GRN: Home Birth Rate Up 20% in Four Years

Hello Friends,

Mothers are clearly calling for a variety of birth options: According to newly released data from the CDC, home birth rates have risen 20% in a four year period (2004-2008). This substantial increase has caught the interest of health care practitioners and policy makers, as well as the mainstream media.

MSNBC and USA Today covered the news and Today Moms, the online parenting network of The Today Show, featured an article called "Why Women Shouldn't Fear Home Birth" by celebrity, Mayim Bialik, who birthed at home.

We are very happy to see this conversation reaching a wider audience and as always, we will continue to work towards ensuring women have access to well-trained midwives in the setting of their choice. You can help by using the CfM Tool Kit: Stand Up for Healthy Birth and Home Birth in your own local community. Please share your efforts with us and the Citizens for Midwifery community on our facebook page.

This clear demand for midwives in various settings is yet another reason why the federal legislation -- "Access to Certified Professional Midwives Act of 2011" (HR 1054) -- is an integral part of creating optimal health outcomes for mothers by securing better access to the high quality care of well-trained midwives.

If you have not already please join the MAMA campaign.


Sincerely,

Hillary Boucher, CfM

P.S. Citizens for Midwifery relies on your generous donations. Please consider supporting us--Click Here to Donate Today!

Book Review: Arms Wide Open: A Midwife’s Journey

Book Review: Arms Wide Open: A Midwife’s Journey

By Patricia Harman
Beacon Press, 2011
ISBN: 978-0807001387
324 pages, paperback, $16.47 (Amazon)
http://www.beacon.org

Reviewed by Molly Remer, MSW, ICCE, CCCE
http://talkbirth.wordpress.com

I very much enjoyed Patricia Harman’s first book, The Blue Cotton Gown, and was delighted to learn about her new memoir, Arms Wide Open which is, in a sense, both a prequel and sequel to her first memoir. The first half of Arms Wide Open chronicles Patsy’s experiences with homesteading and communal living as a young hippie mother in the 1970’s. It also explores her thoughts and experiences with peace activism and her passion for an eco-friendly life. During this time, she attends her first birth and dives into her midwifery journey and eventually becomes a CNM practicing with her hippie-farmer-turned-OB/GYN husband in West Virginia. Her experiences with their years in a joint women’s health practice are described in The Blue Cotton Gown. Readers who, like me, wondered what happened where The Blue Cotton Gown left off, can find out in the second half of Arms Wide Open, which is a narrative of Patsy’s ongoing work with women through 2009 and includes her emotional painful moments in her marriage, as her husband struggles with fears of another lawsuit as well as with chronic pelvic pain patients who abuse his trust (chronic pelvic pain is a specialty of their practice).

I did feel as if there was a large chunk of story missing as the book somewhat abruptly skips from 1978 to 2008. We miss learning about any of Patsy’s experiences in nurse-midwifery school, nor do we learn much about her practice when she was a CNM attending births. The book transitions from her years as a self-taught midwife considering going to school to become a CNM, straight to her present-day years as a CNM in a private women’s health practice.

Harman’s writing style is lyrical and engaging as well as candid. The book is based on personal journals and reading it feels like eavesdropping on someone’s very private thoughts and feelings. The book is much more of a look at a woman’s feelings about her life, than it is a “manifesto” about birth or about the practice of midwifery. In this manner, I feel like you receive a much more complete picture of a midwife’s life and journey, rather than reading a sequence of birth stories. Patsy has a lot of life in addition to birth. While definitely not a “feel good” book, Arms Wide Open is a deeply touching and very honest exploration of one woman’s personal journey in life, love, motherhood, and midwifery.

--

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes.

