April is Cesarean Awareness Month

April is c-section awareness month.  This was my daughter's birth on June 7, 2011.  It was to say the least, NOT what I had in mind! 

Cesarean rates are on the rise in Canada, despite the declining birth rate.  In 1995 the birth rate of all births by cesarean was 17%, in 2010 that rate was 27%.  There are truly legitimate, life-saving reasons to require a cesarean.  But we tend as a society to forget that it is major abdominal surgery, cutting through seven, yes seven layers to get to the uterus and your baby.

Recovery is often longer, more restrictive and frequently more complicated than a vaginal delivery. 

I guess my point in this post is to be informed, my cesarean might have been avoided by knowing more about my options and knowing that I could advocate for myself, but maybe I would have ended up on that table regardless.  If you truly need a cesarean, then we are blessed to have the option to have safe, healthy deliveries of our babies.  Having the photos as proof is just gravy.