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Information. Entertainment. Distraction. Advice. Support. Connection.
No, I’m not talking about my husband, my sister, or anyone else. I’m talking about the internet.
It’s incredible how much it has changed our lives, and how much it hasn’t. It has enabled us to find information at the click of a button (or several), yet hasn’t eliminated libraries or bookstores. We can watch movies streamed instantly from Netflix, but our favorite date night is going to a movie at a real theatre (with popcorn, Nibs, and Raisinets). It allows us to share photos and videos in a snap with our family, meet people online, and stay in touch with our friends with unprecedented ease, but is in no way a substitute for having people here.
However, none of those limitations can cause me to quite hate the internet with the white-hot intensity of a thousand suns as much as trying to get information about pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood. I mean, really: What is wrong with some of these people?
As you can imagine from my last post about this crazy breech baby of mine, I have spent countless sleepless hours on the internet trying to find out more about all of this. It seemed like it happened so suddenly that I wasn’t nearly able to ask the two doctors I saw on Thursday all of the questions that are now in my head. Some of them weren’t even formed until I started doing the online digging.
Lest you ever need information about breech babies, let me summarize what I was able to find out. First, the useful stuff, backed up by respectable sites:
*There’s always a chance the baby will flip over, even after labor begins, but it’s really unlikely after 37 weeks.
*Breech babies are typically in one of three positions (no, I don’t know which one mine is in). The most common – the frank breech – is the best candidate for avoiding a c-section if you have a caregiver skilled in this type of delivery.
*Since the (controversial) Term-Breech Study released in 2000 (I think), most breech babies of any kind are delivered by c-section, so chances of finding aforementioned skilled caregiver are slim.
*No one is entirely sure why 3% or so of babies are breech, but the risk is higher if you have had a baby already (yes), are pregnant with multiples (no), have low amniotic fluid (no), have placenta previa (no), have a low-lying placenta (yes), or have a baby with some kind of birth defect (we hope not).
*There is medical procedure we could try called an external version, but it is only successful about 60% of the time and could result in enough stress for the baby to warrant an emergency c-section (and our particular situation makes it less likely to be successful given the positioning of the baby and placenta).
Then there is some information with limited scientific research, but could be helpful:
*You can turn the baby by spending time more or less sitting or lying upside down. This can put the baby in a good position to do a somersault when you return to upright position. (yes, I’m trying it.)
*Some chiropractic and acupuncture techniques may be effective in turning breech babies. (no, thank you.)
And then the masses begin spouting off their unfounded opinions…
*It’s the mother’s fault if the baby is breech because she is probably a busy, distracted mother who is “out of tune” with her body and her baby. If she gets back in tune, the baby will get into head-down position.
*Burning a particular chemical called moxa in a cigar near your pinky toe can cause the baby to flip. It’s called moxibustion. I swear I did not make this up, and I found it on many, many sites.
*Doctors do c-sections for breech births because they want to medicalize your pregnancy and schedule your birth for their own convenience.
*Breech babies are the result of the “couch-potato culture” we have here. In places where women have better posture and squatting is common, breech births are “practically unheard of.”
There is more, SO MUCH MORE, but you get the idea. Really, for someone who loves the idea of pregnancy and childbirth being a natural, nonmedicalized process, I was most disgusted with some of those sites. They take the mind-body connection thing way too far, and telling mothers that problems with their babies are their fault is infuriating. Because we all know that mothers have a tendency to think everything about their babies is their fault anyway. They may think that they are empowering mothers and giving them control that those “horrible doctors” have taken away, but really they are just preying on our guilt and frustration that our situation isn’t perfect.
My husband made me promise not to go back to those sites. I think that was wise.
Meanwhile, everyone’s upside-down, topsy-turvy good wishes are much appreciated around here. There’s still time for somersaulting!
>I have to admit that after I read your comment, I played Dr. Google and quickly found what you found- that there was way too much wacky information out there. The same is true for parenting in general. And yes, anything that blames YOU should be avoided. Like most things about mothering and parenting, we can't control a dang thing about it. Including the position of our babies in utereo. I did read a blog that has the transverse thing done. It worked and she delivered without a c-section but it does seem risky- esp given what you just shared. Let us know! Will you have another scan to see where the baby is sitting? In the meantime, good luck just letting this go a bit…and keep listening to the wise counsel of your hubby. 🙂
>As Sebastian would say: "HOLY COW! Holy Cow, Holy Cow, Holy Cow!" It sounds like you feel bombarded and _you_ have an incredible ability to think critically and to question the author. Imagine what this hooey is doing to the rest of the people out there who never learned to analyze or criticize published content. SCARY. Thanks for posting about this!- Tory