{"id":12410,"date":"2023-07-03T01:42:14","date_gmt":"2023-07-03T01:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/azpregnancyhelp.com\/?p=12410"},"modified":"2023-07-03T01:42:14","modified_gmt":"2023-07-03T01:42:14","slug":"birth-mothers-looking-for-adoptive-parents-c-sections-and-adoption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/azpregnancyhelp.com\/birth-mothers-looking-for-adoptive-parents-c-sections-and-adoption\/","title":{"rendered":"Birth Mother Matters in Adoption, Season 2 – Episode #113 – Adoption & C-Sections"},"content":{"rendered":"
Ron Reigns:<\/span><\/p>\n Welcome, and thank you for joining us on Birth Mother Matters in Adoption with Kelly Rourke-Scarry and me, Ron Reigns, where we delve into the issues of adoption from every angle of the adoption triad.<\/span><\/p>\n Speaker 2:<\/span><\/p>\n Do what’s best for your kid and for yourself, because if you can’t take care of yourself, you’re definitely not going to be able to take care of that kid and that’s not fair.<\/span><\/p>\n Speaker 3:<\/span><\/p>\n And I know that my daughter would be well taken care of with them.<\/span><\/p>\n Speaker 4:<\/span><\/p>\n Don’t have an abortion, give this child a chance.<\/span><\/p>\n Speaker 5:<\/span><\/p>\n All I could think about was needing to save my son.<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n My name is Kelly Rourke-Scarry. I’m the Executive Director, President and Co-founder of Building Arizona Families Adoption Agency where we assist adoptive families and birth mothers looking for adoptive parents. As well as The Donna Kay Evans Foundation, and creator of the You Before Me campaign. I have a Bachelor’s degree in family studies and human development and a Master’s degree in education, with an emphasis in school counseling.<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n I was adopted at the age of three days, born to a teen birth mother. Raised in a closed adoption and reunited with my birth mother in 2007. I have worked in the adoption field for over 15 years.<\/span><\/p>\n Ron Reigns:<\/span><\/p>\n And I’m Ron Reigns. I’ve worked in radio since 1999. I was the co-host of two successful morning shows in Prescott, Arizona. Now I work for my wife, who’s an adoption attorney, and I’m able to combine these two great passions and share them on this podcast. So<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n Today we’re going to talk about cesareans, or C-sections, and adoption. A lot of women wind up having a C-section. We’re going to talk about that and what it looks like when it’s the in the world of adoption, and the similarities and differences. Just so that we can be more versed on what is happening to the baby, the mama, when they’re in the hospital.<\/span><\/p>\n Ron Reigns:<\/span><\/p>\n Okay.<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n According to the americanpregnancy.org, a cesarean birth happens through an incision in the abdominal wall and uterus. The normal cesarean procedure averages 45 minutes to an hour. That seems like a really long time, but not to a woman who has been in labor for almost 24 hours.<\/span><\/p>\n Ron Reigns:<\/span><\/p>\n Right. So that’s you, I’m assuming?<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n Yes. And so the 45 minutes to an hour is like, “Lucky girl.”<\/span><\/p>\n Ron Reigns:<\/span><\/p>\n Yep, absolutely.<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n The baby is usually delivered in the first 5 to 15 minutes, with the remaining time used for closing the incision. According to the CDC, approximately 31.7% of all births for 2019 were by cesarean section. That’s a lot of deliveries, that’s almost-<\/span><\/p>\n Ron Reigns:<\/span><\/p>\n It’s almost a third.<\/span><\/p>\n Ron Reigns:<\/span><\/p>\n And that’s what surprised me most as I was going through the information, I was like, “Almost a third of women or of pregnancies are delivered through cesarean.” That surprised me.<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n It doesn’t surprise me because I work with so many birth mothers looking for adoptive parents and that sounds about right. I mean, if I was to go back and start counting on my fingers which are having natural or C-sections, then that would make sense. So yeah, that sounds right on. I will say that there are a lot of benefits for the adoptive family, and we’re going to talk about that, when a birth mother has a C-section, because of the timing. Actually, let’s just jump into that right now.