Getting Ready

ICAN Canada's Stragetic Planning Retreat is coming soon and there is so much prepare for our innaugaural retreat. Thank you to our current board for all the wonderful work you are doing. I am looking forward to expanding our board as we fill the current vacant positions of Secretary, Membership Director, Vice President/Conference Chair, and Public Relations Director.

Travelling Again

Heading to Cincinnati very early tomorrow morning, I can't wait! Working holiday... spending the entire weekend at a strategic planning retreat as the Int'l Director of the International Caesarean Awareness Network. This organization has done so much for me and I continue on the board as my way of repayment. The volunteer work is truly a labour of love. I'll be home again late Sunday night. Catcha on the flip side.

Maternal Mortality on the Rise

It was only a matter of time before the statistics showed the effects of the dramatic increase in cesarean surgery rates. We have long known that one of the risks of major abdominal surgery is maternal morbidity and mortality. It was only a matter of time before the increased cesarean rate bode through to the sad fact that more mothers were dying because of it. CP reports:

U.S. women are dying from childbirth at the highest rate in decades, new government figures show. Though the risk of death is very small, experts believe increasing maternal obesity and a jump in caesarean sections are partly to blame.

The U.S. maternal mortality rate rose to 13 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2004, according to statistics released this week by the National Center for Health Statistics - the first time the maternal death rate rose above 10 since 1977.

"There's an inherent risk to C-sections," said Dr. Elliott Main, who co-chairs a panel reviewing obstetrics care in California. "As you do thousands and thousands of them, there's going to be a price."

Excessive bleeding is one of the leading causes of pregnancy-related death, and women with several previous C-sections are at especially high risk, according to a review of maternal deaths in New York. Blood vessel blockages and infections are among the other leading causes.

The New Normal - Ottawa Citizen

The Ottawa Citizen reported yesterday on how medicalized birth has become the 'new normal' and natural birth is becoming rare in today's society in Canada. The statistics prove this out with an extremely high epidural rate across the nation, a 26% cesarean surgery rate and only 5% of women choosing homebirth. Please take a minute to read this superb article. I found this especially poignant:

One of the most telling anecdotes in [Jennifer Block's] book [Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care] takes place at Florida Hospital Heartland Medical Centre in Sebring, Florida. When Hurricane Charley hit in 1994, it knocked the power out. The hospital had an emergency generator, but its capacity was limited. So the hospital sent most women home and asked them to come back when they were in active labour.

During the few days following the hurricane, nurses noticed a change in the way babies were being born: most babies made it into the outside world without medical intervention and within hours of their mothers arriving at the hospital; nurses saw no cases of fetal distress or respiratory distress in newborns; and the hospital's C-section rate dropped dramatically -- from more than 29 per cent to 17 per cent (six per cent if several scheduled repeat C-sections were excluded from the stats).

Prior to the storm, most mothers were induced so that their babies would be born during the day, and labours were electronically and chemically managed. Once life returned to normal, a number of nurses quit the hospital, convinced its management of labour was doing more harm than good.

Women in Red

No I'm not talking about the song Lady in Red (so love that classic... Chris de Burgh is an awesome artist). I'm referring to a new group I've joined called Women in Red Racers:

Women in Red Racers group is a sub-group of the larger Women in Red community. The idea started response to a discussion about accountability and support towards reaching our debt reduction goals. It is now a “racers” group where each person posts their current debts and updates each time they are paid.

This past year has been a challenge financially. Though I have always been financially savvy, this group has a lot of excellent financial strategies that I have learned, and continue to learn, which I am incorporating into my own financial plans. I've always seen budgets, accounting and financial issues as tedious necessities of life, but this group has made the journey fun... even exciting as we work together on our debt. Setting goals and reaching milestones personally and as a group has never been so enjoyable. I encourage you to check it out.