Multimedia Review: A Book for Midwives

Multimedia Review: A Book for Midwives
Hesperian Foundation
CD-Rom, 2011
544 page pdf book in English and Spanish
by Susan Klein, Suellen Miller, and Fiona Thomson
ISBN13: 978-0942364-24-8, $16.00
www.hesperian.org

Reviewed by Molly Remer, MSW, ICCE
http://talkbirth.wordpress.com

As a child, I was fascinated by my father’s copy of the book, Where There is No Doctor. Fast forward twenty or so years and imagine my glee when as a birth activist adult, I then discovered A Book for Midwives, also published by the Hesperian Foundation. Hesperian's goal “is to promote health and self-determination in poor communities throughout the world by making health information accessible. [They] work toward that goal by producing books and other educational resources for community-based health.” In keeping with this goal, A Book for Midwives is available for FREE download on the Hesperian site. (Personally, I appreciate the professionally printed version of the book I purchased, because I think it would cost more same in ink to print it myself, but without the nice cover!).

A Book for Midwives is excellent; a true community resource. It is also a very sobering look at the reality of women's health and health care in other countries. It contains reminders such as "do not hit or slap a woman in labor," and other things that can make you cringe. A Book for Midwives is basically a textbook for midwives, health care workers, or educators working in developing countries and/or with very limited resources. I appreciate how it makes information available that is sometimes "hidden" in other books--i.e. explicitly technical content and “how to’s” that are normally reserved only for "professional" people. It is simply written and extremely blunt. There is no fluff and nothing romanticized about pregnancy, labor, and birth. In a way, it was hard to read a book that makes it so very clear how very, very difficult things are for midwives and women in impoverished areas (living in the US, I am used to the "normal, healthy pregnant women" approach to midwifery care). The book covers a wide range of information from preventing infection, treating obstetrical emergencies, doing pelvic exams, and breastfeeding to HIV/AIDS, testing for STDs and cervical cancer, and IUD insertion. There is also a section in the back of the book about medications, medication administration, giving injections, and other topics. It is an extremely comprehensive resource. (Just a side note, in the section on contraceptives, the book is heavily in favor of hormonal methods such as pills as well as very positive about IUDs and sterilization.)

Recently, Hesperian made A Book for Midwives available for purchase on CD. The CD includes the 544 page book as a pdf file in both English and Spanish. Both high resolution and low resolution versions of the book (in both languages) are included on the disk. This format makes it easy for the book to travel with you via laptop for trainings or presentations. I was particularly excited to convert it for my Kindle, making it readily available for travel and reference.

--
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of the CD for review purposes.

Celebrating Midwives & Mothers!

Hello Friends,

This is an exciting week here at CfM because two of our favorite things--midwives and mothers--are being celebrated!

Today, May 5th, is International Day of the Midwife. We are so grateful for the amazing work that midwives do to keep women healthy and safe all over the world. To learn more about the International Day of the Midwife visit the International Confederation of Midwives. You can also participate in the Virtual International Day of the Midwife (VIDM)--an online conference happening all day today.

One way we can thank our midwives and ensure that women have better access to midwives is to support the important federal legislation HR 1054, the "Access to Certified Professional Midwives Act of 2011". We're proud to be working with Midwives & Mothers in Action (M.A.M.A.) to increase women’s access to midwives and to quality, affordable maternity care by securing federal recognition of Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs).

The MAMA Campaign, is a partnership between the National Association of Certified Professional Midwives (NACPM), Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA), Citizens for Midwifery (CfM), International Center for Traditional Childbearing (ICTC), North American Registry of Midwives (NARM), and the Midwifery Education Accreditation Council (MEAC).

Sunday, May 8th, is Mother's Day and we want to honor the amazing ways that mothers care for their families, their communities and for the world. Mother's Day is particularly special to us because CfM was founded by mothers and we work to ensure that all mothers have access to the Midwives Model of Care. We are honored to work alongside you and thank you for being an amazing mother and ally in this work to ensure access to midwives.

This Mother's Day weekend take some time to check out the Every Mother Counts campaign. Getting informed and taking action is an outstanding way to honor ourselves as mothers, the mothers in our lives and mothers all over the world.

Have a great Midwives & Mother's Day!

