ICAN'S RESPONSE TO ACOG
AND
AABC STATEMENTS ON
VBAC AND HOMEBIRTH
REDONDO BEACH, CA, FEBRUARY 7, 2007: The
International Cesarean Awareness
Network ([LINK:
http://www.ican- online.org/]
www.ican-online. org) would
like to publicly condemn both the
AABC (American Association of
Birth
Centers) and the ACOG (The American College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists) for their statements* this week that limit not only
women's choices in birth but imply that birth is a fashion rather than
a safety concern.
Since VBAC is the biological normal outcome of a pregnancy after cesarean,
ICAN encourages women to get all of the facts about vaginal birth and
elective cesarean before making a choice. This decision should not include
weighing the choices of your doctor's malpractice payments but only be
a concern of the mother and her support system.
Since some mothers will make the choice to give birth outside of the
hospital, we encourage the
AABC to not cave into ACOG's demands that
all women give birth in a hospital facility with a surgical specialist, but
instead allow women to make their own choices about care providers, birth
settings and risk factors. ICAN respects the intelligence of modern women
and accepts that the amount of information available about
VBAC and
elective cesarean should serve as informed consent.
ICAN further encourages the governments of individual states to look
closely at their cesarean rates (31.1% national cesarean rate as of 2006)
and the informed consent laws that apply and help women to reach a standard
of care that lowers the risks of major surgery and the risks of elective or
coerced induction without medical indication. Women and children should not
bear the brunt of malpractice risks being conveyed into physical, mental,
emotional and spiritual health risks in order to protect their physicians.
_MISSION STATEMENT: ICAN is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to
improve maternal-child health by preventing unnecessary cesareans through
education, providing support for cesarean recovery and promoting vaginal
birth after cesarean. There are more than 94 ICAN Chapters across North
America, which hold educational and support meetings for people interested
in cesarean prevention and recovery._
* AABC statement: [LINK:
http://www.birthcen ters.org/ files/file. php?id=2& file=file& file_type=
file_type]
http://www.birthcen ters.org/ files/file. php?id=2& file=file& file_type=
file_type
ACOG statement: [LINK:
http://www.acog. org/from_ home/publication s/press_releases /nr02-06- 08-2.cfm]
http://www.acog. org/from_ home/publication s/press_releases /nr02-06- 08-2.cfm
__._,_.___