Being kid busy

The kids and I have had an awesome summer, busy around home and going several times to my sister's outfitting camp west of Rocky Mountain House. My love for horses only increases as I spend time with them again and my kids are catching the horse bug as well. Most of my pictures are in my camera which I accidentally forgot on my last trip to Ontario (it is being returned as you read this) so I hope to have more pictures soon. From my phone camera...

A picture of the view from our 'home away from home' window. Breanna is carrying one of Terri's puppies.

Here is a picture of Eric with his uncle Chuck at the summit after a four hour ride... he loved every second!

Here are five of the first string ready to go first thing in the morning.

Here is Eric in his 'new toy' out at camp.

Ontario Body Awareness Workshops

My first continuing education workshops held in Ontario were a blast! The one-day Body Awareness workshop I taught is a continuing education course for birth professionals and teaches:

· How to map a pelvis and teach pelvic mapping to parents
· The importance of knowing your pelvic shape and outlet as it pertains to movement and positioning during labour
· To understand and teach techniques to reduce internal pelvic tension - an important factor in second stage failure to progress
· To teach women how to effectively communicate when they experience, feel, hear or see something in labour
· How to communicate effectively through word and touch in response to a birthing mothers needs
· To teach the vital importance of using breath effectively as a focus for reducing tension and restoring themselves
· To understand, be able to teach and use effective new positions to open pelvic outlet diameters as they pertain to the mother’s pelvic shape and vital new birthing techniques to effectively progress labour
· How to teach effective assertiveness to birthing parents

Sudbury and Mississauga where my stops in July. Body Awareness workshops will be held November 3 in Alberta and late next March (dates to be announced) in Ottawa, London and Toronto, Ontario.

I spent several extra days on holiday in Sudbury. The weather was fabulous, the friends I met were amazing and I had a wonderful time. Thanks Ontario!

Cesarean section adhesions linked with delayed delivery

In the latest AJOG is a retrospective study assessing the risks of pelvic adhesive disease after cesarean section and its impact on delivery.

The study found that 4 percent of women undergoing primary cesarean delivery had documented adhesions. This rose to 46 percent in the 217 women with a second cesarean section, 75 percent of the 64 women undergoing a third cesarean delivery, and 83 percent of the six women undergoing a fourth cesarean section.

The mean time from skin incision to delivery of the infant was 10.7 minutes in a primary delivery, and this lengthened by 5.6, 8.5, and 18.1 minutes for a second, third, and fourth cesarean birth, respectively.

Morales et al conclude: “Each additional cesarean delivery, with the associated increase in the severity of pelvic adhesive disease, delays delivery of the infant and may compromise fetal health.

Morales et al. Cesarean section adhesions linked with delayed delivery. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 2007; 196: 461.e1-e6”

I found this interesting as I have 'significant adhesions' from my three cesareans and it is well known in obstetrics that any subsequent cesarean delivery is like working through 'cement' (term used by obstetrician friends) because of the scar tissue. I would like to put forward that not only does scar tissue increase delivery time of surgical deliveries, it may have an impact on vaginal delivery as well. If there were pelvic adhesions, could this not possibly slow fetal descent? I can attest to the fact that it can significantly increase pain, what a huge difference in labour pain with adhesions compared to without, so could adhesions have further impact on vaginal as well? Hmm...

It's Official...

Velocity Web Design has been launched! One of my easiest 'babies' to birth, my new business is well on its way through childhood and growing like crazy. I have been designing websites for years for friends and non-profit organizations I have volunteered for, so why not get paid for it? I love the design aspect and am busy already with two new clients, D&R Engineering and Wild Deuce Retreats & Outfitting.

ICAN Conference

For those of you who were unable to be there... we all had an awesome time last weekend at ICAN's 25 anniversary conference in Syracuse, New York! To meet all of the former presidents, and spend time with our current and upcoming presidents was an incredible experience. The passion that brought them to ICAN was so apparent and spending so much time with them over the several days we were together was incredibly empowering.

