I am thankful I work in an institution that is a Lamaze approved site. Our instructors are all Lamaze certified and our class content is based on the six care practices of Lamaze, http://www.lamaze.org/institute/carepractices/intro.asp. These care practices were designed to promote a natural/normal birth. FYI: the sixth care practice is, No separation of mother and baby with unlimited opportunities to breastfeed. We have always promoted evidenced based education in our childbirth preparation classes, yet our cesarean rate is comparable to the national rate (sometimes higher). This is frustrating and we have had many discussions exploring reasons for why things are the way they are. We do not water-down any content, sticking to evidenced based teaching as the expected standard. I goal is EMPOWERMENT. Families leave class excited and enlightened, but something happens when they walk through the hospital doors to deliver. Vulnerability and apprehension set in. Despite the excellent preparation, their confidence falters. The system is broken. The culture and the environment within the hospital delivery room is not supportive. Manipulation and control become the guiding forces. We have explored ways to prepare parents for this, but even the most assertive are vulnerable. We have tried to change culture, inviting all new nurses to sit in on a complete Lamaze series. They leave excited and enlightened---yet they too fall prey to culture. So we keep plugging along, making one small difference at a time. Casi Leahy RN, LCCE, IBCLC *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html