Dear Friends:
    The risks of ELUSCS are many, and apply to mother and baby. Here are a
few.
    To mother: hemorrhage, infection, recovery from major surgery at a
profound life passage, reduced comfort when initiating breastfeeding, and
death.  Plus the risks of future problems with pregnancy such as the placenta
implanting in a poor place, and increased risk of rupture if induced. Also
dehiscence of wound and cuts or nicks to bladder and bowel.   What about
missing an important function of being female?  Women are made to give birth.
What about the energetic, physical, and emotional aspects of that?
    To baby: iatrogenic prematurity, lack of hormone priming to get ready to
be on the outside, lack of total body massage (via uterine work to get baby
out) which increases risk of lung and gastrointestinal problems. Also hyaline
membrane disease, getting cut during the surgery, interruption of a vital
process which has been proven to work for generations, and trauma to the head
and neck from being pulled out. Plus the impact of a sudden decompression
when the sac is cut and baby suddenly emerges? (This has an impact on the
central nervous system.)And again, what of the energetic, emotional, and
physical impact? What about the significance of interrupting the exquisite
timing and biochemical cascades that are important to babies?
    How crazy can people get to think that a relatively recent innovation
(when compared to birth) designed to save lives in critical situations should
become a routine event?
    This is relevant to breastfeeding, because birth is the foundation of
breastfeeding. When  birth physiology is interrupted, breastfeeding is either
at risk or suffers.
    Makes me fear for the future of birth in the USA.
    Warmly,
Nikki Lee RN, MSN, Mother of 2, IBCLC, CIMI
craniosacral therapy practitioner; childbirth educator
Elkins Park (a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; northeastern USA)
supporting the WHO Code and the Mother Friendly Childbirth Initiative

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html