Warmly,

Hillary Boucher, CfM

International Day of the Midwife

International Day of the Midwife is approaching on May 5th and I encourage you to check out the free online conference offering a day-long roster of speakers and events around this year's theme, The World Needs Midwives Today More Than Ever!

This is so incredibly true. I listened to a birth story yesterday that really made me think about the irreplaceable value of skilled midwifery care. Truly, there is no substitute for it---while, yes, some women also need OB care, I really think all women deserve midwifery care (so, even those high-women who need to see OBs or who need to have cesareans, they still deserve a midwife too!)

On a related note, an online friend/colleague of mine, Kelli Haywood, just wrote a great article about the closing of rural maternity wards and made a clear case for why we need more midwives (now more than ever!).

--
Molly
CfM Blogger

Book Review: Home/Birth: a poemic

Book Review: Home/Birth: a poemic
By Arielle Greenberg and Rachel Zucker
1913 Press, 2011
ISBN 978-0-9779351-7-8
208 pages, softcover, $11
http://www.1913press.org

http://www.facebook.com/pages/HomeBirth-A-Poemic/

Reviewed by Molly Remer, MSW, ICCE, CCCE
http://talkbirth.wordpress.com

Co-authored by a pair of long-time friends, the “poemic” book Home/Birth reads as if you are eavesdropping on a lengthy, juicy, engaging, thought-provoking conversation about homebirth, birth in America, maternity care, and feminism. The book has a lyric, narrative, stream of consciousness format linked together with segments of poetry.

The text does not differentiate between the two speakers/writers, though through the “call and response,” back-and-forth exchange between the two authors, you quickly begin to recognize two distinct voices (as well as other fragments from birth books, bumper stickers, midwives, etc.).

The book was written during Arielle’s second pregnancy, which ends in the stillbirth of her baby boy. Arielle had one prior homebirth and one subsequent homebirth. Rachel had two hospital births and a homebirth prior to the writing of the book.

While the style in which it is written takes some time to get used to, once you tune in to its rhythm, Home/Birth is a unique and fascinating journey. Because it is so distinctive, I find it difficult to describe in writing—you need to make sure to read it for yourself!

--

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes.

GRN: The Access to Certified Professional Midwives Act of 2011

Grassroots News Message 2011-03-18 no 2

Historic news from the MAMA Campaign: “The Access to Certified Professional Midwives Act of 2011” introduced in Congress. Citizens for Midwifery is a coalition partner in the MAMA Campaign and has been working hard to increase access to midwifery care for families through federal recognition of CPMs. We are thrilled to have reached this historic milestone. Read more from the MAMA Campaign below.

CPM Bill Introduced: A Milestone for Mothers and Midwives!



Join the Celebration for HR 1054
!

We are thrilled to announce that Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-ME-1) has introduced HR 1054, the “Access to Certified Professional Midwives Act of 2011” in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Photo of Rep. Chellie Pingree



“I believe it’s important that women are able to have the birth experience they want, regardless of where they live and how much money they make. That is why it’s important that women with Medicaid coverage have the same access to high quality, safe, and cost-effective services,” Congresswoman Pingree said. The Congresswoman is known in Maine and Washington, DC as a sensitive, independent voice for social and health issues that affect families everywhere. 



The Midwives and Mothers in Action (MAMA) Campaign expresses our sincerest appreciation to Congresswoman Pingree and celebrates this milestone in the history of direct-entry midwifery in the United States.

MAMA is also deeply grateful to Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI-4) and Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA-7) for their support and leadership in co-sponsoring HR 1054 with Representative Pingree.

Increasing women’s access to the care of CPMs will support better outcomes for mothers and babies, reduced disparities in outcomes for vulnerable populations, and provide significant cost savings for Medicaid and the health care system.

We are most grateful to Representative Pingree for her vision and support for childbearing women and their families. 



This is Your Milestone!


Your support, your letters to members of Congress, meetings with your legislators in Washington, DC and in-district, and all of the dollars that you have contributed to this cause have made possible the introduction of HR 1054. You should be proud of yourselves – the MAMA Campaign Steering Committee thanks you!

