A Different Kind of "Labor" on Labor Day<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I had intended not to post today, but I just heard that today, September 3, is ImprovingBirth.org's "National Rally for Change" day; they're calling for a\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2012\/09\/03\/a-different-kind-of-labor-on-labor-day\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Different Kind of "Labor" on Labor Day\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I had intended not to post today, but I just heard that today, September 3, is ImprovingBirth.org's "National Rally for Change" day; they're calling for a\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2012\/09\/03\/a-different-kind-of-labor-on-labor-day\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rachel Marie Stone\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-09-03T10:00:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/files\/2012\/09\/improving-birth-logo.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rachel Marie Stone\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rachel Marie Stone\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2012\/09\/03\/a-different-kind-of-labor-on-labor-day\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2012\/09\/03\/a-different-kind-of-labor-on-labor-day\/\",\"name\":\"A Different Kind of \\\"Labor\\\" on Labor Day\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-09-03T10:00:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-09-03T10:00:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/#\/schema\/person\/c46cec1db7f3461f4f3d5289c79a2a8c\"},\"description\":\"I had intended not to post today, but I just heard that today, September 3, is ImprovingBirth.org's \\\"National Rally for Change\\\" day; they're calling for a\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2012\/09\/03\/a-different-kind-of-labor-on-labor-day\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2012\/09\/03\/a-different-kind-of-labor-on-labor-day\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2012\/09\/03\/a-different-kind-of-labor-on-labor-day\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Different Kind of “Labor” on Labor Day\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/\",\"name\":\"Rachel Marie Stone\",\"description\":\"Faith, Family, Food; Justice & Joy\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/#\/schema\/person\/c46cec1db7f3461f4f3d5289c79a2a8c\",\"name\":\"Rachel Marie Stone\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4f7954612ad2a50609d3ed20d73a790f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4f7954612ad2a50609d3ed20d73a790f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Rachel Marie Stone\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/author\/rstone\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Different Kind of \"Labor\" on Labor Day","description":"I had intended not to post today, but I just heard that today, September 3, is ImprovingBirth.org's \"National Rally for Change\" day; they're calling for a","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2012\/09\/03\/a-different-kind-of-labor-on-labor-day\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Different Kind of \"Labor\" on Labor Day","og_description":"I had intended not to post today, but I just heard that today, September 3, is ImprovingBirth.org's \"National Rally for Change\" day; they're calling for a","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2012\/09\/03\/a-different-kind-of-labor-on-labor-day\/","og_site_name":"Rachel Marie Stone","article_published_time":"2012-09-03T10:00:24+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/files\/2012\/09\/improving-birth-logo.png"}],"author":"Rachel Marie Stone","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rachel Marie Stone","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2012\/09\/03\/a-different-kind-of-labor-on-labor-day\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2012\/09\/03\/a-different-kind-of-labor-on-labor-day\/","name":"A Different Kind of \"Labor\" on Labor Day","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-09-03T10:00:24+00:00","dateModified":"2012-09-03T10:00:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/#\/schema\/person\/c46cec1db7f3461f4f3d5289c79a2a8c"},"description":"I had intended not to post today, but I just heard that today, September 3, is ImprovingBirth.org's \"National Rally for Change\" day; they're calling for a","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2012\/09\/03\/a-different-kind-of-labor-on-labor-day\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2012\/09\/03\/a-different-kind-of-labor-on-labor-day\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2012\/09\/03\/a-different-kind-of-labor-on-labor-day\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Different Kind of “Labor” on Labor Day"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/","name":"Rachel Marie Stone","description":"Faith, Family, Food; Justice & Joy","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/#\/schema\/person\/c46cec1db7f3461f4f3d5289c79a2a8c","name":"Rachel Marie Stone","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4f7954612ad2a50609d3ed20d73a790f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4f7954612ad2a50609d3ed20d73a790f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Rachel Marie Stone"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/author\/rstone\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2070"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3248\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":3248,"date":"2012-09-03T06:00:24","date_gmt":"2012-09-03T10:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/?p=3248"},"modified":"2012-09-03T06:00:24","modified_gmt":"2012-09-03T10:00:24","slug":"a-different-kind-of-labor-on-labor-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2012\/09\/03\/a-different-kind-of-labor-on-labor-day\/","title":{"rendered":"A Different Kind of “Labor” on Labor Day"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I had intended not to post today, but I just heard that today, September 3, is ImprovingBirth.org\u2019s \u201cNational Rally for Change\u201d <\/a>day; they\u2019re calling for a \u201cfull scale birth revolution on Labor Day\u201d to launch a week of \u201cEmpowered Birth Awareness,\u201d<\/a> and I\u2019d like to stand with them on this.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

ImprovingBirth.org emphasizes that these rallies, which will be taking place in more than 100 cities today (often in front of hospitals), are not protests.<\/strong> Instead, they are an opportunity to raise awareness about something called \u201cEvidence Based Maternity Care,\u201d which is very simply, this:<\/p>\n

\u201cEvidence-based maternity care\u201d means that the care that is provided has been proven by reliable research to be beneficial to mothers and babies, reducing the incidences of complications, injury and death.<\/em><\/p>\n

The biggest example of care that is not \u201cevidence based\u201d is probably C-section. Now I want to be clear: C<\/strong>-sections save lives when they are necessary.<\/strong><\/p>\n

However<\/strong> (you knew there was a however) they are almost certainly performed more often t<\/strong>han necessary. <\/strong>The WHO says no country is justified in having a C-section rate over 15%. The US C-section rate is 33%\u00a0<\/strong>(It was 4.6% in the early 1960s.)<\/p>\n

If that was leading to better outcomes for mothers and babies, I don\u2019t think anyone would be complaining.<\/em><\/p>\n

The truth is, though, that maternal mortality has pretty much doubled in 22 years\u2013from 12 per 100,000 births in 1990 t0 24 per 100,000 today, making the US 47th<\/a> in maternal mortality outcomes worldwide\u00a0<\/strong>according to the CIA world factbook.<\/p>\n

(Estonia, Singapore, and Greece win the gold, silver, and bronze, respectively, for their great outcomes in maternal health.)<\/p>\n

I want to make one point on this today\u2013and maybe more, later\u2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

Birth plans and choices in childbirth are much, much more than a \u201cconsumer choice.\u201d This is about ~~women\u2019s<\/del> HUMAN rights and health!<\/em><\/p>\n~~

And human rights aren\u2019t well served by ignoring the evidence.<\/a><\/p>\n

(I would like to recommend this book<\/a> as a comprehensive yet readable guide to what solid medical research indicates about the relative safety of different choices in childbirth.)<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"