birth

New York signs anti-shackling law

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Governor Patterson signed a bill into law yesterday in New York State that outlaws the shackling of pregnant incarcerated women.

The anti-shackling law, signed Wednesday, requires correction officials statewide to transport pregnant women and those who have just given birth without using handcuffs and leg irons unless the inmate poses a major flight risk.

This is a big step forward to protecting the rights of pregnant incarcerated women. There has been a push to eliminate this practice of shackling, spearheaded by the Rebecca Project for Human Rights, a really great organization. Hopefully more states will follow suit.

For more on the practice of shackling pregnant incarcerated women, read Anna Clark’s piece over at RH Reality Check.

Doula program in the UK

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An article in the Times Online, a UK paper, talks about the role of doulas in the UK birth system.

In Britain, where women are urged to opt for fewer epidurals during labour and adopt more holistic approaches to pain, the numbers seeking the services of these new birthing partners could soon rise. Last month Dr Denis Walsh, associate professor in midwifery at Nottingham, criticised the “epidural epidemic” sweeping the NHS. The proportion of mothers receiving an epidural injection or spinal anaesthetic has doubled in 20 years to around 37 per cent.

Research in Britain and the US has shown that the emotional and physical support of doulas can shorten a first-time labour, vastly reduce the chances of a Caesarean section and lower the rate of medicated pain relief needed. The benefit of these birthing partners has persuaded the Government to support a doula programme across England.

So far so good. The article covers the situation with doulas in the UK, what they are, why you might want to use them and an analysis of a new voluntary network of doulas around the UK, including some who provide volunteer services to women for no cost.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the way they ended the article, attempting to sum up the pros and cons of having a doula:

The Pros and Cons

Pros

Doulas offer continuous support in labour if midwives are too busy.
Give back massages and create a calm atmosphere for mothers.
Provide back-up for anxious fathers unsure of what to do.
Reduce the chances of a Caesarean section and any medicated pain relief needed.

Cons

Not medically trained.
Not regulated.
No standardised training.
May make fathers feel redundant.

It’s overly simplistic to try and make a pros and cons list–whether or not to have a doula is such an individual choice, and depends on a number of factors. I also think all of the cons listed are not really cons–doula’s don’t need medical training, since we’re not performing medical procedures. Regulation is up for debate–but I think a doula’s reputation does a lot for making sure people work with doulas they can trust. And no, partners should never feel redundant or unnecessary, as a doula serves a different role than the partner and support person for the mother.

Thanks to Susanna for the link

Dooce’s full birth story up now–read for some laughs

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Dooce, the big mommy blogger I mentioned last week, has her full birth story up now in three parts. You should read it, it’s damn funny.

The best part? She talks about her doula. Now that’s some good exposure for us. There are some nice pictures too.

Part one, part two and part three.

How Personhood USA and their bills will hurt all pregnant women

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A new video from the fabulous National Advocates for Pregnant Women, about the new crop of personhood bills that are popping up in states around the country and why they are bad for all pregnant women–whether you are terminating your pregnancy or not.

This is the type of legislation that birth advocates and abortion activists need to rally together and fight against, because they will limit all our choices–from abortions to home births. If we give fetus’ rights that compete with the mother’s, we’re all in danger.

The biggest mommy blogger talks about natural birth

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Thanks to Bethany for giving me a heads up about this. Dooce, probably the biggest mommy blogger on the internet, recently wrote about her birth story. Her humor is pretty awesome, and I think her experience is probably pretty common. You can read the first segment here.

Up until about the 30th week of my pregnancy I hadn’t given labor much thought, only that I was going to ask for the epidural two days before contractions started. I’m not kidding, that was the extent of my birth plan. There was no need to experience any of the pain, I thought, especially since I had been through this before and I remember thinking that the pain was so awful that it was going to kill me. Give me the epidural and any other pain relief, maybe throw in a couple dozen shots of bourbon, oh and how about you just put me under general anesthesia and wake me up two days later. I’m not good with pain. I tend to complain and holler and call people regrettable things. It’s like the Hulk, only he’s on his period.

