More couples opt for natural births at home

More couples opt for natural births at home

By Diana North
Correspondent

Published March 11, 2007

Babies are born every day. But birth is far from commonplace to
expectant parents or the people who help them through the challenging-
yet-joyful process of guiding a baby into the world. While doctors in
hospitals deliver the majority of U.S. babies, some parents, such as
Todd Johnson and Stephanie Politte of Friendswood, choose a midwife
to assist their planned homebirth.

The expectant couple are repeat clients of Friendswood resident
Christine Messarra, a certified professional midwife who helped
deliver their 18-month-old daughter, Aryanna. The soon-to-be-born
baby is a girl, already named Aaralyn. Johnson and Politte are
appreciative of the support Messarra provides and confident in their
choice of midwife-assisted homebirth.

"The joy of a midwife is that she is all yours," Politte said. "And
everything is so much more calm."

Although Johnson admits he was "a little bit nervous" about homebirth
initially, he liked being able to be more helpful and involved
throughout Aryanna's birth.

"It feels more special and it feels less clinical," Johnson
said. "It's much more personal because you develop this relationship
with the midwife and she actually comes to the house and spends time."

Midwives have a long and well-respected history and continue to
assist at births all across the world. In Texas, two types of
midwives are legally authorized to practice — certified nurse
midwives and certified professional midwives. While the path to
certification differs, the goal of all midwives is the same — safe
passage for the baby and physical and emotional support for the
mother.

Jackie Griggs of Harris County has been a midwife for 16 years. She
has also trained other area midwives and provides her services to
families in surrounding counties. Griggs said expectant mothers
should read and educate themselves about the benefits of midwife-
assisted birth.

"The personal care you get from midwives makes a real difference,"
Griggs said.

Griggs said there are about 350 certified nurse midwives and 150
certified professional midwives currently authorized to practice in
Texas.

CNMs receive their degree as registered nurses and then complete
graduate work in a midwifery program. CPMs take direct-entry courses
and get hands-on training through apprenticeship. All midwives must
pass the North American Registry of Midwives exam.

The Texas Department of Health Statement for 1990-2000 states, in
part, "that birth with midwives in Texas has always been a
statistically safer option than birth with either a medical doctor or
doctor of osteopathy."

In addition, the American Public Health Association "supports the
expansion of midwifery to improve access to care, increase health
options and improve birth outcomes."

Even so, most physicians are unwilling to provide support services
for midwives attending births at home.

Dr. Larry Milner, an obstetrician and gynecologist with the Bayshore
Medical Center in Pasadena, said he is the only physician on staff
who provides availability-based back-up care for clients of area
midwives doing homebirths. He says insurance and malpractice concerns
are the reason most physicians steer clear.

"I'm here to take care of the complicated cases," Milner said. "Any
trained person can take care of babies in a normal pregnancy."

Milner said the midwives he supports show good judgment and provide a
service to clients willing to weigh the risks that can sometimes be
associated with homebirth. Also, Milner said the midwives he knows
are more thorough and adept at providing counseling and nutritional
information than obstetricians, who are often extremely busy.

Midwife services typically include all prenatal care. The first visit
is a two-way interview with the couple during which the midwife does
a risk assessment, since only low-risk women willing to take charge
of their health make good candidates for homebirth. Basic lab work is
ordered as needed.

Midwives meet with their clients once per month until the woman is 30
weeks pregnant, every other week until 36 weeks and weekly until the
baby is born. Each meeting lasts about one hour and allows midwives
time to establish rapport with the family and address any concerns.

Parents may make visits to a midwife's home or office or even choose
home visits, which are often more convenient for those with children.
Some insurance plans pay for midwifery services.

The onset of labor means a phone call to Messarra during which she
assesses how the client is doing. She provides constant support for
the labor and birth with the help of her apprentice and another
midwife. The women remain on duty until three to four hours after the
baby is born.

While midwives are trained to care for infants, every family is
instructed to have their baby examined by a pediatrician within 48 to
72 hours after the birth. Messarra checks in on new mothers and
babies weekly for the first two weeks and again during the final
visit at six weeks postpartum.

Safety of mother and baby are of utmost concern to parents and birth
service providers. A recent study by the British Medical Journal
followed more than 5,400 low-risk women who had planned homebirths
attended by professional midwives. The study showed substantially
lower rates of interventions when compared to similar low-risk
hospital births.