To further enrich the experience, Nancy Wainer, Henci Goer and Mardsen Wagner where also there. Each has had an incredible impact on ICAN in their own right with Nancy's impact on the founding of ICAN, Henci's research wisdom supporting women informationally, and Marsden's role not only with WHO's birth guidelines, but his unflagging pursuit of returning normal birth to women. And that was only the tip of the iceberg, Dr. Mark Langdon brought his wealth of knowledge surrounding VBAMC safety, Gretchen Humphries made everyone cry as she showed the reality of cesarean surgery and... well lets just say every single speaker brought great wisdom to impart on each of us there.

All of that made my contribution pale in comparison... the signing of the affiliation agreement I wrote, with the help of so many, for ICAN's first official affiliate - ICAN Canada! As International Director for ICAN International, I am very proud of this accomplishment for ICAN and am excited about the future growth of ICAN beyond North America. As ICAN Canada president, I am extremely proud of the continued expansion of ICAN Chapters across Canada, bringing much needed support to women in their communities.

I truly cannot wait to spend more time with the board at our upcoming Strategic Planning Retreat and our next conference!

You paid attention during 74% of high school!

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New Normal

Life is full of lessons, some wonderful and some painful. I am learning a lot and having a lot of fun on this new journey. My new life is taking me back to my roots, to what I knew and love and lived for before my marriage. Horses have once again taken precidence, for a while at least, as I spend a lot of my time helping my sister train horses. Even if I don't continue that, I have been hired by her and her business partner as their new business manager. I have owned/managed businesses for a long time now and though its a completely different field from what I have done thus far, management is managment. I'm not sure where this will lead, but I am loving every second of it!

Given that, Rosenthal is going strong and I am excited about it's future as well. The spring classes are filling as you read this and I cannot wait to teach the spring sessions. I've also been working with several mothers planning VBAC's and it still amazes me how strong women are despite of and as a result of their experiences.

And thanks to everyone who has sent notes, emails, called and left messages. Your thoughts, prayers and support have been so wonderful and have lifted my spirits a lot in the past few months. ~hugs to all~

Hanging In There

Have you ever noticed that just when you think you have some sort of equilibrium, life goes completely sideways? Ah, but what would live be without surprises and changes anyway! How the heck else would you learn anything if you did nothing but the same old same old?

I won't go into details on my suddenly sideways life since my last post, but know I am learning an awful lot about trust, truth, integrity... and the law. I am so very glad for the incredible friends and family who have surrounded me and are supporting me. This journey is not one I ever thought I would be taking, but indeed I am here. Mistakes were made and we are moving on from those errors. I am hanging in there, trusting that the future will hold it's own reward.

Books I'm Reading...

In telling you the books I'm reading, I am giving you great insight into my life as it stands today. Some things in my life have changed incredibly and others I continue to hold steadfast to for my and my children's sake.

First up is the incredible second edition of It's My Life Now: Starting Over After an Abusive Relationship or Domestic Violence by Meg Kennedy Dugan & Roger R. Hock (2006). I am not going to explain myself here, just know that I am now separated from the father of my children for the very reason this book is about. This is a very, very difficult situation for me emotionally at this point, though I am doing well now and am feeling stronger. I am thankful for my family, friends and my counselor who have been so supportive through it all.

Second is Electrical Code Simplified: Residential Wiring, Alberta Book 1 by P.S. Knight (2002). In preparation for the future, I am helping my sister finish her basement in case I may need a place to live with the kids. Her and her husband have very graciously offered their basement (1400 sq ft) for us to live in for as long as we need, though it is currently only framed out. Having finished three prior basements (of our three homes we have owned over the years) I know well the work and can do it well. However, its always nice to brush up on the codes to ensure their inspection passes with flying colors. One more day and I will be finished all the electrical so we can have the inspector in and start drywalling. Lots of work, but manual work is good right now, I am feeling invigorated.

