Sunday, February 22, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Number of Health Care Organizations In Support of Certified Professional Midwives and Out-of-Hospital Birth Rapidly Increases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Physician Groups Out-of-Step as the Number of Health Care
Organizations In Support of Certified Professional Midwives
(CPMs) and Out-of-Hospital Birth Rapidly Increases
Nurses, Perinatal Health Care Specialists Echo Consumer Reports
Magazine in Calling for Integrating Midwives into U.S.
Maternity-Care System
WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 17, 2009)Two major health care
organizations have joined the growing number of groups calling on
policy makers to increase access to Certified Professional
Midwives (CPMs) and out-of-hospital maternity care. Acknowledging
the large body of evidence supporting the safety of home delivery
with CPMs, who are specifically trained to care for mothers and
babies in out-of-hospital settings, nursing and perinatal health
care organizations criticized the American Medical Association
(AMA) and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
(ACOG) resolutions calling for bans on CPMs and home birth. The
groups also joined Consumer Reports magazine in highlighting the
need for a major overhaul of the U.S. maternity care system.
“
I am very proud to be an American, but I am embarrassed that
our country, founded on the ideals of individual liberty and
freedom, can also support ‘authoritative’ initiatives
such as these by the ACOG and AMA, initiatives that are founded
on neither science nor an understanding of the physiologic and
psychosocial needs of mothers and babies,” said Nancy K. Lowe
in an editorial published in the Journal of Obstetric,
Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing, the official journal of the
Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses
(AWHONN). “What is most risky about home birth in the United
States is that for most women who desire it there is a scarcity
of qualified providers of home birth services.” [Read the
complete editorial at:
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/121645508/PDF\ STARTCRETRY=1&SRETRY=0
Consumer Reports magazine cited the desire for economic gain as
one of the driving forces limiting access to CPMs and Certified
Nurse-Midwives (CNMs), who are licensed in all 50 states and
practice primarily in hospital settings, but who remain subject
to anti-competitive regulations promoted by the AMA and ACOG.
CPMs are legally authorized to provide out-of-hospital care in
just half the states, while advocates working to reform the law
in the remaining states face stiff resistance from physician
groups seeking to establish a monopoly on the maternity care
market in the U.S.
Midwives provide a safe and cost-effective alternative to
the current model, where the market is dominated by high-cost,
high-tech specialists producing less-than-optimal outcomes,”
said Katie Prown of The Big Push for Midwives Campaign.
“
Babies delivered by midwives are far less likely to be
pre-term or low birth-weight, which are two of the leading causes
of neonatal mortality and of the enormous costs associated with
long-term care. Midwives and out-of-hospital birth are an
integral component of responsible health care reform, and the AMA
and ACOG know this. That’s why they’re fighting so
desperately to protect their turf, even if it means denying women
maternity-care options in the process.”
The National Perinatal Association (NPA) added to the growing
list of organizations calling on the AMA and ACOG to end their
vendetta against midwives and home birth and instead follow the
World Health Organization’s (WHO) call to “‘work in a
spirit of recognition and respect for each other’s authority,
responsibility, ability and unique contribution.’” [See
their statements on place of birth and on midwifery at:
http://www.nationalperinatal.org/.]
The Big Push for Midwives is a nationally coordinated campaign to
advocate for regulation and licensure of Certified Professional
Midwives (CPMs) in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and
Puerto Rico, and to push back against the attempts of the
American Medical Association Scope of Practice Partnership to
deny American families access to legal midwifery care. Through
its work with state-level advocates, the Big Push is helping to
build a new model of U.S. maternity care built on expanding
access to out-of-hospital maternity care and CPMs, who provide
affordable, quality, community-based care that is proven to
reduce costly and preventable interventions as well as the rate
of low birth-weight and premature births.
Media inquiries: Steff Hedenkamp (816) 506-4630,
steff@thebigpushformidwives.org.
Physician Groups Out-of-Step as the Number of Health Care
Organizations In Support of Certified Professional Midwives
(CPMs) and Out-of-Hospital Birth Rapidly Increases
Nurses, Perinatal Health Care Specialists Echo Consumer Reports
Magazine in Calling for Integrating Midwives into U.S.
