Stroking Dr. Gastaldo (Does Bradley Method still promote closing birth canal up to 30%?)

From: Todd Gastaldo (tgastaldo_at_earthlink.net)
Date: 08/29/04 

Date: Sun, 29 Aug 2004 19:56:28 GMT

STROKING DR. GASTALDO See below.

DOES BRADLEY METHOD STILL PROMOTE CLOSING THE BIRTH CANAL UP TO 30%?

Dr. Sarah Vaughan <NannyOgg@samael.demon.co.uk> wrote:

"...I'm going to try to avoid the sitting position if I can - so there you
are, Todd, you don't have to have apoplexy - though that'll depend on how
long my legs can hold up to squatting/kneeling!"
http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=SU7LbRVh6FMBFwMa%40samael.demon.co.uk&output=gplain

Sarah,

I'm assuming that by "sitting" you mean semisitting - closing the birth
canal up to 30%.

Closing the birth canal up to 30% is NOT something to merely "avoid."

You humorously mentioned the possibility of me suffering apoplexy, a stroke,
should you end up closing your birth canal...

I must say, that when two other medical doctor subscribers to
misc.kids.pregnancy sparred with me then gave birth semisitting - I was
extremely saddened - though not apoplectic.

I hope you do not do what they did. (One of the babies was born "a tad
stunned.")

Incidentally, apoplexy (stroke) is sometimes suffered by babies, as in,

"Stroke in infants and children is an important cause of morbidity and
mortality..."
--Karin B. Nelson, MD, NINDS [Lynch et al. Pediatrics 2002
Jan;109(1):116-23]

Closing the birth canal up to 30% may be stroking babies - may be a cause of
stroke/apoplexy in babies.

But regardless...

As soon as you grok the REASON why you should "avoid" semisitting...

As soon as you grok that semisitting CLOSES THE BIRTH CANAL up to 30%...

I again urge you to publicly demand that obstetricians and midwives stop
closing birth canals - and maybe mention me...

That kind of stroking would be quite acceptable. : )

Todd

Dr. Gastaldo
todd@chiromotion.com

PS It is STRESSFUL to point out to your fellow medical doctors that they
are committing obvious assault and battery routinely - so you should
probably wait until after you have your baby.

Medical doctors - like everyone else - tend to REVILE those who point out
obvious criminal activity.

So it will be understandable if you remain silent even *after* you have your
baby.

Please, though, think about the women who do not have as good a grasp of
anatomy and physiology and who are currently left to EUPHEMIZE their request
that they not be forced to close their birth canals, as in, "I'd like to try
an alternative delivery position."

Think about the medical doctors (and midwives) who let women "try"
alternative delivery positions - then move them back to semisitting or
dorsal (close their birth canals!) as they push their babies out...

You will not be the first British medical doctor to correctly state the
biomechanics...

The British National Health Service/NHS-funded West Midlands Perinatal
Institute/WMPI web site (still Jason Gardosi, MD?) clearly states the grisly
biomechanics of semisitting...

"...the weight of the mother is in part taken on the sacrum which is
therefore pushed upwards, thus decreasing the antero-posterior diameter of
the pelvic outlet..."
http://www.wmpi.net/reviews/oe/oe_shoulder_dystocia.htm
http://www.perinatal.org.uk/reviews/oe/oe_shoulder_dystocia.htm

But the same folks PROMOTE semisitting (closing the birth canal), as in,

"The second stage...You might want to remain in bed with your back propped
up with pillows..."
http://www.preg.info/book/chapter11.htm

As they blithely direct women to CLOSE their birth canals "below," they
write:

"As you push, try to let yourself 'open up' below..."
http://www.preg.info/book/chapter11.htm

Sheesh. What a cruel joke.

One last matter...

Closing the birth canal up to 30% - semisitting - the grisly "Bradley
Classic" - appeared in Susan McCutcheon-Rosegg and Peter Rosegg's Natural
Childbirth the Bradley Way [NY: Penguin 1984], a book prefaced and "highly
recommend[ed]" by the then-retired founder of
the Bradley Method, North American obstetrician Robert A. Bradley.

The grisly "Bradley Classic" also appeared in the 1996 edition of Susan
McCutcheon's Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way [NY: Penguin 1996] - again
recommended by obstetrician Robert A. Bradley. (Bradley passed on not long
after that - but before he died - I was able to contact him. He was not
aware that sacroiliac motion occurs - which is the likely reason he made
semisitting "the Bradley Classic" - at least I *hope* it was an innocent
mistake based on obvious negligence.)

I mention these two editions of the McCutcheon Bradley book promoting
semisitting because you wrote,

"...the library...finally managed to get a copy - the up-to-date edition as
well..."

Is your edition more recent than 1996?

If so, would you check to see if semisitting (closing the birth canal up to
30%) is still promoted?

Thanks.

Sincerely,

Todd

Dr. Gastaldo
todd@chiromotion.com

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