456: Overcoming Diagnoses of “Incompetent” Cervix and IUGR with Sarah Schade (DIAH Classic)

How do you plan for a positive hospital birth experience, when you were originally intending to have a home birth?

This is such a great topic to cover. For many who start out with a home birth plan, sometimes that changes for various reasons.

Sarah Schade shares her story with us. From a diagnosis of an “incompetent” cervix (definitely not a term we’re fond of around here) to another diagnosis of IUGR (intrauterine growth restriction), Sarah and her husband Jeremiah went through a lot of ups and downs. 

She shares all the thoughts and emotions that came up, and ultimately the arrival of her daughter Clementine. 

Things we talk about in this episode: incompetent cervix, cervical cerclage, IUGR, D&C procedure for placenta removal, home birth plan, hospital birth

From Sarah:

“It was really difficult being labeled as “incompetent”, or “high risk”, especially because being healthy and active is something really important to me, and I never thought I would have any problems with my pregnancy, being so young and healthy. We shifted from working only with our midwife, to the medical treatment model, which neither of us envisioned for our pregnancy…

My pregnancy was filled with joy, sadness, fear, and anger. Our baby is healthy, and we are so in love with our little fighter, and her strength. But we have learned so much about the health care system, how women are treated, and why women need to be given more options in treatment. We had a lot of positive aspects to her birth, but were also threatened with an episiotomy, forceps, and vacuum. Our midwife and the hospital nursing staff was amazing, but the doctor on call severely violated some of my wishes without consent. 

I want to share my birth story, because it’s not enough to believe that “doctors know best” when in actuality birth experiences matter to the mental and physical health of women and their babies.”

Links From The Episode:

Sarah’s Schade’s website: SarahSchade.com

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