Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/855118
At 5'10" and 180 pounds at nearly full term of her pregnancy, Inga was a vibrant, athle c, strikingly good-looking Nordic woman with shoulder-length blond hair and bright blue eyes. Only her furrowed brow revealed a problem. I listened to her concerns and asked if I could palpate (feeling her baby's size and posi on) her belly. Based on my exam, backed by 15 years of midwifery experience at the me, I es mated her baby's weight to be closer to about 8 and a half pounds rather than the predicted 10. The baby was in a perfect head down posi on. She had no other pregnancy problems and had been preparing to give birth in the birthing center rooms of the hospital affiliated with her program. I gave Inga a grand pep talk about how, from a size perspec ve, she could absolutely birth her baby vaginally. I emphasized that if I, at 5'3" and 135 pounds at full term could birth an 8.5 pounder in 4 hours, she should easily birth an even bigger baby should the baby prove bigger than my es mate. We reviewed the data on the natural length of pregnancy being 42 weeks with minimal increase in adverse outcomes in women who go the full length and even into 42 weeks. At her request, I also shared a few natural approaches she could try at home to get labor started if "push" came to induc on, as this is one of my areas of exper se, though told her to save these as a last resort as natural is not always safe. She went on her way with a resolve to birth her baby naturally if possible, to speak directly with her midwife- professors, and with a plan to see what might happen over the next few days. She thought she might try the natural remedies come mid-week if the induc on became imminent. The week came and went, and having not heard from Inga, I finally gave her a call. "Aviva," she said, answering the phone cheerfully, "I was just si ng here composing a le er to you. I'm so glad you called! "Let me read it out loud." It went like this: "Dearest Aviva, A er I le your office I felt such a sense of relief. It was the first me a midwife or anyone ever said, 'You can do this.' I felt up-li ed and confident. I went in for an ultrasound Monday and baby looked great. Then I went home, took a hot bath, rested, and went into labor! I never needed any of the natural remedies. My baby was born the next day weighing 8 pounds 4 ounces. I had only 8-hours of ac ve labor with about 2 hours of pushing. I did it all naturally and never even needed the herbs or other methods! My daughter is healthy and beau ful! She's right here in my arms. Thank you so much for your support and encouragement, and most of all telling me I could believe in myself." Inga's is just one of the numerous stories story I could share about women who were told they would need to be induced or told they would not likely not be able to give birth naturally and spontaneously, o en because of the baby's es mated size or for other reasons, for example, that it is too dangerous to allow the pregnancy to go much past the due date. Inga was fortunate to be able to have the experience she hoped for. Some mes medical reasons do necessitate an induc on. Too o en, however, they are done unnecessarily, leading to a domino effect of addi onal interven ons including intravenous medica ons, epidural pain relief, and even a cesarean sec on. Are there too MAny InductIonS? Yes, unequivocally, there are too many labor induc ons. Even the leading obstetrics organiza on in the US, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), is trying to curb unnecessary and poten ally harmful induc ons – especially those done prior to 39 weeks of pregnancy, which increase the rate of preterm deliveries. In 1990, the rate of labor induc on in the US was less than 10%. By 2006, it soared to more than 23% of births, and is as high as 44% in some communi es, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Preven on and other researchers. Thus, at least 1-in-5 women has her labor induced, maybe more. While some of these induc ons are medically necessary, most are only marginally indicated and as many as 40% are unnecessary – or elec ve. This means that the doctor or midwife suggests it, or the pregnant woman requests it, for reasons of scheduling convenience. Why the IncreASed InductIon rAte? By all conven onal medical standards, the length of a normal human pregnancy extends all the way to the end of the 42nd week of pregnancy. So why do so many OB's and Page 44 | Abby's Magazine - www.AbbysMag.com