Midwifery: Astonishing Facts

[doulala]

MIDWIFERY: Astonishing Facts

In the United States, with the highest per capita expenditure on health care of any nation in the world, now ranks 25th among Western industrial nations in infant mortality. Almost every other industrialized nation in the world has better infant survival rates than we do.
(The State of the World's Children, 1996, UNICEF)

In every single one of the nations where infant mortality rates are lower than ours, midwives are the principal birth attendants.

The largest study ever done of freestanding birthing centers (where midwives are the primary providers) in the United States was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1989. The results found that the infant death rate for all births at birth centers was much lower than that for births occurring in hospitals. If that wasn't astounding enough, it was also found that the cesarean rate was 4.4 percent - less than one-fifth the typical hospital average. Satisfaction with the birth centers was so high among the women in the study that 99 percent said they would recommend the birth center to friends. To top it off - costs averaged 30 percent less than hospital maternity care.
(New England Journal of Medicine: "Outcomes of Care in Birth Centers- The National Birth Center Study" 12/28/89

It is estimated that if all American women had birth attendants with a midwife approach, mother and baby mortality rates would be halved, and the rates of brain-damaged children and other birth injuries and complications in newborns would be cut by three-quarters. Others add that we'd save $8.5 billion a year.
("Mothering Perinatal Healthcare Statistics and Sources," Mothering 1993)

Every president of the United States except Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton was born at home.

The sober truth is that the data does not speak well for contemporary obstetrics. A three-year experiment was undertaken at Madera County Hospital in California, during which time midwives managed the vast majority of births. The neonatal death rate during these three years was reduced to less than half of what it had been when obstetricians were managing births. The program was terminated, despite good results, because of opposition from the California Medical Association. Obstetricians again assumed control of births. During the next two and a half years, the hospital's neonatal death rate tripled.
("Reducing Neonatal Mortality Rate With Nurse-Midwives," American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 1971)


FROM: http://midwiferyinformation.homestead.com/page1.html

[wearingyourbaby]

Feb. 19, 2008 at 7:22 AM Interesting facts!  I like the little tidbit about the US presidents!

[LadyJennifer]

Feb. 19, 2008 at 10:50 AM

Wow. That's amazing! 

[celticreverie]

Feb. 24, 2008 at 6:29 AM no surprise there :)

[coloradohippy]

Feb. 24, 2008 at 4:02 PM So interesting!

[sixzilliondots]

May. 13, 2008 at 3:07 PM Wow, I had no idea!

[brandi1086]

May. 24, 2008 at 3:28 AM yes!!!! thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I don't think women realize how precious our options are!!!

[doulala]

Dec. 17, 2008 at 5:59 PM

(midwives)  Woman's Way    and    Obstetric Way

 

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Women's Way of Birth	Obstetric Way of Birth
Cultural definition of birth
Social event Normal part of women's lives Birth is work by the woman and her family and kin The woman is a person passing through a major life transition	Potentially pathological process Illness Birth is work of doctors/nurses/midwives and other experts The woman is a patient
The setting for birth
Home or other familiar surroundings Informal system of care In a woman's home or near With other women of neighbourhood and family Continuity of care Woman free to change position and move about	Hospital, territory alien to the woman Bureaucratic, hierarchical system of care May be distant from woman's home Woman is separated from those close to her Discontinuity of care, e.g. shift changes/woman is moved from one room or one ward to another Woman may not be free to change position and move about
Caregivers: the support they give and the conduct of labour
Older and more experienced women who are themselves mothers See birth as holistic process Shared decision-making between caregivers and woman giving birth No class distinction between caregivers and woman giving birth Equal relationship Information shared Personal caring - longer, more frequent, and in-depth prenatal visits Often strong emotional support Verbal and non-verbal encouragement Familiar language and imagery used Empathy Cultural awareness because they are part of the same culture Awareness of spiritual significance of birth Believes in integrity of birth, uses technology if appropriate and proven	Young and older women who have often not themselves had babies, under direction of male obstetricians Trained to focus on medical aspects of birth Professional care that is authoritarian Often class distinction between obstetricians and patients Dominant-subordinate relationship Information about health, disease, and degree of risk kept secret Care depersonalized Little emotional support Lack of communication Use of medical language Threatening and often punitive behaviour, e.g. commanding, scolding, warning Little cultural awareness of rituals, beliefs, social behaviour, values Spiritual aspects of birth ignored or treated as embarrassing Values technology, often without proof that it improves birth outcomes
Techniques used
Skills to preserve the physiological progress of labour Usually intervention-free Comfort skill, e.g. massage, hot and cold compresses, holding Few resources to handle complicated obstructed labour	No skills to preserve the physiological progress of labour Obstetric intervention Drugs for pain relief Skills and resources to handle complicated and obstructed labour, e.g. intravenous fluids, oxytocin stimulation, surgery

