Like Pulling Teeth

This week I have been following up with all the hospitals in Connecticut, a total of 29 hospitals, I have received the statistics I requested from one, and the other hospital that actually replied to me said those type of statistics aren't available to the public. Which in turn really makes me think about the issue and run around pregnant women would and are getting when they try to obtain statistics and information about hospitals that they may potentially be delivering at.
I fully believe that hospitals should be required to disclose this information when asked. While they are required by law to report them to the state, not all people know what office to contact to obtain this information.
Many people give up when the hospital meets them with closed doors, and they do not know about something called the "Freedom of Information Act" meaning, you contact and put in a request for the information you are looking for, and they provide you with the information.

But all in all, these hospitals seem to think that consumers, and women in general are stupid.
I am looking forward to meeting with the ones who haven't gotten back to us, or told us that information isn't available to the public, especially when I do stroll in with their statistics.

Atleast You Have a Healthy Baby

One of the goals of the Connecticut Maternity Care Worst to First Campaign is to improve maternal birth experiences by opening more options in hospitals.

Today, something was said to me, which has been said before, but it doesn't piss me off any less when I do hear it. I am the mother of two boys, both born via cesarean section. One a completely unnecessary cesarean, and one that was very necessary. But it doesn't change that both experiences hurt, physically and emotionally. Now unless you have walked in someone's shoes through an experience like this, you shouldn't really try and comment about it, or think twice about what may come out of your mouth.

Having a healthy baby, or a baby born safety does not have any kind of connection to how your birth experience went, or if you were hurt (emotionally or physically) by the experience.
A healthy baby isn't all that matters. Birth is a fundamentally important event in a mothers life, and a woman's birth experiences will be with her for life, so when you have a negative experience, it is much harder to get over. You look at your beautiful babies, and how they make you smile, but in the back of your head you always have the experience of their birth, good or bad.

Some women can easily move on from their experience, some will be haunted by it till the day they die. But no one should ever try and disregard ones experience just because a healthy baby is the end result.

CT Worst to First Upcoming Event!

CT Worst to First will be holding a meeting on Wednesday, September 30th at 7 PM at Panera Bread Co. in Newtown located on 228 S Main St (route 25). We will be meeting face to face for the first time in hopes to really get things going.

If you are interested in joining us to help this cause, please contact either danielle@worsttofirst.com or michele@worsttofirst.com.

Hope to see you there!

Why is this an imporant issue?

Many people wonder when a grassroots organization like this pops up, why is this even an issue?
My answer always echos something along the lines of
"How important is it to you to have the birth you want?"
"How important is it to you to have a healthy baby?"
"How important is it to you to have a safe birth?"

Many women do not equate medical interventions in pregnancy and birth to complications, but the reality is in most cases where heavy intervention is uses, such as non medically necessary labor inductions, the complications that come of it, in many cases such as fetal distress, are caused by these interventions. It is a pretty simple equation, and path that the interventions take place in.

My favorite explanation of the cascade of interventions is in The Business of Being Born. The famous Ricki Lake birth flick that ACOG went crazy over. Anything that is going to take money out of the pockets of OB/GYN's they are going to boycott of course, but I bet you they all watched it at some time or another!



Now, these people in this video are not just anyone. They are professionals in the birthing community, people with medical degrees, and have researched this extensively. But we still want to believe that all these interventions are the safest.

Which is why we are challenging all the local hospitals to lower their intervention rates.

Welcome to the Connecticut Worst to First Campaign blog.

Connecticut Worst to First is partnering up with New Jersey Worst to First in an effort to eventually make this a national campaign. Connecticut Worst to First's membership includes Danielle Elwood, chapter leader of ICAN (International Cesarean Awareness Network) CT and ICAN Northeast Regional Coordinator, and Michele Demont (birthcut.com).

Both are cesarean mothers and were drawn towards advocating change in maternity care after the unnecessary cesarean births of their first born, which resulted after the typical cascade of hospital interventions. They now want to help change the way birth is viewed and managed in the United States, hoping to help other mothers and babies avoid the same needless and excessive intervention.

The goals of Connecticut Worst to First are:

• lower the cesarean rate in Connecticut from the current 34.6% as of 2007, to a cesarean rate of no higher than 30% for the year 2010, in each hospital state wide.

• Episiotomy rates of no higher than 5%.

• Alternative birthing positions other than the classic lithotomy position.

• Full informed consent to hospital procedures and protocols

• lowering epidural rates

• lowering rates of vacuum and forceps use

These goals are set to be reached for the year 2010. Consider giving a helping hand to the newest grassroots effort in Connecticut. Together, we can make a difference.