From all of the mothers that I know, I thought that Dr. Lisa's estimate of 10-15% was actually low !  I had Shoulder Dystocia with both of my children.  Many mothers don't realized it even occurs unless they ask -- but my understanding is that most tearing or episiotomies are a result of shoulders NOT from heads.  I have MANY friends that have had this occur as well.  Dr. Sears did say he was born at home....but quite different when its being delivered by an OB GYN.  And they acknowledged that you can have a successful home birth IF you are prepared.  In my case I doubt they would have brought a vent so I'm glad I was in the hospital.....but just an opinion.

Shoulder dystocia occurs in less than 1% of births. fact, not my opinion. Drastically overstating something like that will scare women about giving birth anywhere home or hospital. And that is a shame. http://www.shoulderdystociainfo.com/incidence.htm

I'm actually glad you posted that link because people can read and evaluate for themselves.  And I'm not trying to start an argument but to say that Dr Lisa is "drastically overstating" something is unfair.  She lives and breathes the practice so I doubt she would say something like that if it were only 1%.  Of my friends and family its more like 40% but if you were to pull their official charts maybe not.  I  know with my first child nothing about the shoulders was documented and although I had an episiotomy I didnt remember that it was a result of the shoulders until AFTER I had the trauma with my 2nd child.  I think there is a big difference between what is reported in a study and what actually occurs.  Shame on the Drs. and/or hospitals for not reporting things accurately if that is the case.

IF SD are under reported by 50 or even 75 % and studies find the incidents to be 0.5-0.6% then the true incidence would be raised to a maximum of 1.8%. A far cry from 10%. A shoulder dystocia is a serious emergency involving shoulders being trapped under the pubic bone. It has nothing to do with vaginal tears or episiotomies, which involve soft tissue. The only relation is that episiotomies are sometimes preformed for SD, but not always. And if most shoulder dystocias are minor enough that a patient doesnt notice, they could safely be treated at home anyway and bear no effect on the safety of a home birth. I do wonder if something was lost in editing and the 10-15% was meant to refer to all complications, but if that is the case then the producers are still at fault and responsible for the inaccuracy.

Sorry, that would be max 2.4%. but I think that to say only 1in 4 are reproted is really a stretch anyway.

Hi,

I received a notice in my email saying you had commented to the blog I posted. But before I could even read the comment this show took down my blog. I was just wondering what your comment had said.

Thanks,

Lisa

Krissy- true shoulder dystocia is very rare. I have a hard time imagining that you wouldn't know if your baby was truly "stuck" until after the fact. It is usually a very serious situation. Dr's do unnecessary episiotomies everyday.

Childbirth practices researcher Katherine Hartmann, MD, PhD, estimates that close to 1 million unnecessary episiotomies are performed in the U.S. each year. She says episiotomies are probably medically warranted in fewer than 10% of cases.

Hartmann is director of the Center for Women's Health Research at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

"It is hard to imagine that most centers couldn't get well below 15% if episiotomies were only done when medically necessary," she tells WebMD.

In a review of studies evaluating routine episiotomy outcomes published in May of this year.  http://www.cwhr.unc.edu/pdf/Hartmann-Episiotomy-2005.pdf

A woman giving birth vaginally in America today has at least an 80% chance of receiving an episiotomy. A research review by the World Health Organization, however, indicates that evidence only supports a 5 to 20 percent rate

-Don't think for a second that dr's are not doing things unnecessarily. Just because a Dr cuts a woman doesnt mean he has good reason to, and just because he says the shoulders were stuck doesnt mean they actually were. Again true dystocia is a serious situation, not just that the baby wasn't coming out fast enough for doc. Note that I'm speaking in general terms not in your specific situation, I wasn't there, I don;t know. But if your saying about 40% of your family members experienced shoulder dystocia, I would start researching these Dr's and hospitals. And if this is absolute truth then we're really talking about serious numbers of unreported cases.

dr. lisa's info was correcet...sorry to tell you that.....i work in the medical field and that information is correct

I am very dissapointed in this one-sided view on homebirth.  I gave birth to my son at home in 2009.  The midwifery that supervised my prenatal care and attended my birth consisted of three midwives licensed and regulated by the state of Arizona who were extremely experienced and knowlegable about this process.  They consulted with a group of OBGYNs throughout my care and I was asked to register at and tour the hospital just in case I ended up being the 1 in 10 of their mothers who ends up transferring.  They were open with me about their statistics which had been compiled since 1983.  They took plenty of time to educate me about the different prenatal testing that I must have as well as the prenatal testing that was optional.  I chose to have an ultrasound at a perinatologist office that they have a relationship with to confirm that everything was developing normally.  After my son was born he had a hard time latching on and after they tried a few times to help me to get him to latch on unsucessfully they called up the lactation consultant at the hospital and set up an appointment for me.  From my first prenatal appointment to my 6 week follow up appointment they provided incredible care and were not shy to use any and all resources including those that the hospital and medical community offered.  They gave me facts and I made decisions not based on fear of the what ifs but based on science and statistics.  This show on homebirth was very fear oriented and that was dissapointing to me. 

Maybe Dr. Lisa's figures are correct ~ if women are forced into the unnatural position of lying on our backs with our feet in the air.... Allow a women to birth  in a more natural position and dystocia will be almost nonexistent.  The entire tone was more about "protecting territory" than women's best interests.  Been there done it , several hospital births, a non-emergency c-section (verified by the hospital records) and a beautiful VBAC homebirth...I will never go back to an OB/Gyn....and sadly I will never ever trust a doctor over my own instincts again...