Understanding U.S. Birth Trends & How They Might Effect You

Currently there is a lot of buzz about our high cesarean section rate and trying to lower it. Why? Because the statistics are starting to bear out what many of us have been saying for years, that doing more cesareans doesn't mean better care or better results. Furthermore that moms are getting a tremendous amount of pressure from their doctors to have C-sections and that c-sections put moms at more risk with no improvement in benefits for babies. This video is a good explaination of current trends in our birth culture and medical practices. It goes on to show how these trends are effecting our cesarean section rates, maternal out-comes and baby out-comes.

My thoughts on the statistics coming out about c-sections:

What an outrage has been perpetrated on women yet again! The rising birth surgery rate in the last 10 years is an appalling abuse of power. This is just one more time in a long list of times when our society's views on women and it's values of pursuing science and money have blended with the male dominated medical model to put women in harms way. Women, just as other minorities within our culture, have been used and abused at the alter of the medical machine once again.

Young mother's today haven't grown up with the mantra, "Question Authority!" or the understanding of the true balance of power between men and women built into our system. They have grown up in a Hillary Clinton world where women like Meg Whitman appear to be able to have a firm grasp on the levers of power in the financial and political world. They don't understand that these women are an aberration. They are an illusion. In the world I live in thousands of women everyday are being lied to or at the very least subltly manipulated into turning their bodies over for someone else's monetary gain. And the propoganda is so good most of them have no idea what just happened to them. They actually believe that their rapists are their saviors. How sick is that? They arrive home dazed and in pain with only one clear thought, how grateful they are to their doctor for saving them and their baby.

I have one thing to say to young women today, "Wake up!! Stop drinking the kool-aid! Question Authority!" Just because Authority wears a white lab coat and has a degree behind the desk doesn't mean he or she has only your best interest at heart. Don't let yourself be a cog in the wheel of the great machine. Take a cue from your hippie sisters of the sixties and reclaim your right to your bodies and your births. You deserve it.

GET EDUCATED! WATCH THIS VIDEO: http://www.lamaze.org/OnlineCommunity/LamazeVideoLibrary/LamazeVideoPlayer/TabId/808/VideoId/4/Birth-By-The-Numbers.aspx

More Confessions

In my teens our middle school’s marching band sold huge See’s Candies’ chocolate bars to raise money. I was a huge supporter; buying a candy bar each day for lunch and washing it down with a Hawaiian Punch. My future mother-in-law was a really good cook. When I met my husband one of his favorite meals included lime Jello with bananas as a “salad.” Wanting to live up to his mother’s high standards I dutifully made it for him at every holiday. When it wasn’t a holiday I was busy being a horsewoman. Every day I would dash out of the house in the morning after drinking my very sugary tea and munching down cinnamon toast for breakfast. Then I would skip lunch all together. I didn’t even bring anything to drink with me! I rarely came home to cook dinner until well after dark when all the horse chores were done. Tired and late I would throw together a meal, such as, 3 Can Chili (1 can of chili, 1 can or corn and 1 can of stewed tomatoes) and pour it over white rice. Viola! Dinner was served. I weighed 101 pounds from the time I was 14 or 15 until I was 32. Luckily my son rescued me from myself. 


When I had difficulty getting pregnant one of the things I did to help my fertility was force myself to eat more in order to gain 5 or 10 pounds. I ate 3 meals a day and began to care about what I put into my body. At first I added simple things, such as Yoplait yogurt and an apple for lunch. Later I branched out into actual peanut butter and jam or lunch meat sandwiches. I cut out my tea to get off all caffeine which took sugar out of my morning routine. 


