I was told by my highly esteemed doctor that there actually are some good
reasons for scheduling a baby to come early --he said he used natural means
to bring about the birth.
( I never had to go through it since my baby came 2 weeks early --one day
before my scheduled birth).(BTW, that prevented me from having two kids 9
years apart born on the same day--now they each have their own birthday!)
    I hesitate to use the word induction because I assume it means pitocin
and other medications to work the labor.  He had planned to do something
different.
   But his argument was that nowadays women eat better than the smokers of
the 1950s, and consequently the average baby is significantly larger than the
1950s babies.  The baby at 38 weeks (who is in a situation in which all the
factors are right) will weigh significantly less and have a significantly
smaller head size than a 42 week baby.  He had several other reasons, and he
believed that this is why so many cesareans are performed today--because the
babies are simply so much bigger.  He did a good number of these procedures
and had such a good success rate of VBACs that I bought the idea.
    I know--I know all of you have your backs up right now, and I will
probably receive a bunch of scathing emails, but I feel like the Lactnetter
who said the blurb about learning that my opinion is simply that--my opinion.
That same doctor mentioned that there is more than one way to skin a cat.
   I feel that that is a sign of a good health care provider.  One who is not
hemmed in by cultural expectations of any kind, but one who seeks to find a
cure--or in my case give me a more natural birth with as low a cost to the
recipient (s) as possible --and I don't mean money..
     (My baby was a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) by the hardest, by
the way...  I seem to be one of those true CPD (cephalopelvic disproportion,
the most maligned reason for C/secs) moms.

    And re: breastfeeding saving the Mom after the birth, it sure helped heal
me and improve my self-esteem after my C/Section. (first baby)
   Gena ([log in to unmask])