Via Feministing.
The New Hampshire house just voted to make insurance companies who cover in-hospital births also cover home births for women who want them. The primary argument is financial, as a home birth costs usually less than a third of what a hospital birth costs. Definitely good news!
Check out the comment thread on Vanessa’s feministing post about this. Very interesting.
I finally got to see the movie that has been garnering a lot of attention in these past few months tonight.
I’ve seen my fair share of birth movies, but The Business of Being Born is definitely worth the hype. I highly recommend it. It does an incredible job of summing up a lot of what is wrong with birth today, particularly in regards to hospital-based maternity care. There is also footage from a couple of really beautiful home births (no matter how many births I see, whether in person or on tape, I still tear up every time).
I have to say that even after all this time in the birth activism world, it still gets me so fired up to hear about just how absurd it has all gotten. 70% of births in Europe and Japan are attended by midwives, compared to less than 3% here. Maternal and infant mortality rates are not good compared to other developing countries. Interventionist hospital practices create a domino effect that ends in an “emergency” c-section that is actually a result of the interventions in the first place–for one in three births. I could go on and on. Ricki’s movie does, and everyone should see it.
While it doesn’t say anything new, or anything that hasn’t been said by midwives, doulas or activists in the past, she does have the possibility of reaching a new and broader audience thanks to money and fame. Hopefully more women, men, doctors and medical students will start to see the light on this epidemic.
I’ll leave you with my favorite quote from the movie, from Marsden Wagner, the author of Born in the USA:
The best thing to do if you want a humanized birth is get the hell out of the hospital.
Amen.
It’s been awhile since I’ve done one of these, but I’m taking advantage of a day off to catch up on the news. Enjoy!
Lower back tattoos interfere with epidurals? Doctors say no.
Story of a water birth in West Texas, and another article about water birth.
Midwife assisted births on the rise.
The Today Show online investigates alternative pain mediation techniques.
80% of people in the UK oppose a bill which would remove the legal requirement that a doctor consider the child’s need for a father when performing IVF procedures.
More love for midwives in Wisconsin.
Opinion piece about the financial waste caused by intervention and over-hospitalization of birthing women.
43% of women in California breastfeed exclusively.
One hospital in Houston considers outlawing VBACs (vaginal births after cesarean sections) completely.
Study says that curvy women live longer and have smarter children.
NYTimes article discusses the declining enrollments in childbirth classes.
I went to an impressive play last night, written by Karen Brody entitled Birth. It’s like a Vagina Monologues, but about childbirth. Eight women, sitting on stage, sharing their birth stories with the audience and each other. Karen wrote the play after talking to over a hundred women around the United States about their childbirth experiences.
The play is being staged internationally this month, in honor of labor day and as part of a “global movement to make maternity care child friendly.”
The production in New York City, directed by Helen Marshall, was really great–an amazing group of professional actresses made up the cast. I attended a rehearsal for the show the week prior (Karen recommends that they have doulas at every rehearsal, to serve as birth “experts”) and then participated in a panel after the show, with some other great NYC birth activists, including midwife Laura Zeidenstein, doula and nurse Patricia Rangeli and Erica Lyon, the founder of Real Birth.
You can check out this page to see if there is going to be a BOLD production in your area, and think about participating next year.
My favorite line of the play: <a conversation between midwife and laboring mom>
Laboring woman: It hurts like hell!
Midwife: Great! That’s exactly how it’s supposed to feel!
The Washington Post reported yesterday that maternal mortality rates are on the rise (based on statistics from 2003). The article throws out a couple of ideas as to why (rising c-section rates, obesity, maternal age increases). These statistics have been used by birth advocates as evidence of the failure of the US model of maternity care, which sometimes puts the mother at more risk. The US consistently ranks at the bottom of developing countries when it comes to infant mortality.
The hardest thing to understand is how in this day and age, in a modern hospital with doctors and nurses, that somebody can just die like that.
I think those of us working with birth in today’s hospital could think of a few reasons why. Interventions done in the name of safety can have more complications than the birth itself. More drugs and more surgeries mean more risk to the mother and child.
Some researchers point to the rising C-section rate, now 29 percent of all births–far higher than what public health experts say is appropriate. Like other surgeries, Caesareans come with risks related to anesthesia, infections and blood clots.