During my pregnancy I tried to eat all the “servings’ they recommended in “What to Expect When You are Expecting.” I also thought it was fine to eat all the ice cream I wanted and I am ashamed to say I became addicted to Jello chocolate pudding cups. I still wasn’t drinking enough throughout the day and would gulp down a huge glass of cold apple juice as soon as I got in the door at night. I told myself it was a serving of fruit instead of the sugar fix it was really. I passed my gestational diabetes test but I don’t know how. I must have been right on the cusp. If I had failed it, I would have had an opportunity to reroute my eating habits earlier in my life. I felt so bad after driving back from the test I crawled into my truck at the barn and fell asleep for the afternoon. I blame all the sugar in that darned apple juice for the size of my son and the number of hours it took me to finally push him out. 


Breastfeeding went really well for me. I produced plenty and he nursed plenty. He grew like mad and no one could believe that little old me had a baby at the top of the height and weight chart at every pediatrician visit. The biggest change for me at this point was taking foods out of my diet that didn’t agree with my son. I learned I could live without dairy, although I craved it. I began to understand how my digestion and some other health issues seemed to be connected to consuming dairy. The other change was getting off the juice and drinking water instead. It took a few rounds of plugged ducts to get me paying attention to my fluid intake throughout the day. 


Toddlerhood kept me running. I was busy with horses, my son and starting my doula business. Meanwhile Joe still didn’t sleep through the night. I felt like I was a walking zombie. I finally took myself to an endocrinologist for testing. She explained to me that although I was not diabetic I had what she called a diabetic body type. I needed to get off sugars of all kinds and start eating protein with every meal. I jumped in with both feet and followed her advice religiously for a few years. I definitely felt better. I learned how a sugar rush felt and why I had nausea and shakiness sometimes from the drop off on the other side. Meanwhile I was no longer eating for two but I was constantly cooking for two. Food or thoughts about food are never far from a mother’s mind. I learned to take snacks with me ALL the time after Joe had a major melt down in a bank line. But was I feeding him wholesome organic food? No way. He adored corn dogs from Costco with Kraft Mac and Cheese. He ate Cheerios for breakfast and I felt virtuous because I added a banana and no sugar. After he went to a friend’s house and encountered Sugar Smacks was the first time he told me I was WAY TOO strict about eating. He had PBJ’s or bologna sandwiches for lunch. Hey, but it was on wheat bread. Darned if MY kid was eating those sugar butter sandwiches! Of course for special occasions I would make homemade cinnamon toast which essentially was an open faced toasted sugar butter sandwich with cinnamon but it was on WHOLE WHEAT bread. That should count for something right? 


Now life really began changing for our family and I blame it all on the company I was keeping. I began to meet moms who were eating and feeding their kids very differently than I. These women were La Leche League members, midwifery assistants and homeschoolers. I finally began to see food in a whole new light. I started thinking about what the heck was IN a corn dog and what made those sandwich crackers that brilliant orange? Well my family might say it was all downhill from there. I was the soccer mom who brought for everyone after the game homemade pumpkin muffins made with whole wheat flour and sweetened with applesauce along with a bottle of water as a snack. What no sugary drink box? No candy? No cup cake thick with frosting? What kind of mom ARE you? My son ate smoothies for lunch with whole fruit and tofu. We rarely ate at a fast food place. Veggies always have a place at my table, even if I have had to let my son dip them in ranch dressing to get them eaten. I am learning all the time about what constitutes good nutrition and incorporating it into our meals. 


Of course different people have different thoughts on nutrition. For me it involves good quality protein, pesticide free fresh fruits and veggies from our local farmer’s market or farm stands, organic dairy and eggs with no hormones or antibiotics. I am slowly converting my family to whole wheat pasta. They already have decided brown rice is ok. They will even eat quinoa and millet occasionally. Any meal I make has veggies or fruit as an important component. Salad happens several nights a week and is often the main course. My veggies are raw, steamed or sautéed. Plain fruit is often our dessert. 


But I am definitely not as crunchy and organic as some young moms these days. Today I sat on the grass in the park and listened to a mom talk about not only making her own bread but grinding her own wheat. It made me tired just to think of it! I’m sure her bread DOES taste better and IS more nutritious but I’m not ready to devote that much of my life to food preparation. 


