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Advice for Women About Cesarean and Vaginal BirthAs early as possible in pregnancy:
Arranging for continuous labor support can help you avoid an unnecessary c-section. The booklet What Every Pregnant Woman Needs to Know About Cesarean Section (PDF) can help you set and reach your goals. It has a section with many tips to help you avoid an unnecessary c-section and have a safe vaginal birth. If this is your goal, it is important to become informed as early as possible and make and carry out your plans due to the current climate where more and more cesareans are being performed. You can also download Vaginal Birth and Cesarean Birth: How Do the Risks Compare? (PDF), the companion at-a-glance summary. For most pregnant women who had a c-section in the past, a vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) is a reasonable choice. If this is your goal, it is very important to become informed as early as possible, plan ahead and put care arrangements into place. To learn more, decide and take action, see Should I choose VBAC or repeat c-section?. You may have heard that vaginal birth is harmful, and a c-section will prevent incontinence later in life. There are many problems with this line of thinking. Before undergoing major abdominal surgery for this reason, get the facts:
Most recent page update: 2/22/2007
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Childbirth Connection is a national not-for-profit organization founded in 1918 as Maternity Center Association. Our mission is to improve the quality of maternity care through research, education, advocacy and policy. Childbirth Connection promotes safe, effective and satisfying evidence-based maternity care and is a voice for the needs and interests of childbearing families. |
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New VBAC Guidlines
ACOG has just issued new Guidlines for VBAC. What changed? What continues? We've Moved!
On July 1, 2010, the Childbirth Connection office moved to 260 Madison Avenue, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10016. All other contact information is unchanged. New Pregnancy Video Library Available
Our new Video Library features links to a wealth of resources for health professionals as well as for women who are planning pregnancy, are pregnant or are new mothers. Visit the Video Library  "2020 Vision" and "Blueprint for Action" Reports Available Learn about Transforming Maternity Care project Read the "2020 Vision" Read the "Blueprint for Action" Read the Consumer Workgroup report Help implement Blueprint recommendations Listen to report release event audio, 1/2010 eNews Sign Up
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