Third is Homeschooling the Teen Years: Your Complete Guide to Successfully Homeschooling the 13- to 18- Year- Old by Cafi Cohen (2000). I continue to be committed to homeschooling our children as my boys strongly want to learn at home (my daughter is three and not yet homeschooled). It is an exciting and diverse challenge with my oldest in Grade Ten and third in Grade One. We are having an awesome year thus far and I pray I am able to balance homeschooling again for this term. Which brings me to...

The forth and final book is FrontPage 2003 (The Missing Manual) by Jessica Mantaro (2005). To 'bring in the viable income' I referred to above, I am venturing formally into website design. I have been doing it for years already, having built 8 full sites, both for businesses and non-profit organizations. In the past I have turned down many who have asked me to design, build or improve their sites because of my time constraints and other priorities. Now the income potential of this career is far to lucrative for me to overlook... I may need to support my family as a single mother. I will be leaning on Microsoft FrontPage until I can afford and learn Adobe Dreamweaver... the ultimate website building software (and I love Adobe's other products which I lean on heavily for other applications).

With these great books in hand and my goals clear, the future is bright indeed!

A bit about moi...

The Basics

Month of birth: July

Any Siblings?: 2

Parents still married?: yes, 40 years this year!

Occupation: College Director/Instructor

Do you like your job?: love it!

Any pets?: no, but would love one

Hair color: dirty blonde

Eye color: blue

Shoe size: 8 1/2

Any Tattoos?: not yet

Any Piercings?: just ears

Current mood: peaceful, happy

Current wardobe choice: my fav jeans, layered white t and sweater

What are you listening to?: Nickelback's The Long Road cd

Who did you last speak with on the phone?: Cory

Last....

Movie you watched: Take the Lead

Magazine you looked at: Oprah

Thing you ate: Sushi

Book you read: Million Dollar Habits by Brian Tracy

T.V. show you watched: Ummm... Dora? lol

Time you cried: today

Took a shower: 8:00 this morning before class

Got a real letter (a.k.a Snail Mail): can't remember

Ate at a restaurant (not fast food): two weeks ago at Olive Garden

CD you bought: Nickelback

What is/was....

The best thing to happen to you today?: teaching my students (they rock!)

Your most prized possession: my fav jeans

Your first vehicle: Chevy truck

Your current vehicle: black Suburban

Your favorite quote: "What doesn't kill you will only make you stronger"

You bedtime (on average): far too late....

Your best trait/characteristic: compassion

Your worst trait/characteristic: impatience

Do You....

Store things under your bed: only extra blankets

Daydream: always

Have a computer at home: yes

Live in the city, suburbs or country: city

Live in a home, apartment, duplex or mobile home: home

Own a cell phone: yes

Have a good luck charm: nope

Collect anything: nope, hate dusting

Attend high school or college: high school and college

Make good grades: scholar

Have You Ever....

Had a surgery?: 3 c/s's, cholecystectomy

Had teeth pulled?: all of my #7's

Broke the law intentionally: does speeding count?

Ran away from home?: nope never

Broke a bone?: does cracked ribs count?

Cheated on a test/exam: hasn't everyone?

Had a friend pass away: not for a long time

Been issued a citation/traffic ticket: umm for speeding!

Been in an auto accident: several, none my fault

Lied to someone: to avoid hurting their feelings

Been lied to: don't know, don't want to know

Your Favourite....

Place to be: beach on a glacier lake in the Rocky's

Place to visit: Ville du Quebec

Place to chill: curled up with a soft blanket on my couch

Hero: My grandfathers, both of whom I miss dearly

Non-Alcoholic drink: cafe mocha

Alcoholic drink: Bacardi Breezers, Baja Tango on the rocks

Type of food: Chinese, Mexican & Italian

Meal/Food dish: a great steak and a baked potato

Dessert: anything lemon or chocolate

Shampoo & Conditioner: Pantene Pro V

Toothpaste: J.A.S.O.N.'s Seafresh

Salad dressing: Italian

Ice cream: hazelnut

Fast food establishment: yuck

Color: burgundy

Season: summer

Holiday: Christmas

Perfume/Cologne: Adrenaline

Video Game: don't have time

T.V. show: again with the no time

Smells: newborn babies, the wind after a lightening storm

Article of clothing: favourite jeans

Book: Roots is still my all time favourite

Children's Book: Dora, my daughter's favourites are my favourites

Candy: Aero

Car: 1997 Grand Prix GTP S

Sideways...

