Happy Mother’s Day!! PLUS What’s Going on at Choices in Childbirth

This Mother’s Day, Choices in Childbirth would like to celebrate all of the moms out there as well as the amazing community of Mother-Friendly care providers who have supported them. Wishing you all beautiful birth memories this weekend!

Here’s what’s happening in the birth world and at Choices in Childbirth!!

Preparing for Postpartum, Thursday, May 16, 2013, 6:15-8:30pm, FREE, 14th Street Y (344 E. 14th St, bet. 1st & 2nd aves) 

The period following the birth of your baby will likely be something of a love fest as you get to know your child. It can also be a time when new families sometimes feel overwhelmed and isolated as we get our bearings as parents and figure out how to care for a newborn, our relationship, and ourselves.

We hope you will join Choices in Childbirth for an evening of stories from new and experienced parents who recently made a variety of choices during the period of time following the births of their babies.  Additionally, bring your questions for New York City postpartum doula, Julia Mannes, and Valerie Lynn, author of the The Mommy Plan, Restoring Your Post-Pregnancy Body Naturally, Using Women’s Traditional Wisdom.  Suggested Donation: $10-$20 RSVP Here!

Miss the Business of Being Born: Classroom Edition Screening at NYU? It’s not too late! We filmed the event & now you can watch it whenever you want!

On Thursday, April 25th, Choices in Childbirth partnered with NYU’s Nurse-Midwifery program to screen The Business of Being Born: Classroom Edition! Following the film, Professor Gene Declercq presented his incredible new data for Birth by the Numbers and there was a panel discussion with

• Professor Gene Declercq, Boston University School of Public Health
• Abby Epstein, Director of The Business of Being Born
• Patricia Burkhardt, CM, DrPH
• Elan McAllister, Founder & Executive Director of Choices in Childbirth
• Dr. Jacques Moritz, OBGYN

If you are interested in watching the film, you can purchase it at www.classroombobb.com, and if you’re interested in watching the presentation and panel discussion, please e-mail Julia at ClassroomBoBB@gmail.com.

Just Released! Listening to Mothers III: Pregnancy and Birth

See what 2400 moms had to say about their pregnancy and birth experiences. Brought to you by Childbirth Connection. Click here to read!

Alice Garik: Childbirth Photographer

Alice Garik’s dedication to the empowerment of women guides her childbirth photography. A professional photographer, her calm and respectful presence will give you photographs to cherish of your birth and newborn. Her focused attention will allow your partner to be with you and in the experience, not reaching for the camera. Alice offers packages that include a maternity session with childbirth and newborn photographs.

www.alicegarik.com

(718) 499-1456

FREE – Flatten Your Post-Baby Tummy Classes - Turn Flab to Fab in 8 Weeks! 

MRPT Physical Therapy is offering free classes to showcase an exciting new series of post-baby exercises for new moms. The class will be taught 1 time per week for 8 weeks at MRPT conveniently located 1 block from Grand Central. Participants must be willing to commit to attending all 8 classes and should be a few years postpartum or less.

Our new series of classes start on Tuesday, June 4 at 11am

Please e-mail mrptny@aol.com or call (212) 661-2933 if you are interested. www.mrptny.com

Special Mother’s Day Offer:

Documentary Film: BIRTH STORY: INA MAY GASKIN & THE FARM MIDWIVES

Final days to purchase the award winning documentary film about legendary midwife, Ina May Gaskin, just in time for Mother’s Day! The Choices in Childbirth community can purchase the DVD or download the film online with a 15% discount off the retail price!

Use the code BIRTHSTORYCIC for 15% OFF! Go to http://watch.birthstorymovie.com to download or order your DVD.

Need More Guides?

The 2013 National and NYC Metro Guide to a Healthy Birth are available online to order! These Guides are free to the public. If you would like copies of this resource to be sent to your home, office, or community center, we ask that you please pay for the cost of shipping. Click here to order the new guides. 

National and NYC Metro Guides are available.

Cesarean—Not Just a Surgery

By Michele Demont

In the US, one in three mothers will give birth by cesarean section. Chances are you have had one or know someone who has.  There are varied reactions after having a cesarean birth – some are grateful, some indifferent, others loved it, and still others found it disappointing or even traumatic. All of these reactions and feelings are valid. For the women who have had a more negative experience with their cesarean sections, we need to look into why. What can be changed to take away some of the negative feelings around having a cesarean birth?

The cesarean birth of my first child wasn’t a very positive experience. My doctor and the OR staff ignored us, they gossiped during the surgery and though my son was perfectly healthy they refused to let me touch him or simply show him to me. The whole process was very rushed and we were treated as if we were on an assembly line. This experience made me view cesarean sections in a negative light, and I was afraid to have another one in the future.  Little did I realize at the time that it was the doctor and staff that made me feel this way–not cesarean birth itself.

When I’ve come across other mothers who have had negative experience with cesareans, I hear a very similar theme throughout. Many say they did not receive the support they needed throughout the surgery and/or afterward (especially if they had complications from the surgery), they were needlessly separated from their babies for hours, or felt detached from the whole experience. Doctors and hospital staff perform cesareans—which are relatively quick and predictable—multiple times a day, day after day. Unfortunately, routine and predictability often breed complacency. It can be easy to forget what is just another day in the office for you is a once in a lifetime moment for somebody else. This can make both mothers and fathers feel ignored and treated like a number.

A few years ago I came across a video about something called the natural cesarean.  Until then I had no idea this was being done in other places, and I was intrigued by it. The mother, father and baby were all being treated respectfully and the parents were involved in the cesarean birth of their child like I’d never seen before.  I knew if I were to ever have another cesarean, I wanted it to be like that.

Traditional After-Birth Care Theory and Nutrition

By Valerie Lynn, Author, The Mommy Plan

Valerie Lynn

In May 2007, I returned to the U.S. after living in Asia for ten years. That same month, I gave birth to my son, Jordan. I quickly realized that in the United States specific, structured care for mothers after delivery didn’t exist – and still doesn’t today. I’ve asked myself why this is the case many times over the years. Care during the first six weeks post-natally is deemed as a crucial healing period to at least three billion people around the globe. Why is this period not deemed as equally important in my own country, where we have at least 4 million births per year? I attribute this to the medicalization of birth and the diminished role of the midwife, beginning in the early 1900s. Our heritage of after-birth care has been lost. There is no longer an understanding of the transition of a woman’s body back to a non-pregnant state and the intense healing process that goes on in those first few weeks.