Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Birth Center in DC

HERE is a wonderful story about a midwife in Washington DC who opened a birth center for low-income moms.

The national infant mortality rate is about 6.8 deaths per 1,000 live births...and in Washington DC the rate is DOUBLE that and 12.2 deaths per 1,000 live births.

There is NO EXCUSE for such a travesty.

So this 81 year old midwife decided to spend more time with her clients and be there for them. So these moms on medicaid (considered 'high risk' just for that and their social status) have been receiving midwifery care for the past 8 years. And what do you know, the infant mortality rate has lowered and the premature baby rate has been sliced in half.

Proof that midwifery care is superior and time spent with clients can make all the difference in whether a child lives or dies.

This midwife is a wonderful example to us all!!!

3 comments:

Mark Justin Josephs said...

Great Point. We support what your saying...

Marla Y. said...

Hey Tiffany, I'm a friend of Rachel Brewer's and a doula. I completely agree with you in the fact that more women just need to educated on REAL birth and not just what they see or hear from other people. Not until I became a doula and started educating myself did I fully understand this and believe this! Again, education on a topic makes a real difference! Keep educating women in Colorado and I'll work on them here in VA. Check out our website:
www.exceptionalbeginnings.org

Tiffany said...

marla,

thanks so much for the encouragement! i seems that i am always swimming upstream, if you will, and getting a lot of flack about it :) so it is nice to have a positive voice in the mix :)

keep up the good work on your end, my friend!