Disclaimer: The page was created by a University of Virginia student, an expert in this field, for a class on information technology and health care. It should by no means be used to replace the advice and information offered to you by your personal heath care provider.”
The purpose of this blog is to educate mothers and nurses on a new method of Cesarean and how they can be involved in the baby’s birth even in the OR. This is called the “gentle cesarean”.
What is a “gentle cesarean”? A gentle cesarean is when the mother is involved in her birth, even when it takes place in the OR. The mother can see her child be born and the baby is placed immediately skin to skin on the mother’s chest. Sounds good right? Yet, this is not the standard used for most C-sections today. If you are interested in having a gentle cesarean, you will need to educate yourself and have a plan with your physician.
There are websites which can give you information, but you want to use reliable sources. While websites are limited from healthcare professionals, there are good sources of information from Doulas and Childbirth Educators. The following are 10 websites that have been evaluated for information. I have rated them as: Excellent ♥♥♥♥, Very good ♥♥♥, Good ♥♥ and Fair ♥.
http://wellnessmama.com/25468/gentle-cesarean/
This is a nice website and blog. She shares her experience with C-section and provides helpful advice for mother’s who are undergoing the same birth experience. She offers helpful advice and provides a video from England on the gentle c-section. It is very colorful and easy to read, like advice from a friend. She also provides a birth plan for mother’s and things to take to prenatal visit for discussion. She is not a medical provider or doula, however information is reliable. Very Good ♥♥♥
This was a great website! There is a short video from a registered nurse who discusses what a gentle cesarean is. It provides good information from a healthcare professional and in a way parents can understand. She explains the process and how parents can be involved in their birth. She also agrees this should be a standard of care. The downside is there is limited information unless you watch the video. Very good ♥♥♥
http://www.scienceandsensibility.com/tag/gentle-cesrean
While this website is created by a healthcare professional, unfortunately with the information is a soap box of why cesareans are not good. However she does acquiesce there are times when a c-section needs to be done and if so, this is the best way. There is definitely negativity in the ambiance of this website and the blog has not been updated since 2011. It provides a video for gentle c-section which is the only good information regarding the process of gentle c-section. Fair ♥
http://voicesinbioethics.org/2015/03/24/gentle-cesareans-the-humane-future-of-surgical-delivery/
The author of this website is a bioethicist. He looks at both perspectives of the gentle c-section from an ethical point of view. While he agrees this provides benefits to both mother and child, what he also states is that there is not enough research to show it is better than the standard of care. He agrees more research needs to be done and he provides a reference list for people to further educate themselves which I completely and agree with and will try to remedy. It would be better if he provided more information. This was created in March,2015 so it is current. Good♥♥
http://motherscircle.net/tips-for-cesarean-birth/
The author for this website is a Doula and childbirth educator. This website provides great information for mom’s and shares her own experience with the gentle cesarean. This was a great website for moms! She gives seven tips for having a cesarean section which are very helpful with reliable information. The website is colorful with pictures and very inviting! Excellent ♥♥♥♥
http://www.motherlove.com/blog/view/Writing-a-family-centered-cesarean-birth-plan
This website instructs women in creating a birth plan for a cesarean. The author encourages mothers to check with their doctor and hospital before the procedure to be sure they will work with them in their plan. The plan is a gentle c-section including dropping the drape, letting the partner announce the sex of the baby, having staff discuss the birth and not what the score was on the game last night. The requests were reasonable. The site was pleasing in it’s use of colors and was easy to follow. Very good ♥♥♥
http://www.hellosunshineok.com/blog/17-tips-for-a-great-c-section
As with many of the websites, this was created by a doula. I loved this website because it was very much pro mom! I wish I had seen this website before my c-section. She provides good advice for moms and how they can take control of their birth experience. She provides 18 great tips such as moms should go out the night before and celebrate, have birthing mantras, music, etc. This was a great website with positive energy and letting moms know they can have a great birth experience even in the OR! Excellent ♥♥♥♥
http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2013/01/whats-a-natural-cesarean-and-how-natural-is-it-really
This website was from an journalist who covers medical and health issues. She is a co-author of a book discussing natural childbirth. This came from NPR out of Boston, where they are pro gentle c-section at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. The information provided came from an OB at Brigham and Women’s hospital. While he claims this was his idea, I think he meant at the hospital. He does bring up the point that this may not lower the c-section rate, but actually increase it if the experience is more pleasant. I disagree with this philosophy but he is physician who is pro gentle c-section and still provides good information on how this can be done safely. This was last updated in 2013. Very good ♥♥♥
http://www.mamanatural.com/gentle-cesarean/
The author is a mother who’s only goal is to help other mothers. The website provides good information and instructs mothers their cesarean experience can be a positive one. She provides instructions on how to find a physician, to read up and educate yourself, to create a birth plan and take control of their experience. The information is reliable and consistent with other websites. The website is friendly and in language easy for mothers to understand. The downside is their is major advertising all around the information. Very good ♥♥♥
Physician and healthcare staff supporting gentle cesarean!
Gentle C-section article for blog
This article was authored by physicians and healthcare staff sharing their experience with the gentle cesarean. As with others, they also claim they created the gentle c-section in 2009. Their purpose was to encourage other hospitals to follow suit and adopt this procedure for the benefit of both mother and baby. It also discusses the barriers to using the gentle c-section and how they were addressed with nurses and other healthcare professionals.
So the question to consider: If there is data supporting the gentle c-section as beneficial to both mother and baby, why aren’t more hospitals offering this to their clients? How can the barriers be overcome to increase it’s use?
Video of Gentle Cesarean:
Terri Clinger 