I was thinking about my blog regarding my niece’s birth and I felt the need to clarify some things. Women need to make informed decisions about their births. Their births will be affecting them the rest of their lives… that experience is paramount according to the studies on how they will mother that infant and see themselves as strong or weak later on.
A woman is not classified in active labor until she is dilated to three centimeters and contracting regularly- stronger, longer and closer together. Usually that means at least an hour of contractions lasting at least a minute for at least an hour. Now I don’t know what my niece’s labor was like. But I do know that the studies show that when a mom stays at the hospital with her water intact and under 3 centimeters dilated, she increases her chances of a cesarean by 30%. So the intervention train is boarded- after all, you are at the hospital to have the baby. So, their job is to help you get the job done. What? At what cost? (more…)