We
started the show tonight by talking to our intern, Lauren Brenzel, about her
thesis research, which focused on control and empowerment in both the hospital
and out-of-hospital birth setting. She shared a bit of her findings with us on
air.
On tonight’s show, Laura and
Carmela revisited the subject of vaginal births after Cesarean sections (or
VBAC). Tonight, we delved a bit deeper into the experience of women who seek
VBAC care. Our first guest tonight was Lisl Liang. Lisl is the the cofounder,
President and Editor in Chief of SRQ Magazine, and the mother of two
children--Griffin, her almost three year old son and Piper who celebrated her two
month birthday last Friday. She is also the Chair Elect of the Sarasota Chamber
of Commerce and recent keynote speaker for the Women's Leadership Council of
the Boys and Girls Clubs of Sarasota County. Lisl shared both of her birth
stories with us, and the learning and growing she did after her C-section with
her first child, Griffin. In particular,
Lisl shared with us the lessons she learned in following her intuition and
letting go of the idea of a perfectly planned birth, stating that “preconceived
notions of what we want… can override instinct.” Lisl also highlighted the
importance of self-advocacy, and learning to communicate needs with care
providers.
Our next guest was Sharon Lytle.
Sharon was introduced to midwifery in 1991 while working in a small community
in Illinois. She followed in the footsteps of other local nurse by attending
the University of Illinois at Chicago's midwifery program, earning a Master of
Science in Maternal/Child Nursing with a Midwifery focus in 1999. Since that
time, she has served women in both private practice as well as public health
settings. A resident of Sarasota for two years, Sharon is happy to have
recently joined Dr Sullivan, Dr Cohen, and nurse practitioners Marge Thiron,
and Beth Hinkleman at Associates
in Gynecology and Obstetrics. While interviewing with Dr's Sullivan and
Cohen, one of the first questions on Sharon's agenda was "Do you offer
VBAC?" Sharon discussed with us how individuals within her practice come
to be informed about their options concerning VBAC, and also discussed issues
of informed consent and active dialogue with patients on the subject of VBAC. Sharon
encouraged individuals seeking VBAC care to ask lots of questions. Sharon also
discussed some potential steps that could be taken in a general sense to
increase VBAC numbers.
Our final guest tonight was Roanna
Rosewood. Roanna is an award-winning international speaker, successful
restaurateur, accomplished real estate investor, co-founder of BirthPlan Radio , executive action
chair for Human Rights in
Childbirth , and author of the new memoir, Cut Stapled and Mended: When one
Woman Reclaimed Her Body and Gave Birth on Her Own Terms After Cesarean. She
shared her motivations for writing her memoir.
TONIGHT’S RIGHT: Every woman has the right to be informed if
her caregivers wish to enroll her or her infant in a research study. She should
receive full information about all known and possible benefits and risks of
participation; and she has the right to decide whether to participate, free
from coercion and without negative consequences. To learn more about your
rights, please visit ChildbirthConnection.org.
Birth in the News:
