So, I'm watching a baby story, & the narrator is talking about the laboring mom, how she had a cesarean, but was trying for a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). She mentions how the risk of uterine rupture is 1%. My jaw hit the floor. Then came the tears. Why?? Why did my OB make it sound that attempting a VBAC would be extremely risky? I underwent a second, traumatic c-section because I trusted my OB, & for NO MEDICAL REASON WHATSOEVER.

That began my journey of researching, & ultimately, my passion, for getting the word out there to other Moms, Moms like me, or like, how I was, trusting that I was getting sound medical advice.

Being on the Internet & reading people's stories can be a downer sometimes. Whether people post that they were lied to by their mechanic, or taught horrific, religious doctrine that causes harm, or about precious women carrying their first babies, & the fear that they are filled with because of the very sobering fact that we learn from a young age that birth is a very dangerous, risky medical procedure & only obstetricians know what they are doing. Us women need to listen to "Dr's orders" so our babies are safe. Do we research these "orders"? Of course not, they went to medical school & are educated, & we aren't. Plain & simple. We never think that possibly the OB's are wrong, that maybe the majority of the time they are indoctrinated & not up on the latest research. Or maybe they are, but, their malpractice insurance prohibits them from performing VBAC's. It's fear-based medicine, fear-based maternity care.

It saddens me. No matter what type of board or forum I am reading, I always come across some post about a pregnant Mom, undergoing serial ultrasounds, for whatever reason. Ultrasounds have a high false positive rate. Do these women read articles on ultrasound, & research papers that question their use? How about all the women strapped to the hospital bed with fetal heart monitoring devices? Do these women know that research has shown that they do not improve outcomes, & they also detect fetal distress when the majority of the time, the baby is fine? If true fetal distress is occurring, are these women informed it's most likely from artificially inducing labor, or rupturing the bag of waters, not eating, drinking, laying down for hours because you can't move from an epidural, & being told to HOLD YOUR BREATH & push for 10 seconds?

No. Because Dr.'s know best.

6 years ago, I loved watching birth shows. Now, I can't stomach them. It's the same story over & over.

"My pelvis is too small". You mean to tell me over the past 30 years, women's pelvis' have shrank & we can no longer push a baby out? Hmmm.

"My baby is breech, I have to have a c-section". Well, that's because OB's are no longer trained how to safely assist in delivering breeches.

"I'm 40 weeks. I can't go overdue. I have to be induced". Ask your Dr. to show the research that it's unsafe to go past 40 weeks. See what kind of answer you get! ;)

"The baby is not engaged. I won't go into labor". Ever heard of a woman being pregnant forever? The baby will come when it's ready. Not when the Dr.'s start getting nervous of being sued....that may be at 38 wks, 42 or even 44 weeks! Made ya gasp, didn't I?

I just wish all women had the opportunity to learn all the facts, not just what is presented to them by their Dr.'s or horrible books like "What to expect when you're expecting".

I always buy the book "The thinking woman's guide to a better birth" (see this link) for pregnant women I know. It's researched based, easy to read, & helps women enter into Motherhood without recovering from major abdominal surgery.

I guess reading different stories today got me down. Sure, I can forget about it, but how can I do nothing when women are being lied to, being fed misinformation, & blindly follow orders? I was there. I did that. Once I started searching for answers, & I learned how ignorant I was, well, I just had to share. This stuff really gets to me. I hate untruth.