birth via videoconference, maternity services in australia, more benefits to breastfeeding.....

cleaning out my inbox and came across this sweet story http://www.kfdm.com/news/rose-30232-says-birth.html we ncb folks tend to be suspicious of technology sometimes but in this case technology actually contributed to normalcy....

and heres an opinion from australia regarding intervention in birth http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/caesarean-scar-mongers-should-zip-it-20090220-8dkm.html?page=-1 the article has a strong anti-midwife tone to it as seen in this quote " ... a review of maternity health services ordered by the Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, and due to report in the next few weeks, is expected to place more pressure on women to reject the so-called "medicalisation" of childbirth. The review is expected to pave the way for a midwife takeover.
A discussion paper released last year raised the prospect of expanded Medicare access for midwives, independent of doctors, which will increase the numbers of more risky home births. ..." they go on to state that research shows the medcalization of birth to be improving outcomes.

however i think that was before the tragedy with janet fraser. (just checked and yes it was)

the australian press really went into hyperdrive after that as seen in this article which has lots of links.... http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,25294178-5001021,00.html

ooh and heres a blog post that links to the report mentioned in the original article above http://viv.id.au/blog/20090221.3841/maternity-services-review-medicare-payments-to-obs-up-from-77m-to-211m-since-2004/ heres the report link if you want to skip the blog post (although the post is pretty much a cheat sheet on the report ) http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/64A5ED5A5432C985CA25756000172578/$File/Improving%20Maternity%20Services%20in%20Australia%20-%20The%20Report%20of%20the%20Maternity%20Services%20Review.pdf

ireland is also reviewing their maternity services. apparently their system utilizes stand alone maternity hospitals http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0220/health.html



and heres a study that indicates breastfeeding reduces risk of a relapse more that resuming medication for moms with ms http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/article9936.ece " ... "It turns out that the women who are going right back on medications [and not breastfeeding] are doing the worst. They are at the highest risk of relapse," said lead researcher Annette Langer-Gould. ..." and heres an article that goes into a little bit more detail http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/AAN/13030 and heres another article that references an older study that reached a different conclusion http://www.aan.com/elibrary/neurologytoday/?event=home.showArticle&id=ovid.com:/bib/ovftdb/00132985-200903190-00013

and heres an article from florida re midwifery business http://www.wctv.tv/news/headlines/40031382.html

heres an interesting article about nurse practitioners.... http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/02/21/20090221nursepractitioners0220.html

and an article about the societal impact of shorter maternity leaves http://www.sundayherald.com/life/people/display.var.2490823.0.0.php it contrasts a speedy return to regaular activity with the more traditional practice of babymooning

well the littlest little is up from a nap now so i guess i will close for now