Maternity-Care System
WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 17, 2009)Two major health care
organizations have joined the growing number of groups calling on
policy makers to increase access to Certified Professional
Midwives (CPMs) and out-of-hospital maternity care. Acknowledging
the large body of evidence supporting the safety of home delivery
with CPMs, who are specifically trained to care for mothers and
babies in out-of-hospital settings, nursing and perinatal health
care organizations criticized the American Medical Association
(AMA) and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
(ACOG) resolutions calling for bans on CPMs and home birth. The
groups also joined Consumer Reports magazine in highlighting the
need for a major overhaul of the U.S. maternity care system.
“
I am very proud to be an American, but I am embarrassed that
our country, founded on the ideals of individual liberty and
freedom, can also support ‘authoritative’ initiatives
such as these by the ACOG and AMA, initiatives that are founded
on neither science nor an understanding of the physiologic and
psychosocial needs of mothers and babies,” said Nancy K. Lowe
in an editorial published in the Journal of Obstetric,
Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing, the official journal of the
Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses
(AWHONN). “What is most risky about home birth in the United
States is that for most women who desire it there is a scarcity
of qualified providers of home birth services.” [Read the
complete editorial at:
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/121645508/PDF\ STARTCRETRY=1&SRETRY=0
Consumer Reports magazine cited the desire for economic gain as
one of the driving forces limiting access to CPMs and Certified
Nurse-Midwives (CNMs), who are licensed in all 50 states and
practice primarily in hospital settings, but who remain subject
to anti-competitive regulations promoted by the AMA and ACOG.
CPMs are legally authorized to provide out-of-hospital care in
just half the states, while advocates working to reform the law
in the remaining states face stiff resistance from physician
groups seeking to establish a monopoly on the maternity care
market in the U.S.
Midwives provide a safe and cost-effective alternative to
the current model, where the market is dominated by high-cost,
high-tech specialists producing less-than-optimal outcomes,”
said Katie Prown of The Big Push for Midwives Campaign.
“
Babies delivered by midwives are far less likely to be
pre-term or low birth-weight, which are two of the leading causes
of neonatal mortality and of the enormous costs associated with
long-term care. Midwives and out-of-hospital birth are an
integral component of responsible health care reform, and the AMA
and ACOG know this. That’s why they’re fighting so
desperately to protect their turf, even if it means denying women
maternity-care options in the process.”
The National Perinatal Association (NPA) added to the growing
list of organizations calling on the AMA and ACOG to end their
vendetta against midwives and home birth and instead follow the
World Health Organization’s (WHO) call to “‘work in a
spirit of recognition and respect for each other’s authority,
responsibility, ability and unique contribution.’” [See
their statements on place of birth and on midwifery at:
http://www.nationalperinatal.org/.]
The Big Push for Midwives is a nationally coordinated campaign to
advocate for regulation and licensure of Certified Professional
Midwives (CPMs) in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and
Puerto Rico, and to push back against the attempts of the
American Medical Association Scope of Practice Partnership to
deny American families access to legal midwifery care. Through
its work with state-level advocates, the Big Push is helping to
build a new model of U.S. maternity care built on expanding
access to out-of-hospital maternity care and CPMs, who provide
affordable, quality, community-based care that is proven to
reduce costly and preventable interventions as well as the rate
of low birth-weight and premature births.
Media inquiries: Steff Hedenkamp (816) 506-4630,
steff@thebigpushformidwives.org.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Yoga YouTube For Preggers
An excellent exercise for the transverse abdominus muscle. This exercise helps women with core support during pregnancy, prepares them for pushing during birth, and aids in recovery post partum.
Monday, February 16, 2009
The Thinking Woman's Guide To A Better Birth
I've just begun reading Henci Goer's book The Thinking Woman's Guide To A Better Birth.
This author is my kind of gal. She's a smart, independent thinker with moxy!
On the second paragraph on page 10 she writes:
To those who would argue that you need more letters after your name in
order to write a book like this one, let me respond with a story. Penny
Simkin, a well-known educator, writer, and speaker, and editor was called on
the carpet by an anesthesiologist, irate that she had written a handout
listing the potential trade-offs of epidural anesthesia when she was not a
doctor (although he did not dispute her accurancy). "What are YOUR credentials?"
he demanded. " I can read," she mildly replied. So can I.
