**Trigger Warning – Birth Trauma and C-Section Story below**
When I found out my first child, my daughter, was a breech baby at 35 weeks pregnant, I obsessively googled everything that I could find to attempt flipping a breech baby to avoid a c-section. I was going to twice per week physical therapy with a women’s health and pelvic floor specialist because at this point because I was so uncomfortable, and had researched “Spinning Babies” techniques. My daughter was what you call “Frank Breech”, meaning, her legs were up by her head, making a kind of jack knife dive position in the womb. Her head and feet were both under my rib cage, which, I tell you what, did not feel awesome.
This is when I also learned about the Webster Technique, which according to the ICPA Website, is defined as
“The Webster technique is a specific chiropractic analysis and diversified adjustment. The goal of the adjustment is to reduce the effects of subluxation and/or SI joint dysfunction. In so doing neurobiomechanical function in the sacral/pelvic region is improved.”
I found a local chiropractor that was near my house who claimed that they did the Webster Technique but I could tell after one session that he had not seen a lot of pregnant woman, and the whole set-up was odd. I didn’t end up going back, but I did end up finding an AMAZING Chiro during my second pregnancy, and I write about that in another blog post in depth and how she changed my life forever. I see you Dr. Jess!
But, I did also get a recommendation to go to this incredible, incredible place called “The Nest” in Chicago, which focused on women’s healthcare and fertility support. Here, I entered the world of acupuncture and calm. I also was informed about the moxibustion technique, to help with my attempt to flipping baby and avoid a c-section, and made my husband do this for me every night while I lay upside down on an ironing board for inversions. This place was a literal godsend for me, even if it was to just sit in a quiet room and rest. They helped with my carpel tunnel, my hot flashes, and my pain all wrapped into one, while preparing me for my External Cephalic Version (ECV), which was scheduled for 37 weeks. Now, the Nest, at the time (2016) had some pretty amazing stats for their success rate of women who had seen them leading up to their ECV. The doctors told me it was a 50% chance that the baby would flip during the procedure. But, with the help of The Nest, as well as the Spinning Babies and the physical therapy, and swimming at the pool at the gym, they believed my chances were higher than 75% of her flipping. And, they were RIGHT! On April 27, 2016, I entered the hospital and checked in to Labor and Delivery at Prentiss Women’s Hospital at Northwestern. They have you check in and go through the normal procedure as if you were in labor, because one of the risks with an ECV is that you could need to go into immediate delivery, depending on how stressed the baby gets. You get a full epidural, and are literally in the delivery room. It is NUTS. The picture I have assigned to this blog post is actually me in the waiting room, trying to stay positive, preparing to enter the delivery room.
I was nervous, but I fully believed at this point I had done everything I possibly could to attempt flipping baby. And, after the second try (and a whole lot of pressure and pushing) the doctor and the resident flipped her! They legit high-fived over my belly in ecstatic exuberance, like honest to God shocked that it worked. My first thought was – why are they so surprised? Should I be concerned? My second thought was, well, thank God I did so much to prepare for this to support the process, or obviously this wouldn’t have happened.
Below is where I get real real real honest with my OWN opinions on the healthcare system and treatment of women and children in the United States. So, readers, beware 🙂
But, did my doctor tell me to do these things to prepare? No. I had to find them on my own, through my own research and networking. Why wouldn’t the doctors have my best interest at heart, knowing that a vaginal delivery was much more healthy and natural and safe for me, than a required C-section, especially as a first time mom? I feel like this was probably my first red flag with our health care system, and especially OB/GYN and women’s care in the United States. I had really done no research on pregnancy, metrics, or c-section rates in the United States prior to this experience but oh was I in for it come delivery.
The biggest mistake I made my entire first pregnancy was not doing the research about childbirth rights, expectations and options at the hospital, and how to advocate for myself. I tend to shy away from giving any pregnant mom any advice at this point in my “mom tenure” but the one tidbit I do say to anyone planning on having a hospital birth is this:
- Know your rights. This can be a very vague statement, but if you have specific questions about anything, or want your dream birth to go a certain way, know what the options are both legally and preferred by your hospital and your provider. While the list below might look like a birth plan, its really not. Its the necessities you need to know regardless of your preferred music genre and essentially oil cocktail you want in the room when you are in labor. Here are some examples:
- Constant Fetal Monitoring – does this need to happen? Can you just have it periodically to check babies heart beat? Or, can you ask for the walkable/portable monitor so that you are not confined to the hospital bed
- Induction – what are their (the hospital, your provider) feelings on this and when would it be determined that they would advise this? I am 100% at this point in my life against induction unless the baby or mom is really in distress/danger. I fully blame the birth that I had with my daughter on this, and am convinced this is why I ended up with an emergency c-section despite EVERYTHING I went through to prevent it. This includes the use of pitocin, forced water breaks, and epidurals.
