supreme ct decision

just a quick link for now http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2009/05/26/supreme-court-decisions-pretends-pregnancy-discrimination-doesnt-harm-women

Giselle's Total Waste of Bandwidth: A Different Kind of Consent Form

Giselle's Total Waste of Bandwidth: A Different Kind of Consent Form

this was just too awesome....thing is they've known about these risks for awhile, i've been doing quite a bit of reading re cesarean section lately and some of the books are fairly outdated but they still mention all these risks

organizing in chicago, 10th anniversary in ireland

heres an event coming up in chicago http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/healthcareorganizingkickoff/gpcspr "This will be a discussion on how community based midwifery, doula, and holistic care in collaboration with physician consultation can assist in lowering maternity cost, reduce infant and maternal mortality, and aide in bridging the violence gap within the African American Community."

today is the 10th anniversary of the introduction of national midwifery service in ireland http://www.herald.ie/breaking-news/national-news/10th-anniversary-of-national-midwifery-services-launch-1749483.html

medical neglect, international news, bad dr, nunchal cords, and cord clamping

not technically birthy but definately parenting related.... (could come up in various birthing situations though i.e. ct ordered cesarean type cases, vaccinations which start at birth now with the hep b ) anyway heres a link to an article from newsweek http://www.newsweek.com/id/199093/page/1

something from south africa on the importance of female assistants for pre-natal care and at birth http://www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=84516

heres a whole article about the retirement of a childbirth educator http://www.midiowanews.com/site/tab3.cfm?newsid=20319959&BRD=2700&PAG=461&dept_id=554434&rfi=6 how awesome that she was valued that much to be written up.!

and its so interesting when everybody posts on the same topic:
here are 3 blogs posting on delayed cord clamping
http://womantowomancbe.wordpress.com/2009/05/21/delayed-cord-clamping/
http://nursingbirth.wordpress.com/2009/05/17/the-deal-with-delayed-cord-cutting-or-%E2%80%9Chey-doctor-leave-that-cord-alone%E2%80%9D/
http://pinkyrn.blogspot.com/2009/05/delayed-cord-clamping-not-this-again.html

these just after i stumbled onto this http://blogginboutbirthandmore.blogspot.com/2009/05/we-are-only-mammals-who-do-it-this-way.html

i had decided to wait until the placenta is born to cut the cord for my upcoming birth already but it was neat to read ... and informative to read some of the arguments against delayd cord clamping (which you'll find primarily in the comments )

and ugh! http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-autism-doctor-rosimay22,0,5086891.story ""Eighty percent of complications in childbirth are psychological," he said. "Babies can be killed by a mother's attitude."

and heres something new to research "nunchal cord" heres a quick link to a blog post about it http://jeremyscorner-grifter.blogspot.com/2009/02/cord-around-neck-is-not-emergency.html but there are quite a few dissenting comments so...

well suppers ready so...

Big Push For Midwives Issue Briefing This Thursday

This Thursday the big push is hosting an issue briefing to tell congress why out of hospital maternity care must be factored into the national healthcare reform platform.

"Help the PushNation rise up to tell Congress about how access to out-of-hospital maternity care and Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs), who are specially trained to provide it, are a top priority in national health care reform! Help alert Congress to the Capitol Hill Issue Briefing on Thursday, May 21, focused on how out-of-hospital maternity care reduces costs and improves outcomes. "