<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n When you have one of the birth mothers looking for adoptive parents, who knows that she’s going to have a C-section, she may have had a C-section in a prior delivery. Or maybe during her pregnancy the doctor has decided, and we’ll talk about some of the reasons why, that she needs to be a candidate to have a C-section. It gives the adoptive family time to schedule their flight. They know when the baby is going to be born, the timing is there. They can strategize and plan, rather than waiting for the phone call, go time, and try to catch the next flight out. And yeah. And have that one scene with Macaulay Culkin, Home Alone, when everyone’s rushing to the airport, and yeah.<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n Rather than having that, if the birth mothers looking for adoptive parents are having a C-section, it allows everybody … Everything is really neat and tidy and planned. And with the craziness of, “My water broke and I’m headed to the hospital.”<\/span><\/p>\n Ron Reigns:<\/span><\/p>\n And chaos ensues, right?<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n With a C-section, they normally allow one person to be in the delivery room. And sometimes it is the birth father, sometimes it is the adoptive mom. I’ve never had it be the adoptive father, just saying. I’ve never had that. We’ve had it be the adoptive case worker. Sometimes it is a family member of the birth mother, like her mom or maybe a close friend. It really just depends on who she wants to be her support person.<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n If it’s the adoptive mom it’s usually because they have formed a really close bond. And then it’s sometimes between the birth father and the adoptive mom. Normally the birth father will prevail if they’re very close and in a relationship. But if not, then the adoptive mom sometimes gets to go in.<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n And like I said, I’ve had all my case workers be in for deliveries and a C-section. It’s not for everybody to be in there. I have not had a C-section so I can’t speak from experience. But from speaking with people, you’re in a surgery. I mean, it’s a serious surgery.<\/span><\/p>\n Ron Reigns:<\/span><\/p>\n Right.<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n And it’s one that … I think people, because they’re so common, people are like, “Yeah, it’s just a C-section.” I mean, it’s a serious surgery.<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n And I think that the babies, one of the other advantages of a C-section, is the babies don’t come coneheaded. They’re not stuck in the birth canal, they come out with the beautifully shaped heads. They haven’t had to go through the birth canal, so their faces aren’t all swollen and bruised and looking like they just fought a war, and then came out.<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n But it’s not something that you just automatically choose. I mean, obviously the best is to have a natural delivery and not have to go through surgery. With a C-section, some women are very afraid to have one because it is a surgery and it is a significant thing to happen. In the end the scars are very, very small. You can still wear a bikini afterwards. And then they used to gut you like a fish and there goes the bikini look.<\/span><\/p>\n Ron Reigns:<\/span><\/p>\n Right.<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n But now they do it in such a way that you can’t see anything, when you’re wearing a bikini.<\/span><\/p>\n Ron Reigns:<\/span><\/p>\n Right.<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n So that’s a plus. Ron, do you want to go over the 10 main reasons for having a cesarean section?<\/span><\/p>\n Ron Reigns:<\/span><\/p>\n According to americanpregnancy.org, 10 main reasons for having a cesarean section include placenta previa, breach position, cord prolapse, fetal distress, cephalopelvic disproportion, diabetes, preeclampsia, birth defects, multiple births, and active genital herpes.<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n Right. So when I was going through this, I was talking with Adam and he is like, “What is the really long one?”<\/span><\/p>\n Ron Reigns:<\/span><\/p>\n Okay. Cephalo … Oh, I’m sorry, cephalopelvic disproportion. Right.<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n It means that the baby’s head and shoulders are large, and they would worry that the baby would get stuck.<\/span><\/p>\n Ron Reigns:<\/span><\/p>\n Couldn’t they just say that, large head and shoulders?<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n Yes.<\/span><\/p>\n Ron Reigns:<\/span><\/p>\n Sure it’d be a lot easier to pronounce. I’m just saying.<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n Yes, no. Yeah, absolutely. And I think all of my children had this and they weren’t diagnosed with it.<\/span><\/p>\n Ron Reigns:<\/span><\/p>\n At least it felt that way.<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n All my babies did have big heads. They all had really big heads, like really big.