WARNING: Highly personal, graphic birth story and photos ahead. There’s a point to this. But if you’re here to look at beautiful portraits, best scroll down to where that kicks in again.
You’ll notice a few things about this blog. It’s a place for me to show my recent work. I will occasionally post personal work here of my own family. Once in a while I’ll post something non-photography in nature. Just a heads-up - this is one of those times. There is some graphic medical stuff about birth discussed below. If it’s TMI, you might want to skip this blog entry. =)
Robert M. Biter, M.D., OB/GYN extraordinaire, has had his privileges suspended at Scripps Encinitas Hospital. The reason? That’s a valid question. We don’t have an answer. But we do know that it has nothing to do with malpractice. And really, one wonders, does it matter? What does matter, in my opinion, is getting the region’s best OB back in the groove of catching babies.
Here’s the thing. Pregnant moms under his care cannot give birth at their planned hospital, Scripps Encinitas, with Dr. Biter in attendance until his privileges there are reinstated. For any mom close to her due date, who has spent the last nine months thinking, researching, planning, visualizing her birth - because this is what women do who are planning a natural childbirth - this is beyond devastating. This is having your entire world turned upside down and given a good shake. This is a travesty. This puts women and their babies at risk. It doesn’t matter that there are other doctors, or that they can have Dr. Biter as their labor support person if they trek to La Jolla. For any pregnant woman whose birth plan just went up in smokes, this is inhumane.
I had two birth experiences - complete opposite births, both at Scripps Encinitas. My first experience was, from start to finish, mostly a nightmare. If you’re pregnant, just stop reading here and skip to the next paragraph. Seriously. You shouldn’t read bad birth stories when you’re pregnant. Trust me on this one. The short story - planned homebirth, back labor for more than 24 hours, compound presentation, transferred to hospital, seizure (nope, no history of seizures), drugs tossed at me left and right, bad reaction to drugs wherein I tried to kick and bite people, finally culminating in my waking up in the ICU a day and a half later (because that’s where they had a male nurse strong enough to keep me safe by restraining me), no longer pregnant. No memory of anything after arriving at the hospital. My son was removed from me via episiotomy and vacuum delivery when I started seizing. He was whisked away to the NICU in La Jolla. They gave me a polaroid of him when I woke up. Even six and a half years and much therapy later, it still makes me tear up to write that.
Fast forward! Here’s the good part. Birth of son #2. 42 weeks gestation, hotter than hell summer. No pressure to induce - ever. No concerns throughout pregnancy whatsoever; it was almost weird having a pregnancy treated as a normal, healthy part of a woman’s life. I joke - but it’s true - that my first and only vaginal exam during pregnancy was when I was 9cm dilated and begging for an epidural. So - 42 weeks gestation, give or take. Again, the short story - labor started spontaneously, we stayed home and labored here, went to the hospital about five hours later (swearing I was going to get an epidural because I was afraid I was only 2cm dilated), arrived there and got checked to find that I was at 9cm, pushed for about 20 minutes, still begging for the epidural, remained standing on my own two feet (literally), felt my baby’s head crowning, felt that ring of fire, birthed my baby at 9:45AM on 9/9/09 into Dr. Biter’s hands, who was kneeling on the floor over a nest he had made for my baby. I (finally) got into bed, held that naked warm, wet baby against my chest, and inhaled his scent for hours. I have never smelled anything so good. From his first hour he was alert, calm, aware, curious. We left the hospital hours after the birth - we were both doing that well, and just wanted to be home with his big brother as a family.
I got lucky - I got a do-over birth. Some women are hoping they get a fabulous first birth, or that they get a do-over amazing birth. To increase their odds, they find Dr. Biter. He has a well-deserved reputation for caring for VBAC moms, and other traumatic birth survivors like me. I remember when we first met with Dr. Biter, more than a year before we even considered having another baby. He told us that the decision was of course ours to make, but that a second birth would be such a healing experience. He was right.
Every woman deserves to have the birth she wants. Suspending Dr. Biter’s privileges is a giant leap backwards for pregnant women in his care. My heart goes out to them. I bet they are smart, savvy women who are going to make it work regardless and land on their feet, and I hope they will have the births they want. But it shouldn’t be that hard. Their birth wishes, plans, and dreams should be honored and respected. Scripps Encinitas can play a role in that by reinstating Dr. Biter’s privileges at the hospital’s OB department immediately so that he can get back to his life’s calling of helping women birth their babies safely, comfortably, and peacefully.
We’ll be at the rally today from 1:30-3:30PM in front of Scripps Encinitas to support Dr. Biter and the moms he serves. You can read more about what else you can do, if you would like to get involved, at bringbiterback.com.
Here are some images from Wolfie’s birth; first two images by doula extraordinaire Val Peterson, third by proud Dada Dave.
Holding Wolfie (umbilical cord still attached)
Forever grateful.
Birth high - an hour after birth.
Dave with Wolfie - taken by me, with my pro camera gear, an hour and a half after his birth.
These next few images are a good advertisement for natural birth; I took them with my pro gear at home just 28 hours after giving birth:
I’m getting off my soapbox now. No more graphic TMI-type birthy stuff. Back to our originally scheduled programming.
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Dawn Tacker | Eos Photography | Naturally beautiful, environmentally friendly portraits