One difference between hospital births and homebirths is that
midwives rely less on painkilling drugs, which can result in fewer
interventions and complications.

Birthing at home allows women freedom of movement, access to food and
drink and support of loved ones, as well as privacy. Messarra also
provides a large, deep tub of warm water she calls an "Aqua-dural" to
keep laboring mothers as comfortable as possible.

"The secret about childbirth is not that childbirth is painful, it's
that women are strong," Messarra said. "For women who have had
natural childbirth, the euphoria that they feel is so much greater
than the women who have had epidurals because their senses have not
been blocked."

Statistics show planned homebirths also result in far fewer Cesarean
sections, or surgical births. Texas Cesarean rates are at 30.2
percent of all births, according to the Department of State Health
Services. Griggs said that, nationwide, about one in three babies is
born by C- section.

While C-section birth is sometimes necessary, it carries the same
risks associated with any surgery or use of anesthesia. The National
Center for Health Statistics Web site supports the one-in-three ratio
and states, "some health care providers believe that many Cesareans
are medically unnecessary."

Messarra said she thinks midwife-assisted homebirth empowers women by
giving them more choices and allowing them to give birth in a
comfortable and supportive environment.

"It's so gratifying to see a family come together," Messarra
said. "This is really all about them."

A Midwife

A neat story about a homebirth midwife...there are labor pictures with zero nudity. Neat little clip!!! :)

http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~tm322203/Midwife/

I'll Give Birth Anywhere

I'll Give Birth Anywhere

I'll Give Birth Anywhere

By Colleen Tolliver
November 15, 2006 | Issue 42•46



Pregnant women today make me sick. With all their whining about maternity leave and pregnancy accommodations, it's no wonder women aren't respected in the workplace—so choosy about where and when they will have a baby. Not me.

I'm a working woman with a busy schedule, but as far as I'm concerned, childbirth is about the experience, not the location. I couldn't be more willing to give birth in the backseat of a speeding taxi, in an elevator stuck between floors, or on an airplane bound for Chicago. No emergency landings necessary, just give me a pillow and an aisle seat and Plooosh! I'll pop that sucker out before we hit cruising altitude.

Slap it, snip it, and pass the pretzels, thank you very much.

The miracle of life doesn't always come in a convenient birthing suite with a bunch of doctors and expensive, sterile equipment. Sometimes it occurs in the midst of empty boxes in the storeroom of a major department store and you just have to roll with the punches, like I did with my daughter Macy. I'd do it all again too, if I were welcome back at that particular mall. Truth be told, part of me wants to feel my cervix dilate to 10 centimeters in a Banana Republic. Upscale.

Maybe it's just my maternal instinct talking, but I wouldn't think twice about giving birth in the back of a freezer truck delivering frozen peas to Montana.

Heck, I'm hard-pressed to come up with somewhere I wouldn't expel an infant from my uterus. Sure I'd like it if my mother were there, but if she doesn't happen to be by my side when my water breaks courtside during the playoffs at the Garden, then so be it. Life is too precious to deny just because I don't feel "comfortable" in a particular Arby's restroom.

Childbirth is a gift from God, whether it happens in a hotel lobby or a gyroscope. And I should know. I've done both.

I know the "norm" is to have your children in some stuffy maternity ward, but I guess I just don't see what all the fuss is about. It seems like so much work to go to the hospital, sign in, and get hooked up to a fetal monitor—who's got the time?

I'm not going to turn into one of those women who calls up her doctor as soon as her contractions start coming every two minutes. I may be pregnant, but I've got a life to live and that means being flexible with the location of my blessed event.

Step out of the line for Space Mountain just because the baby's crowning? Fat chance! My baby will be brought into the world in total darkness in the middle of a loop-de-loop and he or she will be grateful for it.

We're talking about childbirth here, not rocket science. If you can't pull off Cesarean section without running to some bozo with an obstetrics license then you don't deserve to call yourself a mother. My girlfriends talk about their "alternative" deliveries like they deserve a medal. Water birth? Try hot-tub birth with the starting lineup of Philadelphia Flyers and then come talk to me. I'd give birth to twins while waterskiing behind the Staten Island Ferry. No sweat. Who's got the placenta?

