Amy Swagman is a mother, doula, and fine artist in Denver, CO. For the month of April in honor of Cesarean Awareness Month she will be donating 10% of all sales to ICAN, plus 20% of sales from her pieces on cesarean, healing, and VBAC. Amy will also be speaking on birth art and activism at
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ICAN mama Rebecca James was recently interviewed on elephantjournal.com about her journey from having a “McBirth” to homebirth, with a little help from ICAN along the way. She had this to say about how ICAN helped support her after her traumatic cesarean surgery: It is hard to find support after a cesarean! Most people don’t
From "McBirth" to Homebirth Read More »
Registration for ICAN’s 2011 conference is now OPEN at http://conference.ican-online.org/registration.htm Join us in St. Louis, MO for ICAN’s Gateway to a Better Birth conference, April 8-10, 2011. Early Bird Registration is only $99 for a limited time! Speakers include Henci Goer, Pam England, Isa Herrera and Dr. George Macones. This is a fantastic opportunity to
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32.9% of Births Resulting In Major Abdominal Surgery; 13th Consecutive Year to Show Increase Redondo Beach, CA, December 21, 2010 – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics has reported that the cesarean rate hit another record high in 2009, with a preliminary rate of 32.9 percent. The findings reflect
Cesarean Rate Reaches (Another) Record High Read More »
MyHealthNewsDaily recently reported on the rising rate of cesareans, especially among first-time mothers. “The most concerning problem is the high rate in first-time mothers,” said Dr. Jun Zhang, a medical researcher at the National Institutes of Health and co-author of a new report on cesarean delivery practices. In his study, published in the American Journal
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At our monthly ICAN of the Twin Cities meeting this past Monday, we watched three breech birth videos: a vaginal breech at home, a vaginal breech in the hospital, and a cesarean for breech. After the videos, we talked about how difficult it is for some of us to watch cesarean videos because it looks
Cesarean Images – How Do You Feel About Them? Read More »
A recent study published in the British Medical Journal has been making headlines in TIME and Salon, among other outlets. Headlines herald the findings as proof that women are “not too posh to push” and can’t be blamed for the rising cesarean rate. Instead, women are having cesareans for “medical reasons.” From the BBC: It
Not too posh, but still pushed Read More »
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has published a report on disrespect and abuse in facility-based childbirth around the world. From the Executive Summary: Lack of respectful and non-abusive care at birth may encompass many points along a continuum that spans dignified, patient centered care, non-dignified care, and overtly abusive maternal care. Examples
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California Watch, a nonpartisan investigative reporting initiative, has released a study showing that for-profit hospitals in California are performing cesareans at higher rates than non-profits, even in low-risk pregnancies. A database compiled from state birthing records revealed that, all factors considered, women are at least 17 percent more likely to have a cesarean section at
Cesareans 17% more likely at for-profit hospitals Read More »
A study published in this month’s American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology has made headlines, including the Los Angeles Times. Results of the study show that 1 in 3 new moms are giving birth surgically: Overall, cesarean deliveries account for about a third of births in the U.S. While much attention has recently focused on
One-third of first-time mothers having cesareans Read More »