<\/span><\/p>\n Ron Reigns:<\/span><\/p>\n Oh, they still do. I’ve seen your kids. No, your children are beautiful, on both sides of that family.<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n Thank you, yes. No, but that’s funny. Anyway, so yes. And again, I have seen, with our birth mothers looking for adoptive parents, a lot of them, these are all situations in pregnancy that you would deal with in an adoption situation. And nothing outside of this is really a surprise. Like I said, we’re doing this for 16 years and helping hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of women with an adoption plan.<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n All of these, I have seen multiple times and birth mothers looking for adoptive parents have fared very well through their C-section. And after you’ve had a C-section one time, sometime the doctor will approve you to have what they call a VBAC. And that means that you can have a natural delivery after a caesarian section on the second one. Not everybody is a candidate for that-<\/span><\/p>\n Ron Reigns:<\/span><\/p>\n Right.<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n … but right some people are. And some of the birth mothers looking for adoptive parents, I’ve worked with have said, “You know what? No, thank you. I don’t want to chance\u00a0 anything, and I want to just go straight to the C-section. I liked it, I’m familiar with it. I’m comfortable. I don’t want to try something new.”<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n And I don’t blame them. I mean, with my second child, I was very close to having a C-section because she was my almost 24-hour one. And I didn’t want it at that point, because she was my second child, I’d already been in labor and delivery for almost 24 hours. And at that point I felt it would be insulting to not finish.<\/span><\/p>\n Ron Reigns:<\/span><\/p>\n Right. In for a penny, in for a pound. “If I’m going to do this, I’m going to go all the way.” Right.<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n Right, right. I’m getting credit for this. And luckily I didn’t have to have one, obviously, I wouldn’t have said no. But it was one of those that you’re thinking, “I’ve worked this hard and now I could have just gone in and done this, to begin with.”<\/span><\/p>\n Ron Reigns:<\/span><\/p>\n Right Now with the multiple births. Obviously, that means twins, triplets, and quadruplets.<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n We’ve had twins delivered naturally.<\/span><\/p>\n Ron Reigns:<\/span><\/p>\n I was going to ask that. Is that the standard though to have a cesarean if it’s a multiple birth? No. Okay, that’s just one of the reasons that somebody does.<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n Correct. As long that’s two. Obviously, if it was three then, then yes. But with two, no. One of the birth mothers actually that I was case managing earlier this year had a set of twins, and she had them naturally.<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n And she actually had them in such a way that I think if they had known the babies were positioned like this, they may have actually opted for a C-section for her, but she did great. But one of hers is what they call sunny side up. So it was turned where he was facing up, rather than down when the baby came out.<\/span><\/p>\n Ron Reigns:<\/span><\/p>\n Okay.<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n And so yeah, she delivered twins, no problem.<\/span><\/p>\n Ron Reigns:<\/span><\/p>\n Good for her and good for the twins.<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n Yeah. Yes. Having never had a set of twins, yeah, that sounds like you should get the T-shirt when you’re done.<\/span><\/p>\n Ron Reigns:<\/span><\/p>\n Well, I think by that point everybody sees that you have twins, so that’s your T-shirt. It’s like, “Okay, she did it.”<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n Yes, yes. And she was just a champ, so it was … Yeah. Sometimes labor delivery can be super fast, and it was.<\/span><\/p>\n Ron Reigns:<\/span><\/p>\n Well, my grandparents used to say about my mother, that by the time she had me, she could have a baby in the morning and still make it to church. So I guess she was old hat at it, just a pro. She slid them out like a luge.<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly Rourke-Scarry:<\/span><\/p>\n Wow. That’s crazy. I mean, yeah, I have to say that I … It is, in my mind, absolutely a miracle that women have a baby. And I know with my second child, and I had epidurals, obviously, it wasn’t working because I felt everything. But I was able to, with some assistance, after I had the baby, after a little bit, I got up and I walked to the bathroom. I mean, it was like, “Okay, we’re good.”<\/span><\/p>\n Ron Reigns:<\/span><\/p>\n