
By Cathy Jameson
Bright Lights in the Big CityLast Monday evening I got a call from my friend Megan Davenhall who is also known as
Sunshine from The Thinking Moms’ Revolution. Sunshine was asked by Fox News to go on air and give her reaction to the induced labor-autism study. Unable to go, she asked if I might be able to jet up to the studio to be on the evening news. While still on the phone getting details, I whispered to my always-supportive husband what the call was about. He encouragingly smiled at me and said, “Go!” I have no prior television experience. Heck, we don’t even have cable TV anymore! I felt a little out of touch but was excited to see what was in store. I thought what have I got to lose? I’ve already been so vocal about Ronan and our situation; this will be one more chance to tell people what I know about autism.
I said to Sunshine, “Sure! I’ll do it.” Had I known how nervous I would be just a few hours later during the interview, I would’ve quickly hung up and hidden under a blankie instead! I’m glad I didn’t run and hide. As nervous as I was (and, oh boy, was I nervous), this opportunity was important.
I knew I needed to do some major prepping for what I just signed up to do and only had just over an hour to do it. I made a quick call to Fox News and told the fellow putting the segment together that a Thinking Mom was available to go on air. I got more details about what the piece was about too. Fox News’ reporter, Shawn Yancy, who is also an autism mom, was going to showcase the autism-induced labor study in the 10 o’clock health news segment. Could I share my thoughts on that? I laughed and said, “Oh, yeah, I saw that go through my news feed. I usually read everything I see about autism, but I didn’t open that link. I thought to myself, ‘Another study? Really?? What’ll it be this time?’ My contact at the station pressed if I’d be available. I confirmed I could and hung up.
While I got dressed and ready to go, my husband read through the study and wrote some notes for me. I joined him moments later and sat down at the computer to do some reading. Together, we found more information and saw that this particular study was drawing a great deal of national attention on several news sites, including ones we trusted and on quite a few mainstream ones as well.
With notes in hand, we went over key talking points. Since I hadn’t yet been given any questions that the reporter would ask me, I made sure to jot down general information on autism as well as news from other recent studies. Not having done too much reading on induced labors, I wanted to verify that process and that induced labor requires chemical assistance. I already knew that, when any kind of toxic goo is added to the body burden, the immune system can be suppressed. The GI tract can take a hit. A toll can be placed on the neurological system. I assumed that once induction starts, risks immediately do too.
I felt like I had a good idea of what could be presented but wanted to get some input from those who’ve sat in the hot seat before. I made a quick call to
Kim Stagliano. She offered sage advice and boosted my spirits. Once we hung up, Kim put the word out that I’d be on the news which prompted an encouraging call from AofA’s Media Editor
Anne Dachel. She too wished me luck and reminded me of something I hadn’t thought of. This study, as with a string of others, puts blame on the mother. Ah, yes. Another tactic to dodge the truth and make mommy the bad guy.
With only ten minutes left before I needed to get on the road, I reached out to a friend who is well versed in the subject of pregnancy, laboring and babies.
Brandy Burd has ten year’s experiences as a doula and serves the Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Norfolk cities in Virginia. From her website, “As a birth doula, my goal is to help mothers educate themselves on their options for childbirth, and provide the physical, emotional, and informational support they need to achieve what they define as a positive birth experience.” I knew Brandy would be a fantastic source for me in the final few minutes I had left to cram for the interview.
What I gathered from our conversation is that inducing labor could indeed be medically necessary in certain situations, but allowing for a natural birth should be considered first. Some reasons a doctor may suggest an induction are when the mother is experiencing pre-eclampsia, high blood pressure, diabetes, multiple complicated pregnancies and when the membranes rupture but the next stage of labor is grossly delayed as that can put the baby’s health at risk.
Full-term pregnancies typically range from 37 – 42 weeks. Forty-two weeks may seem like a long time, but women can and have safely labored up through then naturally. Despite that fact though, some clinics promote induced labor as a “standard management” practice. Some reasons for non-medically necessary inductions are:
*for social reasons (inducing because parents wish to have the baby on a certain date)
*due to maternal age (inducing because a woman is “older”)
*for convenience to the provider (inducing around his/her schedule or time off)
*for convenience to the hospital (inducing scheduled during the day when more staff is available)
*for convenience to the pregnant woman (inducing because she may be tired of being pregnant or because she wants a smaller baby)
When considering birthing options, taking note of the woman’s health, the type of pregnancy she’s had as well as the baby’s development is of utmost importance. To needlessly schedule an induced labor could actually cause serious complications for both mom and child and what Brandy referred to as the Ripple Effect. This means that when one intervention is started, another is likely to be added in order to offset an unexpected outcome or unforeseen complications from the procedure. More drugs, some with increased negative side effects, are added next. Those, as well as other invasive actions, can add stress and physical strain to the laboring process. Instead of a let-nature-takes-its-course approach, or allowing mom to trust her body, both mom and baby are hooked up to drips and monitors and have less mobility to move through the labor pains.