TO GET STARTED: Download the specific-to-your-state information below.
DON'T SEE YOUR STATE?: Use this link http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/welcome.jsp to determine your ZIP+four code, and then this link http://www.house.gov/zip/ZIP2Rep.htmlto type in your ZIP+four code to determine your U.S. Representative. ... Also, this link http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm can help identify your U.S. Senators. Then you can use any of the other states documents below to help guide you from there.
TO SHARE: Send a link to this page http://www.thebigpushformidwives.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=enews.signup to all your Facebook friends and Twitter followers, as well as others in your personal and professional networks, with an urgent note on why this is so important to you, and why they should help too, today.
TO SHARE EVEN MORE: 1) Download the flier http://www.thebigpushformidwives.org/attachments/pages/DC+Birth+Briefing+5-21-09_FLIER.pdf and include in your emails to others, and 2) Share key information about the briefing on your blogs and organizational websites, and to your e-lists.
TO JOIN THE CAUSE: 1) Make sure you've signed up for PushAlerts on this page http://www.thebigpushformidwives.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=enews.signup 2) Make sure you've joined us on Facebook http://apps.facebook.com/causes/139482?m=8c3a5226&recruiter_id=21060214, and 3) Check out the state-level advococy orgs http://www.thebigpushformidwives.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/home.stateStatus/index.htm hard at work in your state. ... You may even consider joining one of them too

AND HERES MORE DETAILED INFO from the arizona specific flyer but just insert your state info from the above links

http://www.thebigpushformidwives.org/attachments/pages/[PushAlert]+DC+Birth+Briefing+5-21-09+for+ARIZONA.pdf

this just gives some suggested talking points and other tips

fda approves drug made from genetically modified goatmilk

im a little late on this one since it was announced in februarybut :
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aqXXW3MCHV5Q&refer=us "The intravenous therapy, ATryn, is purified from the milk of goats whose parents were injected with a human protein that helps prevent blood clots, GTC said today in a statement. The drug will be used for surgery patients or expectant mothers who have a rare genetic disorder that keeps them from making enough of the protein, called antithrombin. " and heres a slightly more in depth article from the nyt http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/07/business/07goatdrug.html?ref=business

a short piece in praise of epidurals http://www.thedailysound.com/020609coasting i had one with my first and didn't like it. nobody told me i'd be cathetered for one thing and that HURT. but i felt i'd be remiss if i didn't throw that in here

heres a quick link to the hypnobabies blog http://hypnobabies.wordpress.com/ not a method i am very familiar with but something i know folks are interested in. the first post i saw about the compatability of hypnobabies and christianity was interesting though http://hypnobabies.wordpress.com/2009/05/17/christians-using-hypnobabies/ i've occaisionally read articles that hypnosis is unchristian and this post did a good job of refuting that while pointing out that the monagan method used in hypnobirthing is a lot more "woo" here are a few comparisons btw the 2
http://www.birthnaturally.org/hypnobirthing.htm
http://www.pregnancybirthandbabies.com/comparison_between_hypnoclasses.htm
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=504143
seems like most of the people felt that hypnobabies was more comprehensive

heres some legislation thats pending in south carolina http://www.thestate.com/local/story/675868.html "Rep. Greg Delleney of Chester, the General Assembly’s most outspoken abortion foe, gained initial approval Thursday to require doctors to save any fetus that survives an abortion. The bill, which unanimously passed a House subcommittee Delleney chairs, is aimed at rewriting state law to recognize the “personhood” of the unborn.
If the bill becomes law, a person would be redefined as anyone at any stage of development who is breathing, has a heartbeat, a pulsation of the umbilical cord or definite movement of voluntary muscles after birth, whether that be by labor, Cesarean section or abortion.
Delleney says it has wider implications than just for abortion clinics."

guesss its time to close, gotta figure out supper

research reveals mistrust and hostility btw drs & midwives,unwed mothers

http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/7wCVtrWA398/090511151616.htm

well , duh! but worth a read....and kudos to the researchers for looking at the subject!

national womens health week was last week but its not too late to take charge of your own health. the theme this year was "it's your time" and the focus was mental health. heres a brochure put out by the us dept of health and human services office on womens health http://download.ncadi.samhsa.gov/ken/pdf/OWH09-CONSUMER/womenmentalhealth.pdf lotsa good tips in there

this is not really news. i think it was reported as part of the most recent report on childbirth numbers which i'm totally blanking on the name of but last week the washington post reported that the number of babies born to unwed mothers is on the rise http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/13/AR2009051301628.html?hpid=sec-health
i do'nt really know wha tt to think about the tone of the article... while i believe marrige is a great thing and i'm very happy that this, my 3rd child was concieved and will be born and raised in wedlock, i sure wouldn't marry the father of my first child. (my second is obviously being raised in wedlock as i married his dad but he was neither concieved nor born in it) i don't think marriage is the most important factor contributing to a kids future sucess... now a stable 2 parent home has been shown to lead to bettter outcomes for kids, i don't think many people would argue that thats better for kids BUT does that necesssarily require marrige?

