This post is going to be a little more… intense.
PLEASE read this knowing I am NOT a medical doctor, but I am
a mother. I say this with the upper-most respect for those who have no voice,
pregnant moms who will undoubtable suffer the same tragedy I have, or worse,
will not live through birth. I am going to be as resourceful as possible with
my facts, but realize I might get something’s wrong. I encourage comments that
have added information, but also those who question my facts. Please read this,
knowing that my daughter passed away within a two day time period, but I do
believe she died the morning before she was born still. Please comment, knowing
these are MY views, MY feelings, and MY Interpretations of the facts.
Neonatal deaths (Deaths that happen with the first 28 days of life) yearly: 19,000
Premature birth accounts for 25% of those deaths.
SIDS: (Death that occurs with no explaination in the first year) 4,000
Stillbirths per year (An infant that passed in uetero after 20 weeks gestation): 26,000
March of Dimes Funding: 219mil (2012)
Stillbirth Research funding: 3mil http://www.firstcandle.org/grieving-families/stillbirth/about-stillbirth/research/
(((DO WE SEE A PROBLEM HERE?!?!)
The new 39 week is Full Term rule, has swept this country
silently. The beginnings of it were founded by March Of Dimes, in a deliberate attempt
to remove premature deliveries, by the mom’s consent and wishes. The rule,
which is now a standard and is being implemented in hospitals everywhere, is
bound with twists and binds YOUR Ob’s hands to it. In fact, they can lose their
job, license, and reputation if they go against it.
Here is the article March of Dimes has on the reasoning
behind the rule. http://www.marchofdimes.com/pregnancy/why-at-least-39-weeks-is-best-for-your-baby.aspx
“Your due date may not be exactly right.
Sometimes it's hard to know just when you got pregnant. Even
with an ultrasound, your due date can be off by as much as 2 weeks. If you
schedule to induce labor or schedule a cesarean birth (also called a c-section)
and your date is off by a week or 2, your baby may be born too early.”
This is an excerpt from their article. What you don’t see,
is the flip side to the “off by a week or 2” reasoning.
From 40 weeks, to 42 weeks, the chances of a stillbirth
almost DOUBLES, going from 10 in 1000, to 18 in 1000. THAT’S HUGE. Now, imagine
if your due date was behind where you actually were by a week… at 39 weeks, you’d
really be 40 weeks. 2 weeks, at 39 weeks, you’d be 41 weeks. Let’s say, your OB
doesn’t have a slot until your 39.6 weeks. Well… you’re at the end of your 42
week mark, and you don’t have a clue. EDD are NOT accurate enough for 39 weeks
to be a legitimized “rule”.
AND there’s even more twists. In an article they wrote in
July of this year, they still account premature births as something that
happens before 37 weeks… not 39 as they have been broadcasting. A little back
and forth, don’t you think?
NOW, being that I have experience with a placental
abruption, and that is where I’m going to gravitate… 50% of placental
abruptions happen after 37 weeks. I do NOT think it is coincidence that that is
also the time when the placenta begins to decrease in it’s function. Yes, at 37
weeks, the placenta isn’t full functioning anymore. (going with the + and – 2 week
miss-calculation that your due date COULD be… and depending on how efficient your
placenta is, isn’t it reasonable to assume that at 37 weeks your child is
full-term due to them not needing as much as they did before?)
OK. So now that we understand the logistics behind what
full-term really means.. and how much EDD can be off in each direction, we get
back to the ISSUE.
SINCE March of Dimes began their campaign, Stillbirth and
Maternal death has risen. RISEN. We are in 2013.. and Maternal death is on the
RISE?! Premature births HAVE gone down, but, more full-term babies are losing
their fighting chance. More moms are slipping away from extended labors, and
un-noticed issues.
How do I know this? There is a group on Facebook I’m in full
of moms/grandmas who have lost their grandchildren, children, wives, ect,
because of this rule. I’m a part of that group because, I will forever put my daughter’s
death on this rule.
Why?
At 37 weeks 4 days I went into the hospital in labor, and
was immediately sent home because I refused an IV, although I did ask if I
could drink water instead and they said no problem.. Apparently there was a
problem with it. At 38w1d, after laboring all night, we went in, my
contractions slowed, then rose again, got more intense, then spaced out as they
got more intense.. still 3 minutes apart. I was diagnosed with “prodromal labor”
and sent home because I was still only 3 cm. My OB wanted to induce me, but
couldn’t because of the new 39 week rule. A little back story, my first son was
born 5 days early after 32 hours of Pitocin.. I stayed a 3 until 29 hours in,
and he was born blue. My second son was born at 37 weeks on the dot, after 4
weeks of TRUE Prodromal labor and taking meds to stop it from progressing me,
as I was already 2 ½-3 cm at 34 weeks, after my water broke and I was given pit
to counteract the meds. I also have had 5 early losses. You would think, with
the labors I’ve had I would have qualified for induction, being I was in labor…
but nope. He could’ve lost his job, so home I went. My contractions did slow,
but who knows if there were heart rate dips, or any other signs of issues going
on.
2 days later, is when Sophia was stillborn. (Read that story
HERE)
SO. What does this mean for you?
When you go into labor at 37-38w6d, expect to be sent home.
There are even documented cases where doctors have STOPPED labor at this stage
for fear of being held liable for a preterm delivery. REMEMBER, this is ALL a
game of numbers. If premature deliveries are going down in their hospital,
their hospital gets more funding, and better ratings. All of a sudden, March of
Dimes looks good, and the big Politicians who endorse them suddenly look like
they cured the plague.. all the while us stillbirth moms can’t even get ONE
slot on day-time news expressing our concerns with this new rule, or the back
stories that it has caused.
Why?
Because no one wants to hear about dead babies. No one wants
to see a child die, and no one thinks it can happen to them. You see a
premature baby fighting for it’s life, and you think “How precious! I’ll send
that baby money to cover it’s hospital bills!” No one see’s a grieving mom and
things “I wonder if I can send her money to cover HER hospital bills, I bet
that baby was adorable!” All they see is a broken mom who lost her baby… and
unfortunately… they wonder what they did to deserve or cause it.
The 39 week rule, is ridiculous. Plus or minus 2 weeks, you
have the original full term dates of 37-41 weeks. So really, March of Dimes…
what game are you playing?
If you TRULY want to help babies be born safe, let the OB’s
that the moms HIRE, do their jobs. I’m sorry Kim Kardashian and all the other
celebrities are working their due dates around their jobs, but such is life.
You cannot, nor do you have the authority to control it.
If you are interested in reading an article on this very
subject by Times magazine, the link is below.
I encourage you to SHARE this post, or this article, and get
the word out. Now that it is an accepted rule, I can almost guarantee that
stillbirths will rise even more, and more moms will lose their lives. I’m lucky
my abruption was concealed, and clotted behind the placenta… if it hadn’t, I
wouldn’t be here, and yet still, my perfect daughter who had a perfect
heartbeat 2 days before she was born, never had a fighting chance.
http://ideas.time.com/2013/10/22/new-definition-of-full-term-pregnancy-presents-other-problems
