I've been absent from blogger-land for like 3 months. What can I say? I have 3 kids and 3 dogs and this Kindergarten thing is way harder than I thought (for me, not for Man Cub)!
Recently, though, an issue has so impassioned me that I just have to say more than a Facebook status will allow.
The birth center where I delivered my third child, Charleston Birth Place, is facing closure after some health department policies are being "reinterpreted."
I call bull.
You can read Coralie's birth story and see some of the photos here.
You can read more about the issue at hand at http://savecbp.org/.
You can read statistics about birth centers in the National Birth Center Study II here.
You can sign a petition to support this cause here.
I fall pretty low on the "Hippie" scale.
Probably somewhere above a chronic litterer and below weaving my own fabric to make my own cloth diapers.
When I have a headache I take an Excedrin.
And when I have a cold I take some DayQuil.
And when I have a baby I...
Well, I think that my body is doing something that it's Creator made it to do.
And since I am considered "low risk" and "healthy," this time around I chose to do it in a freestanding birth center, attended by a Certified Nurse Midwife.
When I needed space to labor alone, she quietly sat in a nearby room.
When I started to puke, she brought be a cup and and cool towel and some peppermint essential oil.
When I started to shake, she told me that it was normal.
When I said "Judy, I wish you could just do this for me" she encouraged me that I was doing it wonderfully myself.
When I pushed so hard I thought my head was going to explode, she guided me to slow down and breathe.
And, when my baby's shoulder got stuck behind my pubic bone [shoulder dystocia], she knew just what to do. She handled the complication expertly and quickly. She kept me intact and my baby safe. She reacted without hesitation. And we were all fine. Great, in fact.
See, a midwife can handle lots of complications. And she knows when to call a doctor and transfer to a hospital if necessary. DHEC needs to leave the wonderful, competent, trained, skilled, Certified Nurse Midwives of Charleston Birth Place alone.
In over 1,100 births they have had 1% transfer to a hospital for a true emergency.
They have 0% infant mortality.
0% maternal mortality.
And 100% of my support, passion, and love.
It just takes one click to vote, and you can vote every day!