In addition we have major health disparities which mean that some women get excellent and consistent reproductive health care, and others get almost none. We have to find low cost and reasonable solutions for our health care crisis, and some states, like Florida, have caught on to the bright idea that alternative models of maternity care can save money. Midwifery care, because it is based on a minimal intervention model works extremely well for the average woman, and seriously reduces costs.
It’s becoming increasing obvious that our model of maternity care isn’t working–malpractice rates are through the roof, obstetricians are not delivering babies and women and children are still dying at rates that are higher than in other countries. Maybe someday soon we can start listening to the World Health Organization, who has consistently recommended cesarean and induction rates much lower than we currently have.
This article from the Independent today announces that some politicians in the UK are looking to expand women’s access to early abortions by allowing nurses and midwives to perform them.
MPs from all parties are to launch a campaign to modernise abortion law. They want to allow women to have early abortions on an “informed consent” basis and to allow trained nurses and midwives to carry out early abortions for the first time. They also want to expand the number of clinics offering early abortions so that women are no longer restricted to using centres officially licensed to carry out terminations.
A first trimester abortion is a very simple medical procedure (as well as one of the safest ones out there) and this isn’t the first time I’ve heard the idea to expand the definitions of who can perform these procedures. I’m not as familiar with the UK abortion climate, but here in the US, many of the laws regulating abortion providers are really meant to limit women’s access to abortion, rather than for their safety and protection. In the US, we are looking at a serious abortion provider shortage in the near future, with medical schools and students not being taught how to do the procedure.
The more authority midwives can gain to do medical procedures, particularly ones that have historically fallen under doctors domain, but are relatively simple. Plus, it will be a huge step forward toward increasing access to this important (and one of the most common) medical procedure for women.
Check it out here.
This has been a long time coming–the news is piling up!
In an interesting development, Senator Loudon’s legislation to legalize midwives in MO could have also expanded the range of providers who could provide abortions—but the legislators nipped this possibility in the bud.
Oregon birthing center sues hospital for trying to shut them down by prohibiting back-up OB-GYNs.
Maryland judge rules that no mother must be listed on a birth certificate.
Two cesarean deaths spark protests of New Jersey’s high c-section rates.
Apparently May is International Doula Month–from this article and shout-out to doulas in Oregon by doula Vicky York.
60 year old woman gives birth to twins by cesarean section in NJ, breaking a US record.
New birth control pill approved that will allow women to avoid menstruation.
Shark gives birth–asexually?
Popularity of unassisted childbirth grows.
Mother has second baby in car en route to the hospital.
Just a sample–more to come soon.
Yesterday’s FOXNews article, Deciding How, Where to Give Birth does a surprisingly good job of laying out the obstetrician versus midwife options in a fair and even-handed way. No mention of doulas though! But good use of risk and choice language. Some particularly nice passages:
Expectant mothers may be confused by the many options available. And frequently, they don’t fully consider what their wishes are for the birth. But they should.
Also, Holzer said, midwives are educated to deal with deviations from the norm, if they arise, but generally strive not to intervene with the natural process. In contrast, an OB/GYN is taught to actively “manage” the birth process using routine intervention.
Giving birth should be a positive and empowering experience for every expecting mother. Ensuring this depends on being fully informed and finding a health care practitioner the woman trusts, whether that is an OB/GYN or a midwife. The goal is always to deliver the baby in a safe and healthy manner, but the method in which this happens is as personal a choice as the decision to become a parent.
Sadly no mention of doulas though.
Missouri Senator John Loudon of Missouri apparently used “a bit of trickery and an obscure Greek term” to try and pass a measure that would loosen the restrictions on the practice of midwifery. Currently the state only allows certified nurse midwives to practice, but the new bill would widen the scope of midwives who could practice.
The new legislation would significantly reduce the requirements, allowing prospective midwives to get certified by a private entity, even if they lack formal medical or nursing training.
Fellow legislators were outraged by the tactics he used, which included slipping the provision into a 123 page bill about health insurance, without even using the word midwife.
“It shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone that I would use any means possible to get this done,” he said.
He’s definitely not the first Senator to do some serious political manuevering to get something passed, but it makes me wonder where his strong conviction in favor of midwives comes from. He has already been punished for the deception he is accused of using to get this measure through–losing his post as chairman of the Senate Small Business, Insurance and Industrial Relations Committee.
The bill passed both the House and Senate without anyone noticing the midwifery provision–something that has faced significant opposition in the past. Congress leaders are trying to decide if they are willing to veto the bill (which tries to increase incentives for individuals who buy their own health insurance) based on this provision.
Radical Doula 