The Radiant Mission Podcast | Episode 27
Host: Rebecca Twomey @theradiantmission
Co-Host: Rachel Smith @rachelsmithsmith
Guest: Dr. Stu @birthinginstincts
Thank you for listening to The Radiant Mission podcast! We are on a mission to encourage and inspire you on your walk with Christ and as you journey through life.
In Episode 27 we continue the conversation with our guest from last week, Stuart Fischbein MD, also known as Dr. Stu. As a reminder, Dr. Stu is a Community Birth Physician, author of “Fearless Pregnancy, Wisdom & Reassurance from a Doctor, A Midwife and A Mom” and peer-reviewed papers Homebirth with an Obstetrician, A Series of 135 Out of Hospital Births and Breech birth at home: outcomes of 60 breech and 109 cephalic planned home and birth center births. Dr. Stu spent 24 years assisting women with hospital birthing and, for the last 12 years, has been a homebirth obstetrician who works directly with midwives. His website is www.birthinginstincts.com.
Dr. Stu travels around the world as a lecturer and advocate for reteaching breech & twin birth, respect for the normalcy of birth and honoring informed consent. Follow him on Instagram @birthinginstincts and at The Birthing Instincts Podcast with midwife Blyss Young on your smartphone app as he offers hope, reassurance and safe, evidence supported choices for those women who understand pregnancy is a normal bodily function not to be feared, simply desire common sense and who cannot find supportive practitioners for VBAC, twin and breech deliveries.
In This Episode on Informed Consent in Birth with Dr. Stu (Part 2):
Women’s bodies were designed to grow a baby and deliver a baby.
Within the midwifery model, c-section rates are between 2-7%. In 1970 in the United States, the c-section rate was 5%. Today, hospitals are in the upwards of 32%, with some locations like Miami, FL around 50%.
What are we doing to the human species? There is no thought given to what this could do to future generations. There is always a ripple effect. For example, if you give someone penicillin you can save them. But then you create methicillin resistant staph aureus. You have to keep chasing your tail. It’s like with viruses. You give a vaccine, the virus mutates. Nature always finds a way.
The medical model and pharmaceutical companies don’t really want you to get well. That’s not how it was designed.
There are many natural remedies that midwives and birth keepers use during and after birth.
For example, putting a piece of placenta is known to stop hemorrhage naturally.
Many midwives have studied the benefits of herbal remedies and homeopathy such as Shepherd’s Purse, Angelica, Arnica, Pulsatilla and others.
Oftentimes family members and partners are hesitant about home birth.
The home birth model (for folks like Dr. Stu and home birth midwives) is designed to function in these types of scenarios because there is time to build a relationship with a client and their families.
Men are typically concerned about cost and safety. Dr. Stu takes the time to discuss safety and what happens to a woman when she goes to the hospital vs. the peace she is able to discover at home.
Pro tip: when you’re pregnant, don’t tell anyone your due date. Tell them about when, that way they won’t bug you around your due date and ask about induction and such.
A lot of women have trauma. Labor can be a flashback of that abuse. How can you expect a doctor you’ve never met before to honor your history? A midwife will take the time to get to know you and learn your history.
Who is performing the unnecessary c-sections?
Every doctor thinks they are necessary, yet more than half are unnecessary. They ignore the data (that the c-section rate should be 10-15% when it is upwards of 32%) because it’s a coping mechanism of cognitive dissonance.
They’ll also say, “well, it’s not me doing the unnecessary ones. It’s the other guy.” But what’s the other guy saying? He’s saying the same thing. Half of all the c-sections performed aren’t necessary, yet someone is doing them.
Is birthing at home the better choice?
Yes. BUT ultimately this choice has to belong to the mother. She has to look at her own history, family history, what she values, what’s important to her. For some women having a hospital birth, even a scheduled elective c-section is the best choice, because labor is a bridge they don’t want to cross. This is fine, as long as a mother has been given informed consent. As long as she has been told the risks related to a cesarean. And, that the care provider asks the question, “do you want more children?”
Birth is a life event.
It’s important that you choose the right care provider for you (if any!). You make the choices when you’re planning your wedding day. This is another life event, so you get to choose who you work with for your birth.
Dr. Stu did an interview with the Down to Birth team on red flags to look for.
When a woman goes to a visit with an OB or midwife, it’s important to ask, “how this office/person make me feel?” And if you didn’t feel right, find someone else.
We are God’s creation. He created our bodies to give birth.
At the end of the day, we often have to choose where we put our trust. Is it in scientific studies? Is it with doctors at the hospital? For me (Rebecca) it was: do I trust that the Lord made my body to heal, that it did heal, and that my body can give birth.
So many women need the encouragement that their bodies were built to birth.
Do we really think that 1/3 of women can’t give birth vaginally?
There is a rise in alternative medicine.
Functional medicine, ayurvedic medicine, naturopathic, acupuncture, herbology, chiropractic, and more. People are finding out that there are other ways.
When we support informed consent and informed decision making in birth, the mother wins in the end. The midwifery model trusts birth and they accept uncertainty. The medical model doesn’t trust birth, they fear it, they don’t accept any uncertainty, and they try to control everything. And when you try to control everything, you create chaos.
Bible Verses Mentioned in Informed Consent in Birth with Dr. Stu (Part 2):
Numbers 6:24-26:
“May The Lord bless you and keep you; may he make His face shine upon you, and be gracious unto you; may he lift up His countenance upon you, and grant you peace.”
Resources Mentioned:
- Learn more about Dr. Stu
- Website: www.birthinginstincts.com
- Check out the Heads Up Documentary
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