midwives

Action: Rally to save midwifery at Miami Dade community college MONDAY

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PLEASE COME HELP SAVE THE MIDWIFERY PROGRAM AT MIAMI DADE!

YOUR SUPPORT IS DESPERATELY NEEDED!

As some of you may know, the Midwifery Program at Miami-Dade Community College has been closed. This cancellation has come as a complete shock to the students who were accepted into this program, back in may. Despite adequate enrollment and apparently sufficient funding, the college has decided to unfairly close this program. The College has cited lack of funding as one of the main reasons for the program’s
closure. We think there is something else going on.

These students are ready and eager to start their program, as it was offered and promised to them! Some of them have quit their jobs and prepared to relocate to Miami, only to find shortly before classes were to begin, that the program was being closed.

Despite repeated efforts, Dr. Padron, College President, has refused to meet with the student. Please join us to help them in getting their voices heard.

The students are now planning a Rally to Save the Midwifery Program on Monday August 25th at 10:00a.m. The rally will be held at the office of the President on the MDC Wolfson Campus, 300 N.E. 2nd Ave, Suite 1401 on the fourth floor of Building #1 Miami, FL 33132.

So please….if you’ve never participated in a rally, let this be your first! We NEED you. Gather all of your people. Make signs proclaiming the importance of midwives. Please bring yourselves and your beautiful children to the rally in order that everyone see and hear how important this is issue is to us and our community!

Please contact me at 305.975.6227 or at motherpath@aol.com if you need more information on this rally or the history of the cancellation of this program.

I would also love to hear from those of you who are planning to attend!

Thank you,

Michelle

Downtown parking: there is a $5 lot next to building #3 on NE. 4th St, a parking deck on NE 5th St, and another deck, Building #7 at 100 NE 2nd Ave (free for students,staff and anyone coming to register for
classes!!) also nearby metered parking at Bayside. A good bet is taking Metrorail to Government Center and the the Inner Loop to the College North stop, it’s closesest to Building #1

State Department discriminates against Latino citizens delivered by midwives

MZP1 Comment

Via The National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (full disclosure: that’s my day job and I wrote this press release)

The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that some Latino citizens in the Rio Grande Valley on the US/Mexico border are being denied access to their citizenship rights based on documentation issues. Their citizenship is being called into question (despite years of residence and employment in the United States, and even successful background checks) due to their birth to midwives in private residences.

The National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health believes this is a racist and unfair practice, which leaves these individuals scrambling to prove citizenship with other documents, where for others a birth certificate is sufficient. This practice unfairly targets Latino citizens on the border and those who were born to parteras or midwives in private residences, a common practice among Latinos. Further, the fact that once additional documentation has been provided some individuals are still being denied makes it clear that the State Department is discriminating against these individuals along the border in Texas.

Join the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health in decrying this discriminatory practice, so we can ensure that all US citizens regardless of race, nationality or place of childbirth are granted access to their rights.

Full press release available here.

Cross-posted at Feministing

Protest the closing of Miami Dade Midwifery Program

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From an activist in Miami:

We need more midwives, and you can help!

There will be a rally at the campus this Friday to protest the unfair cancellation of the program.
Press coverage is expected.

    When: Friday, August 8th, at 10:00 am
    Where: Miami Dade Medical Campus, room 1352.
                    950 NW 20th St, Miami, FL 33127
    Contact: Melissa  305 305 6927

You can also write a letter to the school, more details after the jump. 

Continue reading →

Midwifery programs at risk

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News today from Miami-Dade College of the closing of their midwifery program. Apparently they decided to shut the program down due to enrollment issues and financing. It’s really sad considering how few midwives there are and how we need WAY more of them to keep pushing this birth process in a different direction. Even just from the financial side, midwives save money.

Via Choice Words

Birth of a Surgeon, tonight on PBS

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A PBS series tonight chronicles the story of Mozambique, where the maternal mortality rates had reached such crisis levels that they decided to train midwives to do obstetric surgery.

Sub-Saharan Africa is the world’s deadliest place to give birth. Each year over a quarter of a million women die in childbirth in the region. But Mozambique is combating high maternal death rates by implementing unconventional programs.

I have only seen the preview, which you can also watch here. Despite the rather dramatic tone (why do they have to make childbirth seem so scary?) I like the sound of the show.

Midwives often take the blame for high maternal mortality (and infant mortality) in developing countries. They are demonized when governments (both local and international) step in and build hospitals and try to “modernize” maternity care. The midwives are portrayed as backwards, uneducated and elderly. Rather than work with midwives, often this process is rather imposing, attempting to force all women to give birth in the hospitals they build with doctors instead of midwives.

There are many problems with this approach, as transportation to the hospitals built in primarily urban centers in a challenge. Additionally many of these hospitals don’t even have the resources they need (doctors, medicines, equipment) and are not providing much better care for all women than the midwives.