Three years ago my son went off to college and the issue of food became an uncharted frontier for us; a land where I had no control. For the first 2 years I got to hear him complain about dorm food. It appalled me what they were serving. After all they had led me to believe they were a progressive northwestern liberal arts school. Didn’t they know anything about nutrition? Even worse my son was working for the college food service company and saw how they MADE the food. But more troubling for me was how often he was getting sick. I absolutely blame his diet. Last year he moved into an apartment and I put together a recipe book for him and packed up many of the basic ingredients; the spices and non-perishable items. I encouraged him to find out where the local health food store was located and if there was a farmer’s market. Then I sat back, crossed my fingers and tried hard not to think about it. Here is what I learned. He won’t starve. He can cook. He also won’t take the time and energy needed to buy fresh, organic and local. He still LOVES Mac and Cheese. Hearing he made himself a pot of Top Ramen with real veggies actually makes me happy. I don’t think he eats any fruit which makes me sad. He still gets sick way to often and I still blame his diet. I try not to nag. When he is home in the summer I have the urge to get as much nutritious food down him as possible but it is tricky. He makes his own breakfast and lunch. Although I have many healthy options for him to choose from he gravitates to carbs and will eat a lot of bagels, toast, and muffins. Sometimes he’ll eat all of them at 1 meal! But dinners are mine to create and I stuff as much goodness into them as possible. Tonight is nitrate free organic chicken and apple sausage with potatoes, carrots, broccoli, zucchini, green onions, corn and peppers sautéed together in a pan. Everything will be fresh and good and he will happily wolf it down. 

Teaching Nutrition: As a birth educator and doula I have been teaching women about nutrition for many years. Every time I learn something new I pass it on. Nutrition in pregnancy is critically important to the health of the mother, to the life-long health of the baby and to the health and safety of the pregnancy. Many common pregnancy related problems, and more serious complications can be resolved through appropriate nutrition. Issues such as gestational diabetes or high blood pressure can be turned around. Food is the true path to life-long wellness. Finding ways to get people to make such fundamental changes is the difficulty. I know that the first step is becoming aware of what you are doing. Then you have to have a strong reason to change. For many women they will make changes for their child’s sake that they wouldn’t make for themselves. Finally they need simple ways to make those changes over time. It is important to keep in mind very few people are ready to massively overhaul their diet all at once. Our diet is intertwined with our culture, our family and our life style. These have strong holds over people. So I encourage moms to change out white rice for brown, add in fruit with breakfast, or eat a high quality protein snack instead of reaching for a cup of coffee or a sweet. Building awareness and taking baby steps with each meal is the best way to make a change that will last. I know if I can make an impact on how a mother views food during her pregnancy I potentially can impact her whole family for life. 

Learn about my Healthy Beginnings/Healthy Choices class series here.

Don't miss all the ways you can Create a Healthy Pregnancy. 

Attachment Parenting cont.

Thoughts on Attachment Parenting

By Emily Phifer, M.S. MFT
There are two things that I think of as foundational to parenting with an attachment basis: 1.) Babies and children are incredibly impressionable and everything that happens is an opportunity for imprinting or shaping the child’s mind, body, emotions and psyche as well as relationships with self and other. 2.) Parents aren’t perfect, and when there is a “rupture” or disruption in ideal attachment with our children, there is a golden opportunity for deeper attachment and connection in the repair.  Learning and growing can be modeled for children through the care and commitment of caregivers who are willing to admit mistakes/ disconnects and work to repair them.  Parenting children with humility and respect is of utmost importance.

Additionally, I think of attachment parenting as knowing that I'm in an intimate and intentional process of mirroring my baby, responding to her needs, and helping to develop a safe and secure attachment for her in the world as she learns and grows (my husband and I are a team in this).  On a daily basis, this mirroring and responding entails talking to Lucia as we go about our activities, showing her that I hear her sounds and see her actions, and that I am tracking her responses to the world around her.  This might mean I praise or mimic her attempts at sounds or voice inflections, that I mirror her excitement over spotting the kitty across the room, or acknowledge her frustration when I prevent her from playing with something that isn’t safe or permissible.  