Now the Work Begins….

MAMA will be counting on your energy and involvement in the coming weeks and months as this train gains steam and we forge ahead to garner the support of Congress for enacting HR 1054 into law. Our next steps include securing additional co-sponsors, obtaining support from the leading advocates for change in maternity care, raising the funds, and motivating the volunteers necessary to see this campaign through to victory. Together we will steadily move this important piece of legislation forward, Congress member by Congress member, for the benefit of women and babies.


Coming Soon From MAMA:

• Letter-writing guidelines for soliciting your Congress members to become co-sponsors
• Invitations to participate in visits to the Hill in Washington, DC and organize in-district visits to your Representatives
• Advice on how you can become more involved as the MAMA Campaign gathers support in key Congressional committees



MAMA’s New Look

MAMA is getting a “make-over” with a new color scheme, updated logo and website and a fresh look to our materials. Check MAMA out at www.mamacampaign.org. We’re also implementing a new web platform that will make it easier for us to stay in touch with you and for you to post your thoughts, write your representatives, and make donations to the campaign.



MAMA Is Growing

With the introduction of HR 1054, MAMA is seeking to hire a self-starting, energetic, and driven team member as Administrative Assistant to the Campaign. Take a look at the Job Posting and help us find the right person to provide this support to the Campaign.



Keep MAMA Going in 2011!

Just one year ago, MAMA celebrated a significant victory in our campaign for federal recognition of CPMs! Since that time, we have been working quietly to secure the initial sponsors of HR 1054 and solicit support from major donors who understood the need to invest in MAMA’s long-term success. As a result, we are already halfway toward meeting our expenses in 2011! Now we need the support of our grassroots – mothers and fathers, grandparents, midwives, doulas, and other advocates – to keep our momentum going. Please celebrate with us – show Congress you care, too – by making your contribution today. We will put your dollars to work, making a difference for mothers and babies! Together we can move mountains!

 Donate Today!

GRN: ACOG Is Not Qualified to Evaluate the Practice of Midwives

Grassroots News Message 2011-03-16 "ACOG Is Not Qualified to Evaluate the Practice of Midwives" March 11, 2011 Grassroots Network Message ACOG Releases Opinion on Homebirth Hello Friends, After a January press release announcement, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) officially issued its current statement on the safety of homebirth in February (ACOG, 2011.). The numerous challenges posed by a physician’s trade organization releasing an opinion about homebirths (which most obstetricians do not attend), based on unsound research, will be explored below. In the statement, ACOG acknowledges that they “respect the rights of a woman to make a medically informed decision about delivery,” but again asserts its long-held belief that hospitals and birth centers are the safest settings for birth. ACOG’s opinion on homebirth is based largely on results from a poorly conducted, scientifically weak meta-analytic review (Wax et al., 2010). This paper has been roundly criticized for its methodological flaws and shortcomings, rendering its conclusions inaccurate at best. You can check out these links for critiques: The Big Push Science and Sensibility Our Bodies Our Blog Midwifery Today Scribd That ACOG would use poor quality science is a testament to the fact that ACOG is a private trade organization, not a scientific organization, whose primary goal is to support the interests of its members (for more on this). Perhaps even more important, ACOG, as a group, lacks any comprehensive knowledge of or experience with midwifery practice. ACOG is not qualified to evaluate the practices of midwives given the vast differences between modern obstetric practice and midwifery practice. Most obstetricians have never observed a single woman labor and give birth without any medical intervention, let alone in her own home. It is essential to keep these considerations in mind when evaluating recommendations from a trade organization such as ACOG. While ACOG’s opinion on homebirth is not surprising, it is important to consider the potential negative impact it could have on the future of women’s access to homebirth. Some may recall the 1999 ACOG practice bulletin recommending that VBACs (vaginal birth after cesarean) only be attempted in hospitals with immediately available emergency surgical teams. This recommendation had an immediate (and long lasting) chilling effect on the number of VBACs occurring in the United States (see the figure below, reprinted from Roberts et al., 2007.). If ACOG’s statement on homebirth is used to set policies in the same way that the VBAC opinion was, access to homebirth could be jeopardized for many women for a long time to come. In the statement, ACOG asserts that several of the current, well-conducted empirical studies illustrating the safety of homebirth cannot be generalized to the United States, given that they were conducted in countries in which midwifery is well integrated into the health care system. In light of this assertion, we call on ACOG as well as national and state medical societies to understand that criticism and to begin to support (rather than obstruct) efforts to license and integrate well-trained professional midwives into main stream health care delivery in the United States. Sincerely, Lauren Korfine, PhD for CfM References: American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Committee on Obstetric Practice (2011). Committee Opinion: Planned Home Birth, Obstetrics and Gynecology, 117(2), 1-4 Roberts, R. G., Deutchman, M., King, V. J., Fryer, G. E., & Miyoshi, T. J. (2007). Changing policies on vaginal birth after cesarean: impact on access. Birth, 34, 316-322 Wax, J.R., Lucas, F.L., Lamont, M., Pinette, M.G., Cartin, A., Blackstone, J. (2010). Maternal and newborn outcomes in planned homebirth vs. planned hospital births: A metaanalysis. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 243, e1-8.) From Roberts et al., 2007. Number of births by cesarean section over time. Note the sharp decline in VBACs after 1999, the year ACOG issued its VBAC practice bulletin that lead to VBAC bans in many hospitals.

