ICAN (The International Cesarean Awareness Network) announces the formation
of a mailing list for the discussion of Cesarean Sections. We are a national
organization with 33 local chapters and hold reguar meeting for parents to
discuss issues related to giving birth by cesarean.

We seek to support women who have had a cesarean and help them deal with the
personal and emotional issues surrounding their birth experience. Many women
who have had a cesarean find the comments of well meaning friends and
relatives to be unhelpful or even unsympathetic. For many women, ICAN is the
only place they have found others sympathetic to their distress after a
cesarean.

We also help parents plan VBACs (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean). Our overall
goal is to reduce the rising rate of cesareans, which stands at 24% as of
last year (it was 5% in 1970). In other words, one in four of the mothers who
read this post have had cesareans.
ICAN is also a place where first time parents can gain valuable information
to learn what they need to know to avoid a cesarean.

The ICAN list will hopefuly serve the same function as local chapter meetings
do: parents can share birth stories and information in a safe and
understanding environment.

Parents who have given birth by cesarean or are concerned about the issue are
invited to join in the discussion. Together we can work on healing the
wounds.

Professionals who are interested in the issue are also invited to join. Many
parents have questions of a technical nature related to their birth
experience and find it valuable to receive clarification or updates on how
medical management affects the risk of cesarean.

The address to subscribe is

 [log in to unmask]

in the body of the post, please put "subscribe ican"
You will be added to the list and receive all mail sent to the group.

The address for submissions is:

[log in to unmask]


The list owner is Sabrina Cuddy <[log in to unmask]>

The list creator is Samantha McCormick <[log in to unmask]> I am the Vice
President of the New York City Chapter of ICAN.

Please forward this message to any groups or individuals who might be
interested.
Those of you who administer web sites on pregnancy/parenting related issues
might wish to add this information to your site. Thank You.