I was also under the impression, having never really researched the subject whatsoever, that any woman who would opt for a homebirth was not only COMPLETELY OUT OF HER MIND but also not interested in the safety of her unborn child. I mean, there’s a reason that infant and maternal mortality rates are so much better than a hundred years ago, right? HOSPITALS. And MEDICINE. And smart people we call DOCTORS. Yes, women routinely used to go out into the field by themselves and give birth without any assistance, and many of them routinely did not return BECAUSE THEY DIED.

But then out of no where the publishers of Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein’s book Your Best Birth sent me a copy, just like the publishers of many books send me copies of other books all the time. Internet, I have rooms full of books that publishers have sent me. ROOMS FULL. And I was just about to toss this onto the mountainous pile of ones I’d eventually drop off at Goodwill when, I don’t know, I flipped through a few pages and gave a full minute to one or two paragraphs. And those two paragraphs happened to be ones that really pissed me off. So much so that I read them aloud to Jon and said something like GOD, THOSE HIPPIES! or I BET THEY SMELL LIKE PATCHOULI!

You know, something totally open-minded.

Continue reading →

Inspiring birth story from reader

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A reader also named Miriam sent me a lovely email with her birth stories, and agreed to let me share them here. It’s always lovely to me to hear from parents who had second birth experiences that fulfilled their dreams and expectations. Enjoy!

Hello Miriam-

I wanted to thank you for all your wonderful posts about reproductive freedom.  While I’ve always been pro-choice, until I had children myself, I didn’t think of it has having anything to do with birth choices.

My first child was born in the hospital four years ago and it was horrific. It was the classic medically unnecessary c-section after a tidal wave of interventions that I was unprepared to deal with.  I’d wanted as natural a birth as possible and I was basically denied and undermined in every way in working towards this goal. I was never really given informed consent about the Pictocin they put me on right away, even though I was already in labor. As you can imagine, one thing lead to another and another until I had a c-section. The really truly stupid thing about it was that the reason they officially gave “failure to progress” was based on the fact that some 7 different people had checked my dilation and everyone had a different number, 4, 8, 3, 5… it was crazy!

After that, we had four months of breastfeeding misery…which did have a happy ending, we were successful with breastfeeding and my son weaned a little bit after he turned three.

I now think that so many women have postpartum depression because they internalize and blame themselves for painful birth experiences. We are made to feel like failures, were the system is what failed. I didn’t get depressed at all, as it happens. I got wicked insane angry. It took a couple of years of talking to people, doing a lot of reading and such but I finally put all the pieces of the puzzle together and figured out what really happened to me and my baby and why.

Seven weeks ago I had my second child, a girl, at home. It was the exact opposite of my hospital birth experience. It was wonderful, peaceful and loving. (and I got to eat!) My midwife supported me and took the time to listen to me and discuss options. It was so different from being told what to do without any discussion!  We had a birth pool, which felt amazing. And in the end, I have to say, it wasn’t as painful as everyone seems to think childbirth is. Maybe because we get scared and have mentally been indoctrinated to think that child birth is super painful and everyone absolutely needs to have drugs? I don’t know. The recovery was a cake-walk compared to the recovery from the c-section and we haven’t had any problems whatsoever with breastfeeding.

Anyway, sorry for the long rambling message. Your posts about being pro-choice and the homebirth/midwife movement were a part of my mental space as I got ready for this birth and it meant a lot to me. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Miriam

What’s the connection between health care reform and midwifery care?

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My first article is up at The American Prospect, about Certified Professional Midwives and health care reform. I talked to some amazing advocates in reporting for the piece, including Michelle Bartlett, an Idaho midwife who helped push through licensing legislation in her state.

Michelle Bartlett is not the typical Washington high-stakes health-care player. She’s probably not on the radar of anyone in Congress or the Obama administration. Bartlett is a midwife in Idaho, but in the last few years, she’s been trying her hand at lobbying. This came after a night spent in jail for using medication during a home birth she attended in 2000. Bartlett was the second midwife to be charged for this type of practice in Idaho, and thanks to her efforts, she will be the last in her state. “I’ve done a lot of hard things in my life, and giving birth was one of them,” Bartlett says. “But giving birth to a law was really hard.”