 

http://www.moondragon.org/articles/comparison.html

(Original Poster)

[doulala]

Feb. 1, 2010 at 3:39 PM

Midwives - Biblical Women

www.chabad.org

Childbirth, perhaps more than any other life event, is an experience that demands a strong dose of faith and surrender. No matter how well planned or organized we may be, the inevitable moment will arise...

Midwives

Pioneers of Faith

(Original Poster)

[doulala]

Mar. 17, 2010 at 1:50 AM

HOW TO FIND A MIDWIFE 
http://www.midwife.org/find.cfm
http://cfmidwifery.org/find/index.aspx
http://birthpartners.com/
http://www.mana.org/memberlist.html 

Questions to Ask a Midwife
Experience

1. What is your general philosophy about pregnancy and birth?
2. Do you let us do whatever we want during labor? (Food, positions, water, etc.)
3. What is your education and training as a midwife?
4. How many years have you been practicing?
5. Are you a mother yourself? How old are your children now?
6. How were your babies born?
7. Do you work alone or with a partner or assistant? If you work with someone, what is their experience?
8. Do you participate in a local midwife peer review group?  How many meetings have you attended in the past year?
9. How many births have you attended as the primary caregiver?
10. What is your experience with breech births? How many have you attended?
11. What is your experience with twins? How many have you attended?
12. What is your experience with VBACS? How many have you attended?

Prenatal Care

1. How many births are you attending now? Do you have a maximum, and how do you manage to avoid too many commitments?
2. If I am planning a home birth, do you come to my home any time before I go into labor? Do you provide supplies or literature to help us prepare?
3. How often will I see you? What do your checkups consist of?
4. What are your guidelines concerning weight gain, nutrition, prenatal vitamins, and exercise? What are your standards for pre-eclampsia?
5. Do you require that I take a childbirth education class? Do you teach such a class?
6. Who takes over for you if you go on vacation or get sick?

Hospital and Obstetrician

1. Do you attend births in a birthing center, home or hospital?
2. How do you handle emergencies? Under what circumstances would you transfer?
3. What is your transfer rate?
4. Would you stay with me in the hospital?
5. Do you require that I see a physician during my pregnancy even if everything is all right?
6. Do you have guidelines or restrictions about who can give birth at home?
7. Under what circumstances do you induce labor with pitocin?
8. What is your protocol to induce labor naturally?
9. What is your c-section rate?
10. What is your episitomy rate?

General Labor

1. What kind of equipment do you bring to a birth?
2. Are you permitted to administer any drugs during labor?
3. How many people are allowed to be around?
4. When should I call you after my labor begins?
5. Do you wait until the cord has stopped pulsating before it gets cut?
6. Will you allow my partner to be as active at the birth as he desires?
7. How much time do you allow for the delivery of the placenta?

Financial Matters

1. What are your fees and what do they include?
2. Can you submit your charges to my insurance company?
3. What payment arrangements do you make?

The Baby

1. Have you ever had to resuscitate a baby?
2. Do you examine the baby after birth?
3. Do you give eyedrops or shots to the baby?
4. Do you have a pediatrician you work with or recommend?
5. Will you help me with breastfeeding?
6. How do you feel about circumcision?
7. How often do you come to see me after I give birth?
8. Do you provide or know of anyone who will help new mothers after birth?

(Original Poster)

[doulala]

Mar. 17, 2010 at 1:50 AM

 

Can't Say you weren't warned: Malpractice Ins for Midwives

Carla Hartley's blog on malpractice

(Original Poster)