VBAC SUMMIT... Empowering Ourselves to Make Optimal Birth Choices For A Healthier Next Generation and a HEALTHIER MOMMY!

February 13, 2010... The VBAC SUMMIT was spearheaded by Michelle Fonte, Kelli, and Miriam Pearson Martinez representing Birthgirlz. ICAN of South Florida was a co-sponsor. Michelle Fonte and Tamara Taitt worked on behalf of FFOM. Nancy Wainer, author of the Silent Knife and Shannon Mitchell of Birth Action shared their insights. Dr. Christ Ann Magliore reminded us of ACOG's current guidelines-that VBAC is safer than repeat Cesarean. Lorie Mc Coy, Doula and Hypnobirthing Diva from Amazing Births also attended, the room was perfumed with her candle scents of Lavendar and Geranium that I recently bought at AMAZING BIRTHS... YUMM! About 40 individuals gathered to share their VBAC stories (VBAC after two Cesareans was the norm) and educate us of how we all may inspire peaceful and loving birth choices. We learned:
By law, if you want to birth via VBAC you may only do this at home or in hospital, NOT at Birth Center, according to ACOG, VBAC is the healthiest option for both baby and mother. Traumatic Birth Experiences sometimes are diagnosed as Post-Partum Depression... that women feel powerless if they do not birth the way they had wanted, and that many times, if a woman births a healthy baby, they are not referred to supportive personnel so that they may heal fully from a traumatic birth experience or from Cesarean Surgery. I see the need for not just psychological healing services, but also for physical-energetic healing services. This is why I created Nurturing Moves... an approach that provides women with the inner tools so they may allow their bodies to witness, observe, and allow their body-mind-emotions to unwind and flow instead of holding in the repressed energy, past experiences, traumas. I realized at the Summit, that my birth experience, which was via cesarean after 42+ weeks and highly medicalized... was for a reason, that it fueled my fire to create an approach that educates, empowers, and celebrates women, that provides the space where women may feel alive again, a sisterhood, reconnecting to those parts that may have been abandoned, or held in due to a traumatic birth experience. I have healed, and continue to heal and feel the remnants of my cesearean birth. The scar is forever present on the outside, but on the inside I feel alive again... having fully learned to engage my Divine diaphragm, strengthen my core muscles, and danced my center have all helped me to be the woman I always wished I could become. I only wish the same for all women, that we may see more clearly how aggressive and inconsiderate, out of touch current birthing practices are... may we all empower and educate ourSelves to make better choices that have long lasting effects on our next generation... some great resources I discovered was The International Cesarean Awareness Network which is at http://www.ican-online.org/ . www.birthgirlz.com , and www.flmidwifery.org are also some great resources...visit www.vbacsummit.org for more information on this wonderful event. Thank you to all VBAC advocates for enlightening us with some much needed empowering information and inspiration :) .