some snuggles with our own babies to ground ourselves again. Take a breath and walk through this with me…. This problem, this low supply or very sensitive breasts, This is about the mom and her child. Not.about.you. What is about you is the advice you can give or space you can hold for this momma. We could go on for days about why there’s a breastfeeding problem, IF there’s a breastfeeding problem and then how to fix this problem. How do we know for sure what’s going on? We don’t. So why then, do we (myself included) jump the gun and start “prescribing” right off the bat? Much to the chagrin of breastfeeding advocates such as myself, there are some women, albeit rarely, who physically cannot breastfeed due to surgeries, infections, cancers or other problems which were at one point physical in nature. There are other women who cannot fully breastfeed due to emotional and mental problems. Sometimes, no amount of fenugreek or lactation cookies will help get her supply back to where it needs to be for her baby. Sometimes, she may not even have a low supply at all, but may be overly worried about supply, which can in turn cause that very problem in the long run. Emotional? She needs to overcome that! She CAN breastfeed! Well, yes, I agree with you. But there’s a good way to go about this, and a bad way. A friend came to me recently and said “Jenn, I think you should do a blog post about breastfeeding and birth trauma.” Now, I knew my friend was struggling with birth trauma issues AND supply problems. But I asked her anyways, “Well, sure. What’s up?” She went on to tell me that her pediatrician was amazingly supportive and helpful with regards to breastfeeding and her birth trauma. The lactation consultants, however, were not. Instead of being supportive, they yelled at her for not trying hard enough for her baby. Obviously she wasn’t doing everything she possibly could, there must be something! Here’s a hint: There IS something. Patience. Peace. Unconditional support. Ask the mother questions, deep questions, you might even have to do some digging to really understand from where she is coming. But guess what? This takes TIME! For this mom in particular, her problems are not initially physical in nature, they are mental and emotional. For her, it’s mind over matter. She came through a traumatic childbirth and now is still trying to process that birth. In some cases, the woman’s body can even respond to the baby negatively after a traumatic childbirth and not cooperate with breastfeeding. Many women associate breastfeeding with their birth trauma, thus creating a strained nursing relationship from the beginning. Birth trauma itself is also very stressful, which can inhibit milk production. You see, there are a lot of things at play here beyond the physical. Ask questions when a mom comes to you for breastfeeding advice, or send them to someone who will ask gentle questions. We need to band together with the gentle whisper of our tribe to tell each mom that she’s doing great and ask her if we can just take a moment to think through her breastfeeding trials. Breastfeeding through Birth Trauma and Perinatal Mood Disorders For birth trauma survivors and moms with perinatal mood disorders alike, breastfeeding can be made difficult by depression, ptsd, anxiety, stress, etc. Her nipples may be overly sensitive, she may be touched out often, she may find it difficult to bond with her baby. These moms may not even realize these thoughts and problems are what is actually behind their breastfeeding troubles for some of these moms. As their peers and guides, we need to respect that and try to help them along their path of understanding instead of making them feel bad or throwing caution to the wind and telling them to take three fenugreek pills a night while also trying a myriad of other suggestions. And of course, in asking questions, you may find out it’s not birth trauma or pmd related at all. Perhaps she went out with friends one night, not realizing her two week old *needed* to nurse during that time not just for hunger, but for moms supply as well. Or maybe you’ll find out that she had a physical problem by asking about breast shape and size. The bottom line here is this: ASK questions! Help her empower herself in healing and breastfeeding. And above all: DAMNIT DON’T YELL AT HER AND MAKE HER FEEL BAD! She’s trying her best. Build her up, don’t break her down. What's your immediate reaction when someone comes to you for breastfeeding support? Have you overcome breastfeeding trials that may not have stemmed from physical issues? Related Posts It's okay if you don't understand! Listen anyway. Trauma induced lactation problems: A mixed feeding, co-breastfeeding, tandem nursing story |
AuthorWelcome to Momma Trauma's Blog! Thoughts, empowering posts and stories straight from Momma Trauma herself, Birth Trauma families & birth professionals. Archives
July 2015
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