This author is my kind of gal. She's a smart, independent thinker with moxy!
On the second paragraph on page 10 she writes:
To those who would argue that you need more letters after your name in
order to write a book like this one, let me respond with a story. Penny
Simkin, a well-known educator, writer, and speaker, and editor was called on
the carpet by an anesthesiologist, irate that she had written a handout
listing the potential trade-offs of epidural anesthesia when she was not a
doctor (although he did not dispute her accurancy). "What are YOUR credentials?"
he demanded. " I can read," she mildly replied. So can I.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
I'm Using A Midwife So I Don't Think I Need A Doula
I've heard this said to me from some recent moms to be, who have sought me out asking about my Doula services.
"I'm going to have a Midwife so I am not sure I will need a Doula."
I've attended 10 births in a year and a half. I've worked with Midwives and OB's in hospitals and at home births. I clearly understand my role as a Doula. I clearly know how important it is to have a Doula even if my client chooses a Midwife instead of an OB.
However, I never know how to answer this statement made to me. If I answer this I feel that my answer is being interpreted as suspect because I have a stake in the outcome.
So today I am asking those of you who have used a Midwife to leave your comments about your birth experience and what it was like if you used a Doula or not and how you felt about the experience. If you did not use a Doula, do you regret it and would you use a Doula the next time? Was your Midwife with you through your entire labor?
"I'm going to have a Midwife so I am not sure I will need a Doula."
I've attended 10 births in a year and a half. I've worked with Midwives and OB's in hospitals and at home births. I clearly understand my role as a Doula. I clearly know how important it is to have a Doula even if my client chooses a Midwife instead of an OB.
However, I never know how to answer this statement made to me. If I answer this I feel that my answer is being interpreted as suspect because I have a stake in the outcome.
So today I am asking those of you who have used a Midwife to leave your comments about your birth experience and what it was like if you used a Doula or not and how you felt about the experience. If you did not use a Doula, do you regret it and would you use a Doula the next time? Was your Midwife with you through your entire labor?
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Jennifer Block Rocks
Author and Activist Jennifer Block of the amazing book Pushed had her opinion printed in the LA Times today. Midwives deliver America needs better birth care, and midwives can deliver it.
In her article you learn that the number one reason people in the United States are admitted to the hospital is for childbirth.
You got it folks. Not heart attacks, cancer, car accidents. NOPE. Childbirth.
"Six of the 15 most frequent hospital procedures billed to private insurers and Medicaid are maternity-related."
Milbank Memorial Fund, the Reforming States Group and Childbirth Connection have published research findings that show that the medical establishment is NOT following evidence-based best practices.
In the short year and a half I've been a Labor Doula I've witnessed what Ms. Block states: "They are inducing and speeding up far too many labors ." I and my clients have been lucky enough to not have ended up in C-sections thus far. However 1/3rd of all laboring women do end up in a c-section. The World Health Organization states the acceptable level of c-section rates should hover around 10%.
Were you aware that the most common billable materinity procedure is the continous fetal heart monitor? And to this day there are absolutely ZERO studies proving medically that there is any benefit to this procedure yet I can tell you that in the North East it is all too common to require a laboring mother to be hooked up to this loud and scary sounding machine, with a bunch of excuses as to why she must comply. Tsk Tsk...MONEY!
Here's another fact that will knock you out of your seat. Most hospital births cost from $7K-$16K. However the cost of having your baby at a birthing center with a Midwife is around $1600.
And Ms. Block tells us that at those birthing centers, "Mother and baby are more likely to have a normal, vaginal birth; less likely to experience trauma, such as a bad vaginal tear or a surgical delivery; and more likely to breast feed."
Informing you one post at a time.
In her article you learn that the number one reason people in the United States are admitted to the hospital is for childbirth.
You got it folks. Not heart attacks, cancer, car accidents. NOPE. Childbirth.
"Six of the 15 most frequent hospital procedures billed to private insurers and Medicaid are maternity-related."
Milbank Memorial Fund, the Reforming States Group and Childbirth Connection have published research findings that show that the medical establishment is NOT following evidence-based best practices.
In the short year and a half I've been a Labor Doula I've witnessed what Ms. Block states: "They are inducing and speeding up far too many labors ." I and my clients have been lucky enough to not have ended up in C-sections thus far. However 1/3rd of all laboring women do end up in a c-section. The World Health Organization states the acceptable level of c-section rates should hover around 10%.