Much of my opinion comes from some time spent in Ecuador, both working at the public maternity ward and talking to midwives in different parts of the country.

So approaches like training midwives to do some emergency surgeries, in addition to other basic skills (like when to take a woman to a hospital) seem like a good solution to me. In the US, midwifery care remains at odds with the ob/gyn practice, I think that’s mostly a business concern. There is no reason why other countries can’t adopt a diverse a multi-tiered system. I know of another program called Nueve Lunas (nine moons) in Mexico that provides additional education for rural indigenous midwives. (Note, the link for that school is in Spanish)

The show premieres Tuesday July 15th on PBS.

Independence Day Midwives Pushdrive

MZP1 Comment

From the Big Push for Midwives:

Big Push Campaign Launches the 2008 “Independence Day Midwives PushDrive”

Since the American Medical Association (AMA) voted in June to outlaw home birth, we are doubling our efforts to advocate for freedom of birth options for our nation’s mothers and families.

While the AMA and the American College of Obstetricians (ACOG) are likely to back a forceful lobbying operation in Statehouses from coast-to-coast in the months to come, we are P-U-S-H-I-N-G back … building state-of-the-art advocacy campaigns toward successful regulation and licensure of Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) … helping our state member groups to stand up together, united for safe and legal birth choices.

Why so urgent?

Beyond this David-and-Goliath struggle, we face a critical problem in our society. Nearly 1 in 3 American women are going through major surgery to give birth, but only a fraction of those women would be considered “high risk.” Yet, in spite of the lack of medical necessity for many such cases, the most frequently performed surgery in the U.S. is the cesarean section at 1.3 million surgeries per year. Given present trends, our nation is headed for a staggering 40-50% cesarean surgery rate.

For many reasons, this newly emerging health policy issue is urgent, and some go so far as to say that the civil rights of pregnant women are being disregarded … that mothers and their families are not being fully informed nor adequately supported in their quest for maximal results with minimal interventions.

What is the Big Push for Midwives Campaign?

The Big Push for Midwives Campaign is the first initiative of the National Birth Policy Coalition (NBPC). We play a critical role in building a new model for the delivery of U.S. maternity care at the local and regional levels. At the heart of this plan is the Midwives Model of Care, based on the fact that pregnancy and birth are normal life processes.

Through local and national media attention, public education and coalition building, we are creating meaningful consumer protections and a system into which midwives are fully integrated, with increased transparency and accountability for the health and well-being of mothers and babies.

You can help the Big Push for Midwives Campaign stay in top pushing-for-birth-independence form!

Just as the research shows that food and water should not be withheld from laboring women during their marathon-like efforts in birth, our Caring Campaign Midwives remind us that we need nourishment for this journey to ensure we can perform our most critical functions this month.

We must raise $25,000 in the month of July to pay for the tools, staff and resources necessary to deliver consistent and well-executed communications and collaborate among our geographically dispersed teams.

Please show your leadership on national health issues and your willingness to support our innovative approach to rehabilitating our U.S. maternity care system. Please consider contributing immediately to our campaign in any amount that is feasible. $10, $20, $50, $100, $500, or even more.

We so appreciate any amount! Donate here

American Medical Association passes resolution to outlaw homebirth

MZP3 Comments

Unfortunately, this is not surprising.

Maternity care is a multi-billion dollar industry in the United States,” said Steff Hedenkamp, Communications Coordinator for The Big Push for Midwives. “So it’s no surprise to see the AMA join the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in its ongoing fight to corner the market and ensure that the only midwives able to practice legally are hospital-based midwives forced to practice under physician control. I will say, though, that I’m shocked to learn that the AMA is taking this turf battle to the next level by setting the stage for outlawing home birth itself—a direct attack on those families who choose home birth, who could be subject to criminal prosecution if the AMA has its way.

The Big Push for Midwives has released this story (the above text is from their press release). What people tend to forget is that the American Medical Association is a professional association, not a scientific or medical (and therefore unbiased) organization.

It’s hard to see this as anything other a business ploy to further dominate (and secure) their place in the market. With how expensive childbirth is, it’s a lucrative market.  This mode of business-oriented thinking has dominated the attempt to push out midwives since the beginning of obstetrics. What’s missing here? Perhaps what is best for the mother? Just a thought.

Good news for Missouri Midwives!

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News from Missouri Midwives Supporters
CONTACT:  Mary Ueland (417) 543-4258, better_birth@yahoo.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Wednesday, February 20, 2008
 
Midwives Licensure Bill Passes Missouri Senate Committee
Comprehensive bill will decriminalize practice of midwifery, and license and regulate midwives
 
(Jefferson City, Mo.) – Midwives advocates across Missouri and the nation today celebrated the passage of Senator John Loudon’s (R, Chesterfield) midwifery licensure bill, SB 1021, from the Missouri Senate Committee on Pensions, General Laws and Veteran’s Affairs.  The long-anticipated legislation would decriminalize the practice of midwifery in Missouri and establish a board to license and regulate Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs).

