Latest News, Research and Resources
Why is choosing a caregiver one of the most important maternity decisions I will make?
Early in your pregnancy, it is important to make thoughtful decisions about who will be your caregiver and where you plan to give birth. These major decisions can influence:
~the care that you receive and the effects of that care
~the quality of your relationship with your main and other caregivers
~the amount of information you receive
~the choices and options you will have, particularly during your labor and birth
the degree to which you are involved with decisions about your care.
If you are a well and healthy childbearing woman (as are most pregnant women in the U.S.), you can choose a midwife or a doctor as your maternity caregiver. Options: Caregiver will help you learn about the midwifery model of care and the medical model of care, as well as different kinds of midwives and doctors who provide maternity care. This and other pages in this section can help you find the right caregiver for you.
Read the rest of the article at “Childbirth Connection”
Safety of Out-of-Hospital Birth
The long-awaited study of home births attended by CPMs during the year 2000 is finally here!
“Outcomes of planned home births with certified professional midwives: large prospective study in North America.” Kenneth C Johnson, senior epidemiologist, Betty-Anne Daviss, project manager. BMJ 2005;330:1416 (18 June).
The BMJ has published the paper on-line. Read it at http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/330/7505/1416?ehom
Published in the June 18 issue of the North America British Medical Journal, the study found that “planned home births for low risk women in the United States are associated with similar safety and less medical intervention as low risk hospital births” according to the BMJ press release (see below).
Co-author Ken Johnson has stated that this is the largest study of its kind at this time. The study is prospective (initial data submitted before the birth took place, so no births could be “left out”) and includes data from more than 5000 births in the U.S and Canada. This study cannot be written off for being too small or not relevant to US populations and circumstances.
Read the rest of the article at “Citizens for Midwifery”
Baby Place Midwives & Birth Center Statistics
We welcome your questions and will answer them to the best of our ability according to mandated privacy guidelines.
Total number of births: 1562
Youngest client: 16
Oldest client: 45
First babies: 412
Number of Mothers transported: 85 5.5%
Number of Newborns transported: 9 0.5%
Reasons for transports:
request for pain medication
prolonged labor
non reassuring fetal heart rate pattern in labor
maternal fever
prolapsed cord
preterm labor
breech presentation
postdates
retained placenta
4th degree laceration
postpartum hemorrhage
newborn respiratory distress
birth defect
Number of cesareans: 37 2.3%
Number of VBACs: 63
Outcomes: All mothers healthy. 2 babies died in the hospital after transport due to respiratory distress. 1 baby died in the hospital after a prolapsed cord. 2 babies with ischemic encepholopathy.
Benefits of Laboring in Water
Both the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Royal College of
Midwives support labouring in water for healthy women with uncomplicated pregnancies.
The evidence to support underwater birth is less clear but complications are seemingly rare.
If good practice guidelines are followed in relation to infection control, management of cord
rupture and strict adherence to eligibility criteria, these complications should be further
reduced.
Read the rest of the article at
“WaterBirth International”
Internet Resources:
Pregnancy & Childbirth
Childbirth Connection
Postpartum Depression
Postpartum Support International
Breastfeeding
La Leche League International
“Newman Breastfeeding Clinic & Institute”
www.breastfeeding.com
www.kellymom.com
Best for Babes
Midwifery
Citizens for Midwifery
Midwifery Today Journal
Idaho Midwifery Council
Birth Centers
American Association of Birth Centers