Physically, I make daily effort to sit with Lucia and make good eye contact as she plays and explores, interacting with hand pats, hugs and facial expressions to show her that I am encouraging her exploration and developmental play.  Mirroring Lucia’s excitement over playing with apples and measuring cups on the kitchen floor is a way to reinforce that what matters to her matters to me, and that her being is valid and important in our world.  This modeling translates into Lucia’s internal world of secure attachment and development as a healthy self.

I want her to know that her needs and feelings and experiences matter to my husband and I and we will do our best to respond.  When she hurts herself during crawling and exploration play, we pick her up, soothe her and acknowledge that it doesn’t feel good to get hurt, and that we’re there to comfort and help her while she’s hurting.  We also model that once Lucia feels better, she is encouraged to return to playing and exploring once again with confidence that help, care and safety are available.  Lucia has the opportunity to internalize this security while having space and encouragement to explore the world around her.

We can't be perfect as parents, but when we make mistakes, we can make repairs in our bond with our baby, making the attachment even stronger. On days where I’ve grown frustrated with Lucia for one reason or another, I sometimes make a determination to "press the reset button" on my patience and admit to her that I haven't been the best I can be for her.  I apologize to her, and acknowledge that we’re going to try again, to work together to move forward, learning and growing together. Our family needs to have grace for one another as we learn and grow as individuals, and as a family unit.

I also recognize that there must be room for my own self care as I care for my baby- so I have to find a balance of caring for myself and my marriage, while responding as best as I can to my baby's needs.  This has perhaps been the biggest challenge for me in being a new parent, as a baby’s needs can be all-encompassing and, at times, demanding.  Self care and balance in our family life includes finding little ways to nurture my own care (reading, going for a walk, listening to favorite music, coffee with a friend) and that of my marriage (comparing notes from the day, sitting down for a meal at the table together after Lucia is in bed, watching a show in the evening or getting away for a date). Attuning to our baby is a physical, emotional, spiritual and mental journey.  Healthy attachment is a foundational and life-giving gift we can give to our children. 

OK ready to learn more about parenting in an attached rather than a detached or unattached way? 

Listen to our discussion on KVEC.

Come to a gathering of my South County Holistic Mamas and Papas and listen, watch and learn. Ask to join the facebook group to get invites.

Attend a La Leche League meeting near you. Meetings in SLO & Los Osos. I'll soon be leading meetings in the South County! Not from SLO?

Learn the 8 principals of Attached Parenting.

Read a book! I recommend these books: 

The Continuum Concept by Jean Liedloff, one of the founders of this cultural change, who took a fresh look at parenting from an anthropological/cultural point of view and sparked a fire that is still going

Attachment Parenting Book by William and Martha Sears, Dr. Sears is the beloved author of many books including The Baby Book a must read by this generation of parents. 

Attached at the Heart by Barbara Nicholson and Lysa Parker, the founders of Attachment Parenting International

Check out Attachment Parenting International.

I believe every family is unique and each person within that family is unique. As parents we are faced with daily challenges. One of those challenges is trying to be the best parent we can be at any given moment to each of our kids. There is no one right answer for every person but every human being deserves to be raised with respect, compassion and understanding. Finally I leave you with this statement which is said at every La Leche League meeting, 

"Take what works for your family and leave the rest." 

Good News about V-BACS!

Women need to think twice before they put their lives at risk by saying yes to a repeat elective cesarean! This was just forwarded to me from our local ICAN chapter leader about a new VBAC safety study:

Vaginal Birth After Cesarean Found to be Safer for Moms than an Elective Repeat Cesarean

A study appearing in the June edition of the journal Obstetrics andGynecology reviews evidence about maternal and neonatal outcomes relating to vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC). The study authors identified relevant studies from multiple searches of MEDLINE, DARE and the Cochrane data bases(1980 to September 2009) and from recent systematic reviews, reference lists, editorials, Web sites and experts. Overall, there were low rates of maternal harm for both trial of labor and elective repeat cesarean delivery. Maternal mortality rates were higher for elective repeat cesarean delivery at 0.013% compared with 0.004% for trial of labor. Rates of maternal hysterectomy, hemorrhage and transfusions were similar for both trial of labor and elective repeat cesarean delivery. Perinatal mortality was increased for trial of labor (0.13% compared with 0.05% for elective repeat cesarean delivery. The study authors concluded that VBAC is a reasonable choice for the majority of women, since adverse outcomes were rare.

