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Birth-Related News
The latest SMS community and birth-related news delivered to your email box
Sign up for our free monthly Midwifery and Doula Email News. Get the latest on research, the media, community events and SMS. Just sign up using the box below. Check out the last edition. Or a list of recent editions.
"Trends and Characteristics of Home and Other Out-of-Hospital Births in the United States, 1990-2006." The report was published in early March by the CDC and covered throughout the nation including USA Today, NPR's Health Blog, a press release from The Big Push, as well as by dozens of other news outlets who ran the story. It includes demographic characteristics of out-of-hospital-birth populations, data regarding states with the greatest and fewest home births and data demonstrating significantly reduced rates of pre-term and low-birth weight in out-of-hospital-birth populations. Click here to read the full report from the CDC/National Vital Statistics.
Read an excellent editorial in The Olympian - "Benefits of midwifery go beyond money saved," in support of Washington Midwives!
Another great home birth study - this time from the Canadian Medical Association Journal - "Women in the planned home-birth group were significantly less likely than those who planned a midwife-attended hospital birth to have obstetric interventions." Click here to read the abstract and access the full-text pdf. (8/31)
Read Jennifer Block's blog article, Where's The Birth Plan? on midwives and healthcare reform. Click here to read> (7/30/09)
SMS Midwifery Program graduate Kim Radtke quoted in article about our new Washington law. Click here to read> (7/23/09)
The MAMA Campaign continues the work of influencing key congressional committee members about the benefits of including Certified Professional Midwives in federal Medicaid law. Congress is expected to make their decisions on health care reform legislation in the next two to four months, so the timeline is very short.We hope you will visit the MAMA Campaign web site, endorse the campaign and give a gift that could change the lives of millions of American women and their families. No gift is too small - or too large. (Read more MAMA Campaign activities in the latest edition of the SMS eNews)
Read Miriam Perez's article about home birth and midwifery in Washington State. Click here to read> (5/7/09)
Check out Simkin School faculty member, Penny Simkin's new article in Seattle's Child. (5/1/09)New study from the Netherlands - the "largest study of its kind has found that for low-risk women, giving birth at home is as safe as doing so in hospital with a midwife." Read an excellent summary of the study by SMS faculty member, Wendy Gordon, CPM, LM (4/24/09)
Hot off the press...read the press release from The Big Push. (4/1/09)
Read the CIMS (Coalition for the Improvement of Maternity Services) press release in response to the 2007 US birth statistics, recently released, including a 31.8% c/section rate. (3/19/09)
Read Nancy K. Lowe's in editorial (click the title above for the pdf) published in the recent Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, Neonatal Nursing, the official journal of the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN). (2/19/09)"Home-birth advocates press pro-midwife campaign"
New on Associated Press featuring the Big Push for Midwives campaign. Visit the Big Push web site (1/28/09)
ABC's 20/20 aired an excellent segment on labor orgasms and pleasurable childbirth featuring Debra Pascali Bonaro's acclaimed documentary, Orgasmic Birth. Click here to visit the 20/20 web site and a video. Congratulations, Debra. (1/2/09)is recounted in a New York Times article called "Founding Mothers" (12/28/08)
"Midwives deliver - America needs better birth care, and midwives can deliver it"
Read the great new Op-Ed piece in the LA Times by Jennifer Block (12/24)"New Research Shows Why Every Week of Pregnancy Counts"
Wall Street Journal article highlights research that supports what midwives have always known about keeping babies inside until they're ready. (12/23/08)Doulas on the "Today Show"
Watch the segment on doulas aired 11/20 and read the follow-up article (11/20/08)New York Times Article on Home Birth
Today's New York Times reports that "local midwives say they have been swamped with calls and requests in recent months, in some cases increasing their workload from two, three or four deliveries a month to as many as 10." (11/13/08)Midwife School in Mexico Finds Itself in Vanguard
Women's eNews article on the CASA Midwifery School in Mexico. "As the United Nations puts new emphasis on midwifery as a way of combating maternal and child mortality, a small school in Mexico's central highlands could offer an example that leads the way." (11/9/08)
Excellent New York Times story on the October Infant Mortality Report from the CDC. (10/15/08)
SMS midwifery program graduates in Alberta are celebrating today now that Alberta has extended health care coverage to midwifery. (10/15/08)
Report discusses how this issue "rarely gets attention from international donors." (10/14/08)
British midwifery clinic in a supermarket...."It has brought a huge rise in the profile of midwifery care and has encouraged home births. About 5 percent of women in the area have home births, which is higher than the national average. They feel empowered to make the choice." (10/9/08)
The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews has published a new review of the benefits of "midwife-led" care. (10/8/08)
Released by Childbirth Connection in collaboration with the Reforming States Group and the Milbank Memorial Fund. Read more, and download the report at Childbirth Connection. Read the coverage in the October 8th USA Today. Read the "Our Bodies, Ourselves" Blog on the report. Order a free printed copy from Milbank. (10/8/08)
SMS was a proud sponsor of 2008 Puget Sound area BOLD events. BOLD is a global movement that uses the arts to raise awareness around childbirth-related issues. This September, more than 550 people in the Puget Sound area attended a performance of Birth, a play by Karen Brody, a Red Tent event where birth stories are shared or a screening of the new documentary Orgasmic Birth. Playwright/BOLD founder Karen Brody visited Seattle this year and was interviewed by Warren Etheredge for his Seattle cable television show. Click here to listen to a podcast of the Karen Brody interview. (9/08)
The report also found the Puget Sound Region to have the highest rate in the state. The report notes "women living in the Puget Sound region had 275 (about 10 percent) more C-sections per year than would be expected when compared to women living outside the region. These women were giving birth to a single child and had no prior C-sections or noted risk factors." Read the DOH press release and download the full study at the DOH web site. (8/23/08)Now available for download - CPM Issue Brief - Certified Professional Midwives in the United States
From the National Association of Certified Professional Midwives (NACPM) accouncement: "This document is the result of an historic collaboration among the organizations that played essential roles in the formation of the CPM credential and in the ongoing support for the profession. It is the first comprehensive description of the profession and will be useful to CPMs and to women and families, as well as to legislators and policy makers who need to know about the contribution that CPMs are making to maternity care in our country." Click here to read more and download the issue brief. (8/8/08)
On August 5, Childbirth Connection released the latest report in their groundbreaking series of surveys on the childbearing experiences of women in the United States. The title of Childbirth Connections' press release offers a glimpse of the results of this report: "New Mothers Speak Out Report paints a troubling picture of American women in the postpartum period--many mothers face a broad range of social, emotional and physical health and workplace challenges, often with little or no support." Listen to a podcast about symptoms and risk factors for postpartum mood disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from childbirth with University of Connecticut researcher, Cheryl Beck. (8/5/08)