- Medications, procedures, and legal terms for you (mom) and for baby. Know what you are allowed to say no too (whats optional) and what you are required to do to prevent DCFS being called. This is not a joke. There are some hospitals that go to an extreme if you refuse the “eye goop” for your baby or who tell you HAVE to have a c-section and essentially, this is probably something you want to know in advance and not find out when you are 8 cm dilated with your back against a wall to make a choice. And, make sure your birth partner knows your wishes and knows how to advocate for you and ask these questions. I promise you, this is not what you want to be, or should be doing, when you are focusing on birthing your child.
- Nursing Staff and Teaching Hospitals – Despite being at a teaching hospital, you do NOT have to say yes to all of the medical student, resident, intern, etc. promenades that they have and ask to come in for your birth. You should know up front if you are picking a teaching hospital or if this is the default hospital based on proximity to where you are, etc. This goes for the nurses as well – if you have the nurse from hell, you can ask them to leave or better yet, your partner or birth team can ask them to leave at any time.
- Pandemic or no pandemic – know how can be in the room (both labor and delivery, as well as OR) up front so that no matter what your situation, you will know who your team is at the time baby comes earth side. My hospital switched rules during the pandemic and would only allow your immediate partner or 1 person of choice anywhere, restricting the ability to have other support people like photographers, doulas, parents in the room. This has not opened up a little bit but not much. And, there was absolutely no one allowed in the OR but the birth partner.
- Know who is allowed to visit or NOT visit once baby is earthside – we were not allowed any visitors by my 3rd child which was during covid and I think things are still tight post-covid as well. But, when I had my first? Bring on the masses. Everyone and their mother stopped by, some people even visited twice. Not sure I would ever do that again even if I had the choice, but its important to know. There were restrictions with my second born at the hospital because it was flu season – no one under 18 that was not immediate sibling could come to the hospital, and we heard the week later, no one under 18 period could come. This is important to plan for.
I tell you all of this because numbers 1-5 went wrong for me and my husband and I weren’t prepared to advocate for me, ask the right questions, or refuse certain treatments when it came time for baby to be born and I am fully convinced that this is why I was not able to have the vaginal delivery that I so hoped for. Coincidently for this first birth and my second even after TONS of research, switching doctors and more, I ended up with a doctor in delivery that I had never met before. I didn’t have my team. Both times my doctor was on vacation for my birth. Talk about luck.
The day my daughter was born, I ended up in the hospital thinking that I was in labor when I wasn’t (I was 1cm dilated), and they forced an induction on me after realizing I was mentally and physically drained and exhausted. I was given pitocin, hooked up to a monitor immediately, had the epidural placed wrong, had my waters broken forcefully, and no one checked to see what position the baby was in until I was 10cm dilated. I was not allowed to get up and walk around, or move essentially for over 8 hours while I dilated. So much opportunity to have moved around and gotten baby in an more optimal position! Insert curb walking, and a slew of other interventions I could have tried. Not only was my baby sunny side up, but I was forced to stay on my back with an epidural that was not working, my skin was on fire, and I was in excruciating pain from the pitocin. I had medical students and residents and everyone and their mother up in my room, pushing on my legs, screaming at me to push, a horrific nurse, and my doctor tried to rotate my daughter the right way when I was already pushing….. If you know anything about labor you know this is NOT the right series of events to prepare yourself for a positive birth.
After 3 hours of hard pushing, my daughter was stuck. Her head was half way out and her shoulder was caught. They forced me into a c-section, when I was terrified and fully feeling everything. I screamed in the OR for someone to help me and no one believed me or listened when I said the epidural was wrong until I stood up off the table and tried to leave. Then everyone panicked.
My daughter ended up being fine – definitely drugged up and with a smushed head, but otherwise okay. I was not. The effects of the day, the medications in me and the double epidural made it so I ended up being in the hospital for a week with bladder complications from the catheter and issues with my milk. We had no breastfeeding support for our daughter who we now know had a lip and tongue tie, and were forced to SNS feed her from our pinky fingers with formula. The entire situation was traumatic, and frankly, SUPER avoidable.
We had done the work to attempt flipping the baby t0 avoid a c-section, and THAT part worked, but missed the support team and advocate knowledge that we needed to bring ourselves over the finish line in a hospital setting. Learning from all of these things, with my second I put so many of these learnings into practice and built my dream birth team to surround me and ensure I could have a successful VBAC. I officially built my “Village”. And, will talk about that in another post, another day 🙂
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