Vancouver Doula (...and Slow Birth): Cascade of interventions in first-time mothers with term births who experienced labour

Friday, May 10, 2013

Cascade of interventions in first-time mothers with term births who experienced labour

Today, the report "Listening to Mothers III: Pregnancy and Birth" was released. I saw that the data suggested that the highest percentage of cesareans came from the induction group. Their chart is below:

I looked at my own data from the past 12 months (N=30) for first-time mothers at term who experienced labour (so gone are the multip births, the scheduled cesareans for placenta previa, the premature births, etc.) Of the 87% of clients who did not have an induction, there were NO cesareans. Of the 13% of clients who had inductions, 100% of them had epidurals and 50% of those women had cesareans. Overall, of the 30 clients who fit the criteria (two were at home), the epidural rate was 40% and the overall cesarean rate was 13%. The numbers are small, but they still closely mirror the large study. Interesting stuff.

I will publish my complete stats for the past few years soon, and will tease out some more of the interesting results, including VBACs (I believe the past year's VBAC success rate was 100%), home birth stats, and more.

Enjoy!

1 comment:

Christina said...: After having a first birth that went along the right side of your diagram, having the second birth be a no-induction, no-epidural, no-cesarean part of your VBAC success rate was especially excellent.; 10:58 a.m. PDT

About Us

Jacquie Munro - Vancouver Doula

vancouverdoula@gmail.com

778-883-9851

I have been interested in birthing issues since I studied developmental psychology at UBC in the early 1980's, focusing on mother/child interaction and language development.

I put my studies to practical use during my two pregnancies, first with medical care (Sarah), then with midwifery care (Alex). After my inspirational experience with midwifery care, I worked to promote the registration of midwives in BC, and became involved in our local birthing community.

Over the next few years I became a Certified Childbirth Educator and, after teaching hundreds of couples, I tried out my own experiment, and attended the births of an entire prenatal class, just to see if it would make a difference - and it did! All those births were straight-forward and without complication. I was on to something! From then on, my focus began to shift toward providing support for couples throughout their pregnancy, birth, and postpartum period. A doula had been born (even though it was years before the term "doula" was coined).

I've been the Coordinator for Vancouver Childbirth, taught prenatal classes with Vancouver Childbirth and Kwantlen College, helped to develop the Douglas College Doula Course, was DONA-certified doula #16, the BC DONA representative, developed a holistic childbirth education series for The Midwifery Group, and developed a Slow and Simple parenting series with Pacific Midwifery.

I work closely with my daughter, Sarah (see more info below), and your "birthing team" (midwives, family doctors, lactation consultants, and complementary caregivers), to provide the best care for families during the childbearing year. I stay current by attending 4-5 births a month, attending workshops and conferences, networking, reading and researching "best evidence" during every spare moment, as well as listening to my most willing teachers - our clients and their babies.

Since 1987, I have provided doula care to over 1020 women and their families at home and in the hospital, and have taught thousands of expectant parents. I currently work solely as a doula in private practice. (Just to let you know, baby #3 is living in Colorado with her little son, baby #10 is a classical pianist, baby #15 is working on his Masters at SFU, and baby #1021 is feeding happily at home with her mum and dad.)

Outside my life as a doula, I love to hug my ever-expanding family (including twin grandsons!), ride my road and Mamachari bikes daily, am a literary junkie, and slow travel with my husband.

Email me or call me and let's have a chat!

- Jacquie

Sarah Munro

Sarah Munro (BA Hons, MA, PhD student) is a Vancouver-based doula, breastfeeding counselor, and mother of twins who has been providing perinatal support for birthing women since 2007. Working with birthing families bridges her passions for childbirth, breastfeeding, and research. In addition to providing doula support, Sarah is pursuing her PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies in health services and bioethics, specifically: "Birth after a previous caesarean section: Health communication strategies to enhance decision making". She is a Child and Family Research Institute Trainee and Western Regional Training Centre for Health Services Research Trainee. She is honoured to be providing doula back-up for Jacquie.

Please check out the "Vancouver Doula" section below for more information about the care we provide.

Jacquie Munro, founder of the "Slow Birth" movement, is an experienced doula and childbirth educator and is well-known for her individualized, intuitive approach to supporting families in the childbearing year and beyond. Since 1987, she has provided support at over one thousand births, at home and in hospital, and taught thousands of expectant parents. At home, Jacquie lives only a bike ride away from four generations of her family. You can usually find her at the park or beach, playing beside her twin grandsons who call her "Deecy".