To access the full study online, go to: http://journals.%20lww.com/greenjou%20rnal/Fulltext/%202010/06000/%20Vaginal_Birth_%20After_Cesarean_%20_New_Insights_%20on.25.aspx

ICAN of SLO: icanslo@yahoo.com

Inspiration & Wisdom for Labor, Birth & Parenting

"Of course there is no formula for success except perhaps an unconditional acceptance of life and what it brings." Arthur Rubinstein


Video : "Reflections of Motherhood"



One to inspire women planning to V-BAC:  "You are building new pathways in your brain now, preparing a home for the you who is emerging. The new you isn't the arrival of someone other than you; she's the emergence of whom you've always been but have long kept hidden. Your need is not to replace some defective self, but to invoke into operation once more the perfect you that is the truth of who you are." Marianne Williamson

"My grandmother commented that babies don't read books. Really all I needed to do was "read" my baby." Claire Niala

Video: Maya Angelou recites her poem, "Still I Rise"

Video: "You Can Do Anything" 

A Letter to Baby Jalilah

Dear Jalilah,

I hope you will come to know your mother as I know her. I wish you could have seen how hard she worked, how much she cared and how difficult her path. She is a powerful woman who will perservere and survive against incredible odds. I know she has so much to give you. Now that the first difficult weeks of colic and latch on and lack of sleep and healing are fading the blessings of motherhood can flourish and grow. Love her little Jalilah all of her days because I know she loves you with all of her heart.