what about kids who live with mom and dad, but mom and dad are not married? what about kids who live with mom and mom? or dad and dad? the preceding two examples of a stable 2 parent home CANNOT get married except in certain states...

i have heard of hetero couples who are rejecting marrige in solidarity with their homo friends and family who do not have the right to get married. also people who reject marrige by the state b/c of deeply held beliefs regarding state interference in what for them is either a private or a religious matter, or both. what of them?

additionally many women who are single parents are not single by choice (though some arre) ... some were abandoned by their boyfriends, some are pregnant because of rape or incest, some have left abusive relationships because having a child was the impetus they needed to get out of an unhealthy situation.

what of married mothers whos husbands are out of the home for extended periods of time such as soldiers on deployment or similar?

i just don't get all the hand-wringing that is going on over this!

in-box cleaning (too many of my post have this title) :)

some cool stuff i've found today

first up a letter to the editor in a semi-local to me paper http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2009/05/16/let_524156.shtml it will be interesting to watch as the comments multiply. heres the original article btw http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2009/05/03/met_522588.shtml the title is Baby girl born just outside hospital and oh my at the comments on that one

heres something interesting from the uk http://press.psprings.co.uk/jme/april/300_me28662.pdf
‘‘You can’t handle the truth’’; medical paternalism and prenatal alcohol use this is a fascinating read and delves into some suprising links in some research btw better outcomes for children born to light drinkers, and how the hesitancy to just say "we don't know what the 'safe' level of alcohol consumption during pregancy is" is disrespectful to women's right to information....while it is easier to just say "no alcohol during pregnancy" it would make more sense to present the evidence and let women decid for themselves

heres some news about ritalin and the like (not super birthy but relavent to those of you already parenting wee ones ) http://www.slate.com/id/2218280/ this is just a summary article but heres a more in depth look http://www.nimh.nih.gov/science-news/2009/short-term-intensive-treatment-not-likely-to-improve-long-term-outcomes-for-children-with-adhd.shtml

and this article http://www.wtvq.com/health/4629-childbirth-class-trends.html states that "Researchers say the number of couples who are taking childbirth education classes is declining. With couples having busy schedules, many of those who choose the classes are opting for a single all day “crash course” rather than consecutive weekly sessions. In addition, the internet can provide expectant parents with plenty of information, pictures and videos to see first hand the labor and delivery process. " they didn't offer any references though. as a childbirth educator i obviously don't want to hear that fewer couples are taking classes though with all the information you can find on your own i can understand it.

lots of good comments on this blog post 16 Why Would Women Want to Experience Natural Childbirth? http://natural-childbirth-baby-care.com/natural-childbirth/why-would-women-want-to-experience-natural-childbirth/ homesite here http://natural-childbirth-baby-care.com/ a new resource to me

also here are all the entries for the birth matters virginia video contest http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=BirthMattersVirginia&search=tag i need to watch and vote and so do you :)

ok well its a long post w/ lotsa links so i'll end it for now.... one of the wee ones wants the computer anyway

late childbearing may increase life expectancy

http://uk.reuters.com/article/healthNewsMolt/idUKTRE54D51U20090514 according to this In the sample of 14,123 Utah women, those who had their last child between age 41 and 44 were 6 percent less likely to die during any year after 50 than were women who had children earlier. For those who had babies at 45 or later, annual mortality risk was 14 percent lower.

a blog post i found in support of paid maternity leave http://womensrights.change.org/blog/view/next_year_give_mom_the_gift_of_maternity_leave
touches on the irony of using disability leave as materninty leave which is what i'm doing for most of my leave

new blog i found

just found a new blog i like....not as birth focused as some of my usual fare but still woman focused , strollerderby http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=82564383292&h=Cb6bY&u=vecVp&ref=nf and heres a post i had to share also
http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=82564383292&h=Cb6bY&u=vecVp&ref=nf

may add to this later....

