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Directory of Local Birth Professionals
"Birth is as safe as life gets." ~ Harriet Hartigan |
The International Cesarean Awareness Network, Inc. (ICAN), is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve maternal-child health by preventing unnecessary cesareans through education, providing support for cesarean recovery, and promoting Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC).
Statement of Beliefs
We, the International Cesarean Awareness Network, believe that:
1. The cesarean section rate remains at an alarmingly higher rate than the 15% average recommended by the World Heath Organization (WHO). WHO estimates that half (50%) of all cesarean sections performed in the United States are unnecessary.
2. When a cesarean is necessary, it can be a lifesaving technique for both mother and baby, and worth the risks involved. With half the cesareans being performed deemed unnecessary by WHO, the risks these mothers and babies are exposed to are avoidable and costly.
3. In most cases VBAC is safe for both mother and infant. A repeat cesarean should never be considered routine- it is major abdominal surgery with many risks.
4. Birth is a normal physiological process. Given sincere emotional support, real education, and an honest opportunity, 90-95% of women can deliver vaginally, joyfully, as nature intended.
5. Women have the right to accurate information regarding nutrition and risks of drugs during pregnancy and labor. Poor nutrition, smoking, alcohol, and medications taken during pregnancy and labor often affect the infant's well-being and contribute to unnecessary cesareans.
6. Women have the right to the information necessary for using medical technology and procedures judiciously. The misuse of technology has fostered the high cesarean rate. Women have the right to know what tests are being performed, the side effects of such tests, the right to decline any procedures. Informed consent is not a privilege, it is a right of all birthing women.
7. Women must be allowed to express all their birth related feelings in a safe and supportive environment. The emotions of a pregnant and birthing woman have profound effects on the birth outcome.
8. Patient-choice cesareans are unethical and immoral on the part of the physician. Women are not being fully informed of the risks of this option in childbirth, and therefore make decisions based on cultural myth and fear surrounding childbirth.
9. We as women must now assume more responsibility for our own bodies and births. At stake are our babies, our bodies, and our futures. Women are being DENIED the right to vaginal birth!
Do you know of a hospital in Colorado that is denying women the right to a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean)? Please contact Colorado ICAN chapter coordination Kristi R. Conroy and ICAN National with the name of the hospital and your city. We want to hear from you!
Have you been denied a VBAC? Click HERE for information on what you can do about it.
ã International Cesarean Awareness Network, Inc. All right reserved
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LOCAL LEADERSHIP 303-477-6243 mailto:conroy_4@msn.com?subject=ICAN of Colorado
303-841-7118 mailto:KCZMOMMY@aol.com?subject=ICAN of Colorado
303-660-0911 mailto:judith@olesonsplace.com?subject=ICAN of Colorado
Christy Reeves, CD (DONA), CCCE 303-663-8793 mailto:christiane_reeves@hotmail.com?subject=ICAN of Colorado
Helping Colorado's families have the births they want!
Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother. ~Lynn Yutang |