Sorry everyone, life has taken me on a really wild ride this summer and it's been an incredibly tough time personally. I wish I could say that it was over, but sadly it is far from over. I would like to blog about it, but this isn't a safe place to explore what I am experiencing right now... maybe sometime in the future I will be able to share.

Tomorrow is the turning point though. It is from that point that I either move towards a safe harbour where I can rest and heal with friends/family who will be there to buffer the tide... or I will continue to swirl in the vortex of emotional pain I am currently experiencing. Life is filled with choices and I have to explain and stand by the most difficult decision I have ever made (made earlier this summer) and deal with the consequences. Either way, I will be hurting someone and I cannot tell you how sad that makes me feel.

Catch you on the flip side.

Motherguilt

My sister and I had a wonderful visit today when she came over with her two children. The combined menagerie, which included several neighbour children, had a blast outside in the heat under the sprinkler while we hid from the heat indoors with her four month old.

Our conversation turned to the huge guilt mother's face with every decision made... birth options, vaccination, breastfeeding, home vs work, daycare vs dayhome, school vs home school... the list is endless. The reason we discussed this was because of her daughter's language testing today which showed her to be mildly delayed in hard sounds and my sister was given several pages of information on how to support her with these sounds. From my experience of having a son with severe receptive and expressive language delays and the incessent testing the so-called experts continue to want him to do, I encouraged her to realize that her daughter's delay in this area was only a very small part of who she was and not to be discouraged by this so that she continues to seek other's opinions about her daughter. She knew what her daughter needed best!

You see, I learned the hard way that my instincts and knowledge about my son were completely accurate... his delays in one area of his life as well as his gifts and talents in other areas. When I sought outside support to supplement my skills in parenting my son, I had no idea the pain it would cause as expert after expert, in their own way, made me doubt my parenting skills by insisting that a structured school environment was what he neede most. Their whole focus was to integrate him into a classroom situation yet their recommendations strangely pointed in the opposite direction... individualized support, calm and structured enviroment, etc. It was in realizing that school was their only paradigm and they could not see outside of that box that I realized the truth, I was doing what was best with my own parenting skills and our decision to homeschool him along with his older brothers who have always been homeschooled. So while we can indeed access outside support, we also have to realize where that expert is coming from and base the accuracy of thier input on that... and to know that we are our children's parents and it is our right to make the best choices for them, despite outside opinions.

A funny thing happened...

on the way to the awards gala on Thursday. My daughter ate my makeup. Well not quite literally, but she did break it all over my bed and carpet in my room. What a sight that was to find as I went to get ready! She sure looked well made up :-) Ah well, I still had samples from my two minute Mary Kay career last fall so I broke into those. Minus mascara, I was ready to go in no time.

The YWCA Women of Distiontion Awards Gala was fantastic and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. My friends Claudia Villeneuve, Chapter Leader of ICAN of Edmonton/Edmonton VBAC Support Assn., Anita Ferrie, a co-nominee in the Advocacy category, and I had a blast. The food was excellent, the people were wonderful and the music was perfect. Neither Anita or I won, we lost to a wonderful woman we met that night, Diane Bergeron.

"Dedicated to her community, Diane Bergeron is a leader and a passionate advocate for people with disabilities. As the co-ordinator for the Premier's Council on the Status of Persons with Disabilities, and founder of the Edmonton Guide Dog Users Group, she is looked upon as one of the city's experts on disability challenges. Working alongside the Executive Director for the CNIB, Diane recently helped draft an updated version of the Blind Persons Rights Act. Despite her being totally blind, Diane's vision has no boundaries."