home birth comic

had to post a quick link to this http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=85519287820&h=HeKw3&u=DACny&ref=nf thanks to navelgazingmidwife ( http://navelgazingmidwife.squarespace.com/ ) for posting the link on facebook

moms rising video, kerry ins bill, plan b

this is too cute http://news.cnnbcvideo.com/index2.html?combined=&first=&name_id=&last=&id= and the obligatory further coverage http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=N0wtoPaCJTo6VpYAgnZp4CjkUEXIPzWs

john kerry introduced a bll that sounds good http://kerry.senate.gov/cfm/record.cfm?id=312510 based on this report from the national womens law center http://action.nwlc.org/insurance . heres a relate article from RHrealitycheck http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2009/05/06/lets-end-insurance-discrimination-against-women-right-way

news on plan b http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/opinion/local_story_126163315.html

international day of the midwife

well there are about 20 minutes left in the day so i thought i'd take a minute to post some of my favorite midwifery sites on the net

this is a new one to me http://www.internationalmidwives.org/Home/tabid/205/Default.aspx the home of the international confederation of midwives. this is the organization behind the day.

here are a few things i found googling "international day of the midwife"

something neat here http://sarah-stewart.blogspot.com/ and from the same person, a slideshow
http://www.slideshare.net/sarahs/internataional-day-of-the-midwife-2009-my-midwifery-story and here is a table of online events planned for the day http://onlineprofessionaldevelopment.wikispaces.com/International+Day+of+the+Midwife+2009


some midwifery organizations:

midwives alliance of north america http://mana.org/index.html
north american registry of midwives http://www.narm.org/
citizens for midwifery http://www.cfmidwifery.org/
national association of certified proffesional midwives http://www.nacpm.org/
midwifery today http://www.midwiferytoday.com/

midwifery blogs:

http://www.pamamidwife.com/
http://navelgazingmidwife.squarespace.com/
http://cfmidwifery.blogspot.com/
http://community.midwiferytoday.com/blogs/jan/default.aspx

and heres one thats not midwifery related but an awesome couse nonetheless
http://maternityhealth.org/GiftOfLife/

i'll have to fluff this out some more after the kids get to bed.....

midwifery legislation, new (to me) blog

from my inbox upcoming midwifery legislation in ny " The Midwife Modernization Act " http://www.legislativegazette.com/day_item.php?item=844

also just tsumbled onto a cool new blog http://blogginboutbirthandmore.blogspot.com/ and its even semi-local. whats more they mention a dr in atl who does vaginal breech deliveries :) wwhich my midwives don't :( . hopefully i won't need it but anyway i know at least that theres somebody in ga that does it

more to come shortly....

cleaning out the ol inbox

heres some coverage i found on the net re international day of the midwife

this is from new zealand http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0905/S00054.htm

heres a little woo for you....pre-birth communication. http://lovefrombaby.com/ not being closed minded by calling it woo btw. i'm into the idea. i'm not too much of a talker when it comes to the little one in the belly, so the idea of communicating in some other way is definately appealing to me. heres the article http://lovefrombaby.com/pre-birth-communication.html

i don't go into abortion too much in this blog but heres a bill that hits close to home being one state over http://www.goupstate.com/article/20090503/NEWS/905019935/1132/OPINION?Title=Abortion-waiting-period-Bill-hits-women-below-the-belt

national women's health week in may 10-16th. i'll have to remember to post on that then. but heres a quick link http://www.womenshealth.gov/whw/ included in the week is national women's check-up day...maybe a good day to schedule my dental cleaning....and heres something from webmd to go along with http://women.webmd.com/womens-top-5-health-concerns-6/default.htm and one more article re women's health today http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news-1/Women-live-longer--not-better--largely-because-of-obesity-and-arthritis-44460-1/ , this study found that women are not necessarily leading better lives, just longer ones

