Conference Day 2

Got through the first of my poster presentations today. I think there was a lot of interest and some people said that they had never heard of perinatal hospice. We talked about how to take care of these special patients and how to implement programs in hospitals where there are none.

Perinatal hospice is still a fairly recent idea but with all of the testing that patients get in today's OB world it just makes sense that we have a way to provide care for families that are given 'bad' diagnoses. I am looking forward to meeting more people tomorrow and hopefully sparking a drive in someone to implement programs at their hospitals.

The main speaker this morning was Penny Simkin, well know child birth educator who has worked for change over the years. It got me to thinking about how we give care. Do we do waht is best for the patients and for their babies?? Are we supportive of their needs. So...I created this little informal survey. If you wouldn't mind, can you fill it out and send me your responses? Feel free to cut and paste and send it back on my email if that is easier for you and to keep your responses private. I'm not using it for anything big - just trying to gain an understanding of where we are culturally with our child birth practices.

My email address is babyrndeb@earthlink.net

I'm anxious to hear your responses!!

Informal Childbirth Survey

Where did you get most of your information for pregnancy and labor & birth? Did you attend childbirth classes, use the internet, read books, ask friends and family for information?

If you attended childbirth classes were they hospital based classes or taken through an independent instructor? Did you find the classes helpful?

How would you describe your birth experience / experiences?

Did you change things from baby #1 to baby #2….?

If you could change anything about your birth, what would that be?

Did you have a vaginal birth or c/section birth?

Did you have pain medications or an epidural?

If you did not have any pain medications what did you do for comfort measures?

Any other interventions? – ie pitocin, IV, etc

Who was present at your birth?

Did you breast feed? For how long? Did you feel supported in that decision to breast feed?

Would you describe your birth as traumatic?

Do you feel empowered by your delivery?

Is there anything else you’d like to share with me….to make me a better caregiver or to help make change in the system??

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I’m curious to hear everyone’s responses.

Debbie