On April 1, Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter of Idaho signed legislation allowing certified professional midwives (CPMs) like Bartlett to administer medication during births. Unlike certified nurse midwives who are able to practice in all 50 states and generally work in hospital settings alongside obstetricians, midwives like Bartlett are referred to as “direct entry” midwives, and practice exclusively outside of hospitals, mostly in homes or birth centers. These CPMs spend three to five years training and meet the standards for certification set by the North American Registry of Midwives.

…

State licensing fights may be the first step for these midwives, but it’s not their last. Now they’re turning their attention to the federal health-care reform debate, and a look at the maternity-related health-care costs quickly explains why. Childbirth is among the top five causes for hospitalization, and the No. 1 cause for women. According to Childbirth Connection, Cesarean section is the most common operating-room procedure, and in 2009 the C-section rate hit an all-time high according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at 31.8 percent of all births. These rates account, in part, for the increasing cost of maternity care in the U.S. Maternal and newborn charges totaled $86 billion in 2006, 45 percent of which was paid for by Medicaid. The federal government is already footing a huge portion of the U.S.’ maternity-care bill, and these midwives think they can help reduce costs significantly, and not just for low-income women.

Check out the rest of the article here.

If you want to join the advocacy efforts mentioned in the article, check out The Big Push for Midwives and The MAMA Campaign.

Great article on the practice of shackling incarcerated women

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Anna Clark has a great piece up at RH Reality Check about the practice of shackling incarcerated women. She delves into both the realities of the practice (horrific) and the amazing activist response that has arisen to organize against this practice (and has been successful!). Here is an excerpt:

The 2008 federal policy against shackling cued renewed hope among advocates for the humane treatment of incarcerated women. Beyond lawsuits and advocacy with individual departments, legislative campaigns to restrict shackling are finding unprecedented success-after years of falling on deaf ears.

New Mexico is the most recent state to bar shackling through a bill signed by Governor Bill Richardson this spring. New York and Texas currently have bills backed by legislative support that await the word of their governors before they become law. “For us, it’s not enough to change regulations (on shackling in particular prisons),” Saada Saar said. “To do this campaign through the legislature gives us a way to respond to violations of the policy. Through state statutes, mothers’ rights are better protected.”

“A lot of states do have corrections policies that restrict shackling, but (the policies) aren’t commonly known or understood,” Sussman said. “A law allows us to go to court; it makes it hard for others to say they didn’t know (that shackling is restricted).

“We have a strong case in Illinois because of the law there, for example. We need to bring cases to ensure enforcement,” Sussman added. “It’s a dual strategy.”

It’s a strategy that inspires diverse support. Broad coalitions are signing on to legislative and legal campaigns to transform the experience of giving birth in prisons, jails, and detention centers.

Among those backing the New York Anti-Shackling Bill are women’s health advocates, prison rights organizations, medical and public health groups, and “even fellowships and ministries that aren’t our frequent allies,” Sussman said.

Read the rest here and more from Anna Clark here.

Latino’s born to midwives will no longer be denied passports

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An update to this story from almost a year ago. It was reported by the NY Times that Latinos born near the border to midwives were having their citizenship challenged.

Well some good news for us on this front from the ACLU:

Pending court approval, DOS will train its staff on how to fairly weigh all the evidence provided in passport applications and how to avoid improperly subjecting people whose births were assisted by midwives in Texas and along the U.S.-Mexico border to heightened scrutiny in reviewing their passport applications.

All denials will be automatically reviewed by a three-member panel comprised of experienced DOS staff members, and if that panel also denies an application, DOS must communicate the specific reasons for the denial to the applicant. The applicant can then challenge the denial and ask DOS to reconsider its decision.

Additionally, anyone birthed by a midwife who has filed an application for a passport between April 2003 and September 15, 2008 and, with a few exceptions, whose application was not expressly “denied,” can re-apply for free. DOS will be setting up mobile units across the border on specific dates to assist those reapplying.

Via Latina Lista

Home birth in Australia may soon be illegal

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New legislation in Australia that requires all midwives to be insured may make home birth illegal and inaccessible.

From News.Com.Au:

Under the draft Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, released last week, a midwife cannot be registered unless she has insurance.

But with insurance companies and the Government so far refusing to include homebirths in the indemnity scheme, midwives will face being de-registered if they attend a homebirth.

Via Citizens for Midwifery.

This is really terrible and this insurance squeeze often effectively makes midwifery illegal/inaccessible in the US too.