Were you aware that the most common billable materinity procedure is the continous fetal heart monitor? And to this day there are absolutely ZERO studies proving medically that there is any benefit to this procedure yet I can tell you that in the North East it is all too common to require a laboring mother to be hooked up to this loud and scary sounding machine, with a bunch of excuses as to why she must comply. Tsk Tsk...MONEY!
Here's another fact that will knock you out of your seat. Most hospital births cost from $7K-$16K. However the cost of having your baby at a birthing center with a Midwife is around $1600.
And Ms. Block tells us that at those birthing centers, "Mother and baby are more likely to have a normal, vaginal birth; less likely to experience trauma, such as a bad vaginal tear or a surgical delivery; and more likely to breast feed."
Informing you one post at a time.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Mama Knows Breast...Virtual Nurse In On Facebook
Virtual Nurse In Planned on Facebook
December 12, 2008
Poking around Facebook yesterday, I discovered a little bit of lactivism at work. Apparently, Facebook won't let people post breastfeeding pictures. So some Facebooker's are planning a virtual nurse-in, Saturday, December 27, 2008. They are going to all post breastfeeding pictures at the same time.
To sign up, go to Facebook, and type M.I.L.C. into the search bar. Mothers International Lactation Campaign should pop up.
Here's text of the petition:
Facebook continues to classify breastfeeding photos as obscene content. They continue to arbitrarily remove these photos from member albums and profiles, accompanied by warnings of account termination. This is highly discriminatory and an affront to nursing mothers everywhere. In protest of this, Mothers International Lactation Campaign (M.I.L.C.) has planned a virtual day of protest.
Not only is human lactation responsible for the very survival of our species, it is in no way a sexually explicit, lewd or despicable act. It is also protected by law in most countries, including specifically the state where Facebook is headquartered in the USA.
In protest to the discriminatory and unjust policy of Facebook administration classifying breastfeeding images as obscene content, on December 27th, 2008 M.I.L.C. is asking all of you to change your profile picture for one day, to one which includes an image of a nursing mom.
This could be a picture of you or someone you know nursing a child, it could be a painting or image of a sculpture of a breastfeeding woman, it could also be a photo or image of any nursing mammal....We ask that you include the status line of "Hey Facebook, breastfeeding is not obscene!"
In addition to this 'virtual nurse-in', there will be other events planned around the globe. Please check this page often for regular updates and added information. We will also be including images that you can use for your profile picture on December 27th.
Babies everywhere thank you for your support!!!!!
December 12, 2008
Poking around Facebook yesterday, I discovered a little bit of lactivism at work. Apparently, Facebook won't let people post breastfeeding pictures. So some Facebooker's are planning a virtual nurse-in, Saturday, December 27, 2008. They are going to all post breastfeeding pictures at the same time.
To sign up, go to Facebook, and type M.I.L.C. into the search bar. Mothers International Lactation Campaign should pop up.
Here's text of the petition:
Facebook continues to classify breastfeeding photos as obscene content. They continue to arbitrarily remove these photos from member albums and profiles, accompanied by warnings of account termination. This is highly discriminatory and an affront to nursing mothers everywhere. In protest of this, Mothers International Lactation Campaign (M.I.L.C.) has planned a virtual day of protest.
Not only is human lactation responsible for the very survival of our species, it is in no way a sexually explicit, lewd or despicable act. It is also protected by law in most countries, including specifically the state where Facebook is headquartered in the USA.
In protest to the discriminatory and unjust policy of Facebook administration classifying breastfeeding images as obscene content, on December 27th, 2008 M.I.L.C. is asking all of you to change your profile picture for one day, to one which includes an image of a nursing mom.
This could be a picture of you or someone you know nursing a child, it could be a painting or image of a sculpture of a breastfeeding woman, it could also be a photo or image of any nursing mammal....We ask that you include the status line of "Hey Facebook, breastfeeding is not obscene!"
In addition to this 'virtual nurse-in', there will be other events planned around the globe. Please check this page often for regular updates and added information. We will also be including images that you can use for your profile picture on December 27th.
Babies everywhere thank you for your support!!!!!
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