Congratulations to Diane and all of the award winners and nominees. I was honoured to have been nominated with such an amazing calibre of women. Thank you Claudia for nominating me and all the hard work you did to submit my nomination. You are awesome!

Breastfeeding Length in Canada

The Globe and Mail's talented reporter Andre Pickard wrote the excellent article Most Mother's Quite Breastfeeding Far Too Soon.

The single most effective way of giving a baby a healthy start in life is breastfeeding.

As a public-health measure, breastfeeding is unparalleled. It is cheap, easy to understand, has no negative side effects and the method is tried and true -- as old as motherhood itself.

Yet, Canada fails abysmally when it comes to providing babies with mother's milk.

Things look good at first: Eighty-five per cent of Canadian women breastfeed their newborn babies, according to Statistics Canada. However, in the weeks after birth, that rate falls off precipitously.

Every major health group, including the World Health Organization, the Canadian Paediatric Society and the Public Health Agency of Canada, recommends that babies be fed breast milk exclusively for the first six months of life, and that breastfeeding should continue as long as possible after the introduction of solid foods. The reasons for this are clear: Breast milk provides all the nutrients, growth factors and immunological factors a baby needs for optimal growth and development (physical and neurological).

more>>

Cesareans in the News

New Jersey hospital Kimball honored for low rate of C-section births today:

LAKEWOOD — Sumayyah Simone stood in the back of the room, away from the podium, the speakers and the spotlight.

But Simone and pregnant women like her were the reason everyone gathered.

Simone, due to give birth to her second child next month, was the impetus last week for a group of doctors, nurses and midwives to pack themselves into a hallway in Kimball Medical Center's maternity ward and accept an award for good maternity practices.

All because women like Simone want a natural birth.

"There's a trust relationship which I think is really important with a caretaker," said Simone, a 37-year-old Plainfield woman who has a Lakewood doctor monitoring her pregnancy. "When you're in a hospital, you need to trust your doctor."

And when a natural birth is needed or wanted, Kimball Medical Center is among the hospitals of choice.

According to a review of recent state health statistics, the rate of Caesarean-section births at Kimball is the lowest in New Jersey.

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And in South Carolina:

Multiple reasons account for rise in C-sections
By Mike Foley

Back in 1979, when Dr. Kenneth Trofatter began delivering babies in Greenville, the number of women having Caesarean births was about 16 percent.

Last year at Greenville Memorial Hospital, where Trofatter is now the director of maternal-fetal medicine for the University Medical Group, the hospital had 34.6 percent of its births via C-section, a surgical birth method where the baby is removed through an incision in the uterus. Across the country, the Caesarean rate rose to 29.1 percent in 2004 according to the World Health Organization, the latest year for which figures are available.

The end result is higher medical costs, for both private insurers and Medicare, and no end to the debate about the rising numbers of surgeries that some say aren’t always medically necessary. Among his colleagues, Trofatter said, there are two distinct feelings on the issue.

read more>>

Today's higher Caesarean rate raises concerns
Expectant moms must weigh risks, benefits for themselves and baby
By Mike Foley

Among his colleagues in obstetrics, Dr. R.E. Lattimore is an anomaly.

“I probably have one of the lower C-section rates in town,” Lattimore said. “It’s probably 14-16 percent over the long haul.”

The long haul in this case is Lattimore’s career as an ob-gyn in Greenville, now in its 21st year. During those two-plus decades, he’s remained conservative in his approach about unnecessary surgeries, including elective Caesareans.

“I’d prefer not to be on the wrong end of a lawsuit because a woman had an elective C-section and something went wrong,” he said.

While Lattimore said he sees lots of reasons for the ever-increasing number of C-sections, he believes that “everyone would like to see lower C-section rates.” But that’s not happening locally, in South Carolina, in the United States, or around the world.

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