The committee voted 5-1 before a hearing room packed with citizens from across the state, many of whom represented families who wish to choose a legal midwife to assist them during childbirth.  Committee members combined the bill with SB870, a repeal of the midwifery provision in current statute.  The resulting committee substitute is a comprehensive piece of midwifery legislation.  

“Missouri needs legal midwives,” said Debbie Smithey, President of Missouri Midwives Association.  “This bill will license and regulate the midwives whose legal status is currently in question before the Supreme Court.”
Currently, Certified Nurse-Midwives, who work predominantly in hospital settings, are licensed and regulated in all 50 states, while Certified Professional Midwives, who work in out-of-hospital settings, are licensed and regulated in 24 states, with legislation pending in an additional 20 states, Missouri among them. 

CPMs’ training as specialists in out-of-hospital maternity care qualifies them as essential providers during disasters in which hospitals become inaccessible or unsafe for laboring mothers and newborn babies. In addition, this bill will ensure that all babies born outside of the hospital undergo state-mandated newborn screenings and are provided with legal and secure birth certificates.

“We applaud the committee for their clear show of support for health care freedom in childbirth,” said Laurel Smith, President of Friends of Missouri Midwives, a statewide network of thousands of Missouri homebirth families,  “The parents of our state have been deprived of the freedom to choose a legal midwife specifically trained in out-of-hospital maternity care for too long.  We look forward to seeing this issue debated in the full Senate and anticipate the day when professional midwives are legally recognized and able to serve women freely.”

Missouri is part of The Big Push for Midwives Campaign
Media inquiries should be directed to Mary Ueland at (417) 543-4258, better_birth@yahoo.com.
#####
For more info:
Friends of Missouri Midwives
Missouri Midwives Association
Show-Me Freedom in Healthcare
Free the Midwives
The Big Push for Midwives Campaign

Thanks to Steff for the info.

Natural Birth only hospital unit in UK

MZP2 Comments

From the BBC, information about a hospital unit run by midwives that promotes “natural birth.”

It is run by midwives with doctors, allowed in only by invitation, and if a problem occurs mothers are moved. The ethos on the ward is that the birth process must be allowed to take its natural course, although pain relief drugs are given. Midwife Doreen Brunton, who is part of the team which runs the unit, told the BBC Scotland news website: “If you intervene too soon, labours get augmented, they end up with problems with the babies, sections or forceps.

What I like best about it is the emphasis on non-intervention, which is so important as a reaction to the highly interventionist obstretrical environment. We need something like this in the US. The other piece of good news is that the number of women using this unit has doubled in the last year. I wonder if they have doulas in this unit? But once again, we see natural birth being equated with epidural usage. Sigh. I’m not against epidurals, but they definitely have affects on the labor that need to be taken into consideration.

Also, the Royal College of Midwives (also in the UK) has a great campaign called the Campaign for Normal Birth.

Together, we can change the way childbirth happens. The Campaign aims to inspire and support normal birth practice. It’s a reminder that good birth experiences can happen despite the challenges. Intervention and caesarean shouldn’t be the first choice – they should be the last.

Wanna move to the UK anyone?

A New Campaign for Midwives

MZP2 Comments

On January 24, 2008–“Push day” a new campaign to promote midwives, The Big Push for Midwives, was launched. It’s a campaign coordinated by a group of Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) to promote the midwifery model of care.

Our goals are to fully integrate the Midwives Model of Care into the health care systems of our states, to highlight the importance of family healthcare choices and to defend the ability of CPMs to provide legal and safe prenatal, birth and postpartum care to families in every state.

Sounds good to me. There is a great map which explains what states allow the licensing of CPMs and which do not. I also appreciate coordinated advocacy campaigns, where different groups can learn from each others mistakes and accomplishments. It’s also really good timing–The Business of Being Born is getting a lot of attention and bringing new people to this issue and the crisis in maternity care continues to escalate.

CPMs differ from CNMs (certified nurse midwives) in that they aren’t registered nurses and don’t go through the same type of schooling and training. The laws and types of certification vary, but we’re not talking about little old ladies with no training at all. CPMs learn midwifery techniques through apprenticeship, coursework and lots of experience. They are also frequently required to pass certification exams.

I think this type of midwifery is important because I have fundamental problems with the modern medical education, particularly when it comes to birth. Even CNMs have to start their education as nurses, who learn the scientific model of birth that has created the maternity crisis we’re in today. They practice in hospitals and are forced to follow hospital regulations which are bad for birth,. Some of the reasons I have yet to become a midwife stem from this–I’m afraid to begin my education with the modern medical logic. But being a CPM, or a lay midwife, is difficult because of varying state regulations that determine where and how you can practice. That’s what this campaign is trying to change.

Great interview with a midwife from the campaign website.