Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Cesarean Prevention Webinar

Want to lower your chances for a cesarean?

The International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN) is pleased to announce a new online webinar! The ICAN Birth Class: Cesarean Prevention is scheduled for Tuesday, June 23rd at 10 p.m. EDT (7 p.m. PDT).

This webinar is perfect for the mom expecting her first baby, or for the mom who is planning a VBAC.

The $20 fee for the class goes directly to support ICAN's mission of promoting maternal-child health, providing emotional and physical support for women who have had cesareans, preventing unnecessary cesareans, and promoting Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC). ICAN has 110 chapters in North America and Europe, which hold educational and support meetings for people interested in cesarean prevention and recovery. It is also active in advocacy for childbirth issues nationally and internationally.

Remember, women in the USA have about a 1 in 3 chance in having their childbirth end surgically; for "obese" women, in many places, the chances are more like 1 in 2.....or higher.

Taking a webinar can't guarantee you won't have a cesarean, but it can certainly help raise your awareness of the factors that commonly lead to unnecessary cesareans.

That way, hopefully we can keep cesareans reserved for the cases in which they are truly necessary, and avoid exposing women and babies to the risks of surgery when it's not really needed.

[Potential risks to babies from cesareans include: low birth weight, prematurity, respiratory problems, and lacerations. Potential risks to women include: hemorrhage, infection, hysterectomy, surgical mistakes, re-hospitalization, dangerous placental abnormalities in future pregnancies, unexplained stillbirth in future pregnancies and increased percentage of maternal death.]

You can find out more about the ICAN Birth Class: Cesarean Prevention here:

http://ican-online.org/none/ican-birth-class-cesarean-prevention

Attendees may register here:

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/999201490

*Don't worry, I'm still working on my post about prenatal weight gain and women of size! Almost there! Just wanted to get the word out on this cesarean prevention class so interested folk have plenty of time to register.