LEARN MORE ABOUT CFM SIGN UP HERE TO RECEIVE GRASSROOTS NEWS MESSAGES! SHARE WITH OTHERS IN YOUR AREA! Feel free to forward and share on facebook with friends, family and colleagues SEND US NEWS! If you find news, resources, or other valuable information that you think should be posted on the Grassroots Network, please send it to info@cfmidwifery. org... with "For the grassroots network" in the subject line. We will definitely consider using them! LEARN ABOUT CfM! Check out our website Check out our blog Like us on Facebook GET INVOLVED! Are you interested in volunteering with some dynamic women in a supportive environment? Help CfM promote the Midwives Model of Care! We have many ways to get more involved. Get in touch with us! DONATE! CfM couldn't do it without your support. Make your contribution here!

Breech Resources

I got the following information from a birth email list I belong to and thought these resources were interesting/valuable:

Great photos of a breech home birth (mother kneeling) with Australian Midwife
Lisa Barrett

New organization for the UK promoting education in Breech Birth for Midwives and
Obstetricians and Informed Consent for mothers. Stories invited.

PowerPoint by Shawn Walker RM as well.

--
Molly
CfM Blogger

International Women's Day

"If ever the world sees a time when women shall come together purely and simply for the benefit of humanity it will be a power such as the world has never known." --Matthew Arnold

"I long to speak out the intense inspiration that comes to me from the lives of strong women." –Ruth Benedict

Tomorrow is the 100th anniversary of the first International Women's Day. For more information about celebrating check out the International Women's Day website. Or, visit the Imagine a Woman website to read this blog post or to check out this handout about 50 things to do to celebrate International Women's Day, Women's History Month, yourself, and the women who inspire you.

To bring it back to birth, you might also enjoy watching these helpful midwifery/birth videos from strong women on the Midwifery Today youtube channel.

“I believe that these circles of women around us weave invisible nets of love that carry us when we're weak and sing with us when we're strong.” --SARK, Succulent Wild Woman

"Loving, knowing, and respecting our bodies is a powerful and invincible act of rebellion in this society." --Inga Muscio

In honor of International Women's Day---and every day---let us celebrate our bodies, honor our mothers, and trust in the nets of love woven around us by a multitude of remarkable, powerful, everyday women.

--
Molly
CfM Blogger
(photo from my blessingway in January 2011, 38 weeks pregnant with my baby girl!)