Episode 48: Why you should learn about Cesarean BIrth

Full Transcript:

[00:00:00] As you're planning to have your baby, have you ever given much thought to cesarean birth or giving birth via cesarean? Have you decided primarily to focus on vaginal birth and just learn a little bit about cesarean, or maybe you don't want to learn anything about cesarean birth because it's scary and you just don't even want to enter those thoughts into your mind. All of that is pretty typical. And today we're going to be talking about why you should be learning about cesarean birth. Even if you're planning an unmedicated vaginal birth.

I'm Cara Lee Kiggins and this is the Brave Journey Birth Channel. I'm a certified birth doula and a childbirth educator, and a mother of two. Let's get started. Let's talk about why you should learn about cesarean birth.

One thing to think about is that in 2020, one in [00:01:00] four low risk birthing people. So these are low risk pregnant people, and this was CDC data. One in four gave birth via cesarean. Nationally, our cesarean rate in the United States is something like 30%. So one in three people give birth via cesarean, but that also includes high risk and complicated pregnancies.

But for low risk pregnancies in 2020, there was a one in four, 25% cesarean rate. This is part of why just pragmatically, you should be learning about cesarean birth. Yes. There are evidence based practices that you can put into place that your care provider can put into place that will reduce the likelihood of you giving birth the cesarean, and to be completely blunt with you.

And I'm putting this the very beginning of this video, the cesarean rate of your medical care provider. Is going to be the single biggest determining factor on your likelihood of giving birth via cesarean. So definitely do your research into your medical care provider.

Yes, to be real, cesarean births are major abdominal [00:02:00] surgery. They're a surgical birth and the recovery is more challenging and they do present risks if you have subsequent pregnancies. That being said, cesarean births are not something to be scared of or terrified of.

So one of the biggest reasons for learning about cesarean birth is not only the likelihood that you may give birth via cesarean, but also just to reduce your fear around cesarean. Cesarean births can be a beautiful transformative birth experience for the birthing person and the baby. In a future video, I'm going to go through some family centered or gentle cesarean practices that you can advocate for in your medical care provider's practice. And at the hospital, you're going to be birthing at, even if you don't have your baby via cesarean, even if you have an unmedicated uncomplicated vaginal birth. The more birthing people who advocate for these gentle cesarean birth practices, the better. But that's another video. The truth is though that cesarean birth can be a beautiful transformative experience.

It doesn't have to be terrifying. And one of the major ways that you can make it less [00:03:00] scary and give it less power over you is by learning about cesarean. So by learning about something that scares you or that makes you uncomfortable, that you would really rather not have be part of your experience.

You can reduce your fear around it. You can reduce the unknown. You can learn about cesarean birth practices. Learn about gentle cesarean birth practices. Learn about what a typical cesarean looks like, so that you are not caught off guard if that becomes a part of your birth journey.

I can't tell you how many people I've talked to, who are preparing to have their second baby, who wished they learned more, who had their baby via cesarean for their first, who wish they learned more ahead of time about cesarean birth.

So that once that became a part of their birth journey, it just wasn't so scary. So we have to look things in the eye that scare us. We can't be avoidant. by not looking at something, it doesn't make it less likely to happen. I wanna be really real here. And there's, this is a symptom of a little bit of our wellness culture, our "love and light culture" and a little bit of this "I'll make [00:04:00] something happen by thinking about it". Like this intention setting. And I don't think that's the case at all, it's not more or less likely to happen based on you thinking about it or not thinking about it, but what it is more likely to have is more power over you.

If you have just been avoiding it. And scared of it. And it's just something that you just won't even learn a little bit. I'm not saying to spend every night listening to only cesarean birth stories. That's not it. You need to be listening to positive birth stories. Cuz Lord knows we have enough negative birth and scary birth stories out there in our culture.

And we really need more positive birth stories cuz most unmedicated, uncomplicated births are not as exciting to talk about as those super scary births. So we tend to hear more about the scary ones. So definitely be listening to lots of positive birth stories and lots of positive experiences. But, and I'm not saying to think about cesarean in every minute of every day, but it's definitely something to look at and learn about in order to reduce its power and fear in your brain.[00:05:00]

Now, lastly, I wanna talk through some semantics. Just go with me here for a minute and close your eyes and imagine what's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the term "C-section" what is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear "section her" or "let's do a section" and then let's switch. And keep your eyes closed. Or cast downward it feels weird to have your eyes closed. And think what comes to your mind first, when you hear the term "cesarean birth" or "gave birth via cesarean" and the truth... is you can open your eyes now, if they were closed... the truth is that our semantics matter and how we talk about cesarean matters and a cesarean birth is still a birth and how care providers talk about it and approach it and how birthing people talk about it and approach it. And how birth partners and birth doulas and childbirth educators, how we talk about cesarean birth can change how it's felt and experienced by the person [00:06:00] going through it. A cesarean birth is a birth. A birth is a transformative experience for the birthing person and the infant. And we can go with that energy and that vision of the cesarean birth experience, even into a surgery room, even into the OR. And bring that approach to the cesarean birth as this beautiful transformative experience. Even in a surgical room, even in an operating room and include all the medical care professionals there. Who are, are there to be a part of the cesarean experience into this birth, because a cesarean birth is still a birth. So let's think through semantics that's my little side note.

So that's it today on why you should be learning about cesarean birth. Again, in a future video, I'll be talking about some elements of a gentle cesarean or family centered cesarean practices that aren't available at every hospital and they should be.

And so we should all be advocating even if we have a medicated vaginal birth, but that's another video.

thank you. Please be sure to like, and subscribe to this video. It helps my videos get in front of more [00:07:00] eyeballs and will help me so that I can keep making these videos, cuz I'm having fun as a birth doula, talking about these topics and sharing them with you here.

Let me know if you have any questions I'd love to hear from you. And see you next week. I release a new video every Thursday. See you then.