Who am I?

Well I guess I'm the biggest birth junkie going.  I am also a wife, mother of five wonderful children all born with a great amount of faith in myself (including two of them that were born by the breech!), Certified Perinatal Nurse (RN), Birth Educator, Doula, Lay Breastfeeding Counselor, writer of birth advocacy articles, and a lousy house keeper. I'm am totally amazed that I made it thirty years into my life not knowing a whole heck of a lot about this incredibly wonderful thing called birth.

When I saw my first birth, I was so disturbed I believed that cesarean birth was the way to go. I can be quoted (soon after viewing a birth for the first time) as saying to a friend..."on the first contraction, knock me out, cut me open and wake me when it's over". Needless to say, the event was incredible to behold, even though it horrified me. The mother had labored in a two bed labor room and was transferred to a surgical suite for the birth. This was a typical birth in this hospital. This was in 1988.

Fast forward to 1994. My next viewed birth was  a second time mom. I counted no less than seven wires or tubes attached to her body. I was privileged to be able to add an eighth attachment, her urinary catheter. The baby was born via vacuum extraction and came out blue. A respiratory code was called and baby was rushed off to the NICU for observation. I left that birth with a sour taste in my mouth. I began to have questions as to why someone would purposely make birth chooses that obviously increased risk for their baby. I was hooked on birth though. I graduated my diploma nursing after doing a two month rotation in labor and delivery. I loved it!!!

Fast forward, August 1995, I birth my first child. Labor was incredible. Completely intervention free by circumstance. November 1996, I have discovered the midwife and birth faith. My second child is born at home. March 2000, I birth my third child, a diagnosed incomplete breech, in hospital (and against the on-call doctor's advice that my baby is huge and I needed a cesarean). We leave the hospital 4 hours after her birth (Angela's Birth).

January 2001, I decide more people need to have a comprehensive place to go to find out about breech babies. I design this site to pull all the information consumers of birth care services may need to make an informed choice about how they may want to birth their breech baby. I have also designed this site for the birth professional to gain insight into the realities about birthing breech from a parent's point of view. I have tried to show both sides of the coin with this site. But, me being me, I have swayed to the more normal (aka "natural") side of birth. I have done this because all the information that is currently available, is very pro-cesarean when it comes to breech birth. By putting up vaginal birth stories, those that are seeking a vaginal birth can gain faith that they have that choice.

There are thousands of stories that speak of having surgery because of a breech baby. Some will appear here, but not a lot. Those stories can be found on the main stream search engines quite easily. Many birth stories (both posted and linked) you will find here have been sent to me personally by word of mouth.

I hope you enjoy this site. Please visit frequently and send it to a friend who might need such a site as this.

Patricia

P.S. August 20, 2003 - after a 40 minute labor, I birth my twins. This birth took place unintentionally in my ensuite bathroom. The second baby came breech.