Prolapse surgery unsuccessful for almost one third of women

A new study from the University of Utah School of Medicine (lead author Ingrid Nygaard, M.D), which followed the experiences of 215 women following reconstructive surgery for pelvic organ prolase, has concluded:

"Results after seven years of follow-up suggest that women considering abdominal sacrocolpopexy (surgery for pelvic organ prolapse [POP]) should be counseled that this procedure effectively provides relief from POP symptoms; however, the anatomic support deteriorates over time; and that adding an anti-incontinence procedure decreases, but does not eliminate the risk of stress urinary incontinence, and mesh erosion can be a problem..."

Hooray for the c-section vacation!

Above is the title of a recently posted blog on the U.S. babycenter website by mum of two Kristina Sauerwein.

Kristina's post begins by asking, "Dare I admit that I enjoyed my c-section birth experiences?" and she goes on to describe with relish what she enjoyed about her hospital stay.

Some of what she writes will certainly be controversial for some tastes, but I really felt it was a blog post worth highlighting here as it's a perspective I haven't really seen anywhere else.

Of course, see what you think.

Midwives in Switzerland want greater influence over women's birth choices

Julie Hunt, swissinfo.ch May 13, 2013

Pregnant women are faced with a whole range of birthing options, which can make choosing how to have their babies pretty difficult. An increasing number of Swiss women are opting for caesarians, mostly on the advice of their doctors.
 

The Federal Office of Public Health recently published a report that neither criticised nor supported C-sections. But health care professionals in Stans, canton Nidwalden, are clearly against them. At the cantonal hospital, 29% of births are C-sections, around the national average. Birthing staff want to reduce that number. And at the nearby privately run birthing house, ‘caesarian’ is almost a dirty word. 

Cesarean Cachet or Status Symbol for Brazil Women?

An NPR report this past week, C-Sections Deliver Cachet For Wealthy Brazilian Women, by Lourdes Garcia-Navarro, is available to listen to here, and a few days later, this report by Nicole Stevens was published: Elective Cesarean Sections Seen as a Status Symbol [in Brazil]. I posted the following comment on the NPR news article:

I'd firstly like to agree with the OBGYN below, that it is very important that women are advised of planned cesarean risks, and in particular, the risks of repeat surgeries. This is precisely why CDMR (cesarean on maternal request) is only advised for women planning small families. Additionally,

Two things strike me about this umbilical cord cesarean story

On Sunday, the following story appeared in the Daily Mail: The baby who cheated death by 30 minutes: Doctors spot umbilical cord strangling foetus during routine scan and carry out emergency caesarian at 32 weeks, and two things jumped out at me.

Intervention in childbirth: What’s wrong with letting women choose?

On Tuesday 11th June, Bournemouth University is hosting a DEBATE with free entry, which promises to be interesting.

Intervention in childbirth: What’s wrong with letting women choose? is scheduled to take place between 10am and 12.30pm, and the organisers have told me that a summary will be published afterwards.

Details are as follows:

Hospitals 'are ignoring advice on caesarean sections

This was the headline in last week's Guardian article in which the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and the NCT criticised hospitals for not following NICE guidance on elective cesareans.

Absolutely! I agreed with them.

Just this past week I have been trying to help the latest of many women who have contacted me over the years to say their maternal request cesarean is being blatantly refused.