So have fun with your stirrups and ice chips. I'll be thinking of you when some production assistant's cleaning up the afterbirth during a coast-to-coast feed of Larry King Live.

I don't need paid time away from work to bear my kids. All I need is a partially empty conference room and an intern who can think on her feet. You'd be surprised how nicely a laptop perches on top of a slowly deflating womb, whether in the office or commuting on the subway. And with these new hands-free phones, I don't even need to miss a call when I'm cutting the umbilical cord.

"Can I put you on hold for a sec? Hello? It's a boy!"

And you know what? If I decide not to have my next child, I will terminate the pregnancy whenever and wherever I choose.




Okay, that article is HYSTERICAL....until the last sentence, of course. Interesting that she can say that, "childbirth is a gift from God" and then later speak of killing her child if she "chooses." Notice that she actually called it a "child"...is killing children legal??? Apparently killing children is not legal outside the womb....but because a child is inside...it makes a difference???? Insanity.

Another needless rise in C-sections

*sigh*
Another rise in the national C-section rate. Sadly enough, the rate for premature and low birth weight babies has risen as well.
Where are all these babies we are "saving" by performing a cesarean section?!?!?!
Below is a copy from this link:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/
pubs/pubd/hestats/prelimbirths05/prelimbirths05.htm


"The preliminary rate of cesarean delivery rose 4 percent in 2005 to 30.2 percent of all births, another record high for the Nation (Table 4). The cesarean rate declined somewhat during the early and mid-1990s, but has risen 46 percent since 1996 (from 20.7 percent)."

When will the insanity stop?!

Fetal injury more common than expected with cesarean delivery

Is this "okay?" Is it "okay" with us that this amount (albeit small, but still, 1.1%...around 2,600 babies per year) of babies are injured in a C section? What if these injuries were common in homebirths? Would there be a public outcry to halt homebirths?
If these "needed" C sections were saving lives....if they were saving moms and babies from death, then I can imagine justification for all the birth injuries (and increased maternal death). However, research shows that the increase in C sections has NOT resulted in a better maternal or baby outcome. No less babies dying. No less moms dying.
Again....madness. And "we" allow it. We promote it. We turn our heads when a C section happens outside of an emergency. ("failure to progress...or perform"..."CPD".) What will it take for women to stand up and demand better care??? Studies THIS YEAR have shown us that a mom triples her chance of death by having this surgery....and that babies are injured more often than in a regular birth. What else does it take?

Below is an article from an OBGYN forum I am on. It is from "them"....not us. :)



Fetal injury more common than expected with cesarean delivery
Source: Obstetrics & Gynecology 2006; 108: 885-90

Documenting the incidence of fetal injury in women undergoing cesarean delivery.

Women undergoing cesarean section should be counseled that fetal injury during the procedure is rare, but still occurs at a rate of 1.1 percent, researchers suggest.

James Alexander, from the University of Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, USA, and co-base this recommendation on the results of their study in which they recorded the incidence and type of fetal injury in 37,110 women undergoing cesarean delivery.

Of these deliveries, 418 (1.1 percent) had an identified fetal injury, the most common of which was skin laceration, found in 272 (0.7 percent) babies.

The team also discovered that cephalohematoma was present in 88 infants, and that clavicular failure, brachial plexus injury, skull fracture, and facial nerve palsy were relatively common complications of cesarean section, each found in about 10 babies.

These observations suggest that "cesarean delivery does not, in and of itself, prevent major birth trauma," the authors write.

"Although cesarean delivery may play a role in decreasing birth trauma in certain clinical circumstances, it does not eliminate its occurrence," they conclude.

Posted: 19 October 2006

© Current Medicine Group 2006

Technology-Intensive Childbirth

"Technology-Intensive Childbirth Is the Norm for Great Majority of Primarily Healthy Women"


4 in 10 labors were started artificially.
1 in 3 ladies have a C section.

This is madness.


http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=175714

Real Beauty

Below is a link to a short video that Dove put together in a campaign for REAL beauty. It is good to watch to realize what goes into the making of a "model."
Although I do NOT agree with the worldly push towards a "high self esteem" (completely un-Biblical) I do think this is a good clip to watch.





http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.ca/film_fullscreen_evo.html