Maureen Connolly - The Essential C-Section Guide: Pain Control, Healing at Home, Getting Your Body Back, and Everything Else You Need to Know About a Cesarean Birth

W e would not have been able to write this book without rgenerous help from the professionals who made sure that, medically speaking, our is were dotted and our ts crossed: Katherine E. Economy, MD, M.P.H., a maternal-fetal specialist and academic instructor at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston. William R. Camann, MD, director of obstetric anesthesia at Brigham and Womens Hospital and professor of anesthesia at Harvard Medical School; Sharon Phe-lan, MD, FACOG, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of New Mexico Health Science Center in Albuquerque; Luis Sanchez-Ramos, MD, professor of perinatal medicine in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Florida in Jacksonville; Zane A. Brown, MD, professor of perinatal medicine in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Washington in Seattle; Alice Domar, PhD, director of the Mind/Body Center for Womens Health at Boston IVF; Cheston Berlin, MD, professor of pediatrics and pharmacy, at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine in Hershey; Michael Milano, MD, an obstetrician gynecologist in private practice in Verona, N.J.; James Lemons, MD, director of the neonatol-ogy section at the James Whitcomb Riley Hospital for Children and professor of pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis; Andy Spooner, MD, director of the department of pediatrics at University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center College of Medicine in Memphis; Robert Lorenz, MD, a spokesperson for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Alice Kirkman and Gregory Phillips of ACOG made sure we spoke with the right people.

Our thanks to the Association of Womens Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) for arranging interviews with nurses who know better than anyone what a c-section patient goes through: Sharyn Grzeszczak, RN, CEN, obstetric clinical coordinator, St. Barnabas Medical Center, Livingston, N.J.; Renee Jones, RNC, MSN, critical care obstetrics and recovery, Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas; Molly Kealy, RN, BSN, labor and delivery, Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis.

Our gratitude to Alexandra Spadola, MD, an obstetrics resident at Columbia-Presbyterians Sloane Hospital for Women and Children, who let us sit with her one morning and pick her brain about her experiences delivering babies. Susan E.C. Sorensen, MD, a pediatrician in Reno, answered many questions about how babies fare following a Cesarean birth. Thank you.

To the professionals who shared their knowledge about how a c-section surgery can affect women emotionally: Deborah Is-sokson, PsyD, a licensed psychologist and director of Counseling for Reproductive Health and Healing, a private practice based in Watertown, Mass.; Diana Lynn Barnes, PsyD, a marriage and family therapist and president of Postpartum Support International, a nonprofit organization based in Woodland Hills, Calif; Shellie Fidell, MSW, LCSW, a counselor with the Womens Healthcare Partnership in St. Louis; David Diamond, PhD, director of The Center for Reproductive Psychology, a nonprofit organization affiliated with Alliant International University-California School of Professional Psychology in San

Diego; Tamara Gibson, a doctoral student at Alliant International University-California School of Professional Psychology in San Diego. Your insights were invaluable.

We know that the information from Katy Lebbing of La Leche League International; Linda Donovan, RN, a board-certified lactation consultant; and Dottie James, PhD, RN, coordinator of the perinatal graduate nursing specialty at Saint Louis University School of Nursing, will give many readers the confidence they need to breast-feed. Lynn A. Millar, PT, PhD, a professor of physical therapy at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Mich.; Elizabeth Joy, MD, an associate professor in the department of family and preventative medicine at the University of Utah-Salt Lake City; and Michelle Mottola, PhD, of the University of Western Ontario in Canada, offered advice on getting back into shape. Heidi Reichenberger, MS, RD, weighed in with some important information about nutrition. Debi Pil-larella, MEd, created a postCesarean exercise program that is more than we could have wished for (and wish wed had ourselves after our own deliveries). Information about sex after a Cesarean, which came from Lisa Douglass, PhD, will help many readers rediscover intimacy after pregnancy and childbirth. Pam Warren, RN, a nurse at St. Marys Hospital in Reno, shared advice on healing at home. Thank you all. Our agent Kristen Auclair was very patient in helping two novices navigate the treacherous waters that are book publishing. Rebecca Geiger made sure that we had our facts straight and that our research was on the money. Tricia Medved, our editor at Broadway Books, believed in this book right from the start. Thank you. Without the moms who shared their experiences with us and offered their own tried-and-true advice, we wouldnt have such a well-rounded resource. Were so grateful that you willingly shared your stories.