heres an interstingblog post that ties meeting the healthy people 2010 goals http://www.healthypeople.gov/ well, the breastfeeding goals anyway http://www.healthypeople.gov/document/html/objectives/16-19.htm with the homebirth rate in various states http://www.puremothers.com/?p=903

quick quote from the blog

" The specific breastfeeding goals for 2000 and 2010 are to get
75% of new mothers to initiate breast feeding, for 50% to still be breastfeeding
at six months, and 25% at one year. The US did not meet the goal back in
2000 and, just twelve states met some of the criteria. Now, what is interesting
to me is that of the eight states achieving all three of the criteria, seven are
on the west coast and the other is Vermont. Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho,
California, Utah and Hawaii all achieved success. "

" In 2006, 9 states had home birth rates that were at least double the national
average. Not surprising, Vermont had the highest at 2.4%, Alaska at 1.9%, Idaho
at 1.5%, Utah had 1.3%. These were the rural states listed. In
addition, some non-rural states had homebirth rates at least double the US
national average also. Included were Oregon at 1.6% and Washington with
1.4%! So six of the nine states that had better homebirth rates were in
our eight! (I want to mention that Montana was 2.3%, Wisconsin was 1.4%
and Pennsylvania was 1.6% with Lancaster County - Amish country - having the
highest rate at 14%). So, California and Hawaii didn’t make this
list. But, I think I’m on to something. Women who have successful
homebirths have less difficulty with breast feeding. They don’t experience
separation from their baby once it is born and most homebirth babies are born
full term - another indicator of a successful nursing relationship.
Homebirth moms usually get some initial lactation support from their midwives or
are referred to certified lactation consultants for on-going support."

she looks at breastfeeding legislation and vaccine exemption provisions as well

i may have already linked to this from peggy omara re breastfeeding and the case against, but she has some good info in here and this is what spurred the post i just linked to so here it is

http://www.mothering.com/guest_editors/quiet_place/quiet_place.html

and i'm linking to this so i can remember to research it further. http://www.wctv.tv/medicalminute/headlines/44184362.html it seems like 1 in 100 is an awefully hight rate of shoulder dystocia....
well this is a long post already and i am a strving preggo so i'll stop and eat and perhaps return later

doula month

just found out may is also international doula month http://www.dona.org/

i think doula-ing may be the next step in my journey into the world of birthwork. so i'm very psyched to find this out. when i was at ican dona had a booth set up and their next conference is during my maternity leave and fairly close too....don't know if i can afford it but i'm thinking about going..maybe just for one day

i haven't yet filled out my last post but here goes another anyway

so may 5 is international day of the midwife http://www.internationalmidwives.org/CongressesWorkshops/InternationalDayoftheMidwife/tabid/327/Default.aspx
super exciting! don't know that i'll do a whole lot to celebrate besides posting something on my facebook, and doing a nice entry here ..... maybe detailing the different kinds of midwives? the theme is "the woeld needs midwives now more than ever"

interesting. at ican one of the most controversial statements i hear was during the q&a w/ the writer/director/producer of pregnant in america http://www.pregnantinamerica.com/ suggested that everyone in the audience who wanted to go into midwifery go into l&d nursing instead b/c that was where they were really needed. he was just making a point about the lack of support that so many women who choose hospital birth have but at the same time i think everybody disagreed.

i can't say i haven't thought about l&d nursing as an alternative to midwifery. partly b/c of that. i mean i am the only person i know who has used a midwife. or delivered anywhere other than the hospital.

i think midwives are needed. but they need to be legally recognized, adequately compensated, and a real option for women. i'm driving 2 hours one way to all my prenatals and evetually to birth....not everybody can do that. there are only a handful of certified nurse-midwives in my state and direct-entry midwives, whether narm certified or not, are not legaly recognized health care providers here, so unless you can pay out of pocket for birth, you don't have many options.

so ithink its much more than just needing midwives.

of course its an international thing so in a lot places it is a different situation.

well supper is nearly ready so i'll close for now. and i will get back to the previous post eventually :lol