Circ and HIV; a kinder, gentler c-section

I was waiting for Mothering Magazine to say something about the recent news items about the relationship between circumcision and HIV. As usual, they lay out the facts and talk about what the science really says: The Truth About Circumcision and HIV: Some argue that recent studies support universal circumcision. The evidence disagrees.

If you've been reading this LJ for any length of time, you know that I was committed to a natural birth before I developed pre-eclampsia with Carter. Unfortunately, his very small size meant a vertical incision was required, which rules out a chance of a VBAC in the future. (I am aware that there are successful HBACs after vertical incisions, but I'm not willing to do a home birth after my experience -- and that's if I'm lucky enough to go full term AND if I'm lucky enough to actually get pregnant again.)

I was pretty devastated about the loss of my ability to give birth, but I'm moving on. And part of my moving on is reading about planned c-sections that are gentle, respect the baby's journey into the world, and are family-centered and baby-friendly (in the WHO sense). In other words, as close as I can get to the birth experience I used to dream about. Here are some interesting links:

http://www.ican-online.org/pregnancy/family-centered-cesarean
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article6028478.ece
http://www.eheart.com/cesarean/oliver.html

Until reading this stuff, I never thought about writing a birth plan for a c-section, or having a doula present. This is really giving me hope that I might be able to have a positive birth experience someday!