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- Jun 26, 2011
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I suppose that the sticker "non-traditional" fits me well, so I'll go ahead and post an introduction here. I've lurked these forums before, but I haven't brought myself to post quite yet, so here we go.
I'm Samantha. I'm 22. I had my first child at 18. I found out I was pregnant amidst a relapse into my eating disorder and right after dropping out of high school. Needless to say, having my daughter was a huge wake up call. I got back in school and finished all of my high school requirements an entire semester BEFORE I was supposed to originally graduate. I had my daughter via cesarean section, an experience that was extremely traumatic, and later, I found out could have been avoided easily. But alas, I was young and didn't know better. I enrolled with the University of Alaska the month my daughter turned one, and started taking the general education requirement courses.
After that, I was kind of lost. I wanted to work with maternity care, but at the time, I wasn't very educated. I just thought it was cool. I had my second child at 20. I wanted a vaginal birth (VBAC) but was pretty much set up to fail. I blindly trusted the same doctor who had given me unnecessary interventions and guilted me into complying with his suggestions (what I now call the "dead baby card") I knew more than I did when I had my daughter, but I was bullied and gave in. I shouldn't have, but I lacked support and confidence.
After my son was born, I began training to become a birth doula and childbirth educator. This training was eye-opening and I learned so much. It was at this point I KNEW I wanted to work with obstetrics. When I found myself pregnant again, I knew I wasn't going to have another cesarean, and I knew my chances of successfully delivering vaginally were high.
I live in a rural area, and there are literally only three OBs here. All three refused to take me on unless I agreed to a cesarean. One office even got hostile and argued with me over it. I told them, in not so nice words, to buzz off and I found someone (five hours away) who had good success rates and agreed to take me. It was a financial strain, but it was worth it. I delivered my daughter in February of this year, no drugs, no inductions, no surgery, no complications.
I've been working toward my biological sciences degree for almost two years now, and have known I wanted to be an OB for quite a while, but my last birth experience has been so inspiring and motivational for me. I want other women to have that choice. I don't want them forced into surgeries that are riskier (even ACOG agrees, according to their release published last june or july on the safety of VBACs) just because the doctor doesn't want to do them.
I was treated horribly with my first two births. I was treated as though I was stupid, and had no options in any of my care. It was awful, traumatic and horrendous. I walked away from those births defeated, scarred and traumatized, which I later found out, could have all been prevented. It took a long time to heal from those experiences, but I know having lived through that, I'll be an even better caregiver for it.
Anyway, if you want to know more about me, I have a blog (linked in my signature) or you can just send me a message. I might not be perfect. I might not be amazing. But I'm doing the best I can to be the change I want to see.
I'm Samantha. I'm 22. I had my first child at 18. I found out I was pregnant amidst a relapse into my eating disorder and right after dropping out of high school. Needless to say, having my daughter was a huge wake up call. I got back in school and finished all of my high school requirements an entire semester BEFORE I was supposed to originally graduate. I had my daughter via cesarean section, an experience that was extremely traumatic, and later, I found out could have been avoided easily. But alas, I was young and didn't know better. I enrolled with the University of Alaska the month my daughter turned one, and started taking the general education requirement courses.
After that, I was kind of lost. I wanted to work with maternity care, but at the time, I wasn't very educated. I just thought it was cool. I had my second child at 20. I wanted a vaginal birth (VBAC) but was pretty much set up to fail. I blindly trusted the same doctor who had given me unnecessary interventions and guilted me into complying with his suggestions (what I now call the "dead baby card") I knew more than I did when I had my daughter, but I was bullied and gave in. I shouldn't have, but I lacked support and confidence.
After my son was born, I began training to become a birth doula and childbirth educator. This training was eye-opening and I learned so much. It was at this point I KNEW I wanted to work with obstetrics. When I found myself pregnant again, I knew I wasn't going to have another cesarean, and I knew my chances of successfully delivering vaginally were high.
I live in a rural area, and there are literally only three OBs here. All three refused to take me on unless I agreed to a cesarean. One office even got hostile and argued with me over it. I told them, in not so nice words, to buzz off and I found someone (five hours away) who had good success rates and agreed to take me. It was a financial strain, but it was worth it. I delivered my daughter in February of this year, no drugs, no inductions, no surgery, no complications.
I've been working toward my biological sciences degree for almost two years now, and have known I wanted to be an OB for quite a while, but my last birth experience has been so inspiring and motivational for me. I want other women to have that choice. I don't want them forced into surgeries that are riskier (even ACOG agrees, according to their release published last june or july on the safety of VBACs) just because the doctor doesn't want to do them.
I was treated horribly with my first two births. I was treated as though I was stupid, and had no options in any of my care. It was awful, traumatic and horrendous. I walked away from those births defeated, scarred and traumatized, which I later found out, could have all been prevented. It took a long time to heal from those experiences, but I know having lived through that, I'll be an even better caregiver for it.
Anyway, if you want to know more about me, I have a blog (linked in my signature) or you can just send me a message. I might not be perfect. I might not be amazing. But I'm doing the best I can to be the change I want to see.