Adrift on the Ocean of American Democracy

Last summer I embarked on my maiden voyage into the turbulent waters of the democratic process. I had been contacted by the Mama Campaign, a grassroots organization trying to make history. They were lobbying for a woman's right to birth either in a hospital, birth center, or at home; with a doctor, certified nurse midwife or a professional midwife. They were pushing to include equal payment for all of these options into the health care legislation. To accomplish their goal they had launched a national effort to have women contact their local representatives and speak to them about the importance of women having birth choices.
As a doula and childbirth educator I have been working one-on-one with women for many years supporting them in their birth choices. On a community level I had helped found the Birth & Baby Resource Network to help inform women about their choices locally. But I never considered any of this as being involved in politics. It was just my way of helping the women I knew have the births that they wanted. Here was a chance to do something locally and perhaps have an impact nationally.
Intrigued but uncertain I went to the women of the Birth & Baby Resource Network and said, "I'd like to do something about this. What do you think? Is this something we want to stand up for? Will I have your backing if I lead a delegation to speak to Lois Capps?" All the women immediately encouraged and supported me.
Buoyed by their enthusiasm I reached into our birth community for shipmates in my endeavor. Not surprisingly I was immediately joined by retired certified nurse midwife Linda Seeley; Edana Hall, licensed midwife; Laurie Stern a registered nurse certified in neonatal nursing; and Megan Bochum, former International Cesarean Awareness Network leader. These women have been working with and for birthing women and their families in our community for many years. They have a passion for women's birth rights.
We discussed and refined our goal, set a timeline and divided the work. Researching that day we suddenly realized that Representative Capps was on the congressional committee working on the health legislation. For the first time it occurred to us that we might actually be able to do something that mattered.
Along the way more women came on board. My intrepid crew of professionals and community leaders also included: Miday Belden-Johnson, CNM; Stephanie Wilson, SLO-Child Abuse Prevention Council specialist; Jessica Elliott, BBRN President; and Janet Murphy, Cal Poly Child Development Specialist. Each one did research that was added to our presentation packet covering issues on safety, the licensing process, the potential financial impact, the importance of bonding, cesarean prevention and postpartum depression prevention.
We reached out to mothers in our community. Many of these busy women took the time to stop and write a letter about how their birth with a midwife affected their lives. Reading their poignant letters reminded me of why I first began championing midwifery and out-of-hospital birth and gave me fresh incentive to keep forging ahead on the project.
San Luis native Sandy Rodriguez, CNM kindly allowed me to use her as an example of how just one midwife can make a difference. She has caught babies in our hospitals for 27 years now. I calculated how much money she had saved our community over the years and came up with a staggering $12.3 to $24.7 million dollars saved and 300 to 600 women spared from undergoing major abdominal surgery as part of their birth process.
In June it was time to join our small craft with the Democratic Party’s Armada so we sat down with Betsy Umhofer from Rep. Capps’ office to float our ideas for the health care bill. She listened with respect and interest as our panel somewhat nervously presented our information. It felt good to make our case and have someone really listen. Ms. Umhofer explained that Congresswoman Capps was interested in what we had to say and had a staff member in D.C. who was currently working on women’s health issues. She graciously accepted our packet and said she would pass it along to her counterpart in Washington.
So now we were tied to Lois Capps’ ship; to come sailing in with flying colors or sink into the murky depths never to be heard from again. I felt very heroic sailing out within that shining Armada to battle upon the high sea. As the summer wore on into the fall I became increasingly depressed watching our fleet going round and round caught in a whirlpool of bitter political rhetoric. In the winter I began to despair that the whole adventure would be for naught seeing the whole country stalled in the doldrums of ridiculous political posturing. In February I was feeling downright mutinous. Would we be forever adrift on this never ending sea of compromise? And then March 22 came and I received an e-mail from the Mama Campaign. We did it!
On the day President Obama signed the health care bill he made history for women across America; women who want to birth with midwives in freestanding birth centers; women who want to birth with people who believe in and respect the innate power of women to bring their babies into this world safely and peacefully. And I felt like Jason triumphantly sailing into port clutching the Golden Fleece.
True it isn’t the whole Fleece; midwives who help women give birth in the privacy of their own homes will still not be covered by Medicaid, but it is an historic start with the potential to lead birth in a whole new direction in this country. It is after all only a baby step but as mothers we understand just how far baby steps can lead.

Welcome Annika!

Congratulations to Tiffany and Jeorn!

The road of life is never smooth and straight but it is the ups and downs, twists and turns that help us grow.

The New Science of Mother-Baby Bonding

Laurie Stern, one of the wonderful nurses who works with newborns at our hospitals posted this info on FaceBook. Thank you Laurie! Although those of us who have been working with moms and babies as long as we have were convinced of these things already it is nice to have science back up what our hearts have always known. Every mother knows if she listens with her heart that our babies thrive on being close to us.

Groundbreaking new research shows that a strong emotional bond between a mother and her baby may help prevent diseases, boost immunity, and enhance a child's IQ
By Patty Onderko, Parenting
A must read for prospective parents!

More on a similar topic: How pheromones, those mysterious chemicals we exude when attracting love, affect our babies in the first hour of life.

The Science Behind Baby Bonding
How the chemical connection a mom has with her baby within the first hour of birth sets the tone for their relationship and helps determine the future emotional and physical health of the child for decades to come.
By Patty Onderko, Babytalk
Read this before birthing!

Healthy Beginnings/Healthy Choices

Getting Your Pregnancy Off to a Great Start!

This is a new 3 class series focusing on pregnancy as opposed to labor & birth. For maximum benifit it should be taken as early as possible during pregnancy.

Healthy Beginnings for Baby
Viewing pregnancy as a state of health
Understanding the building blocks of a great pregnancy
Nurturing ourselves and our babies through nutrition & exercise

Making better choices
How our choices early in pregnancy can affect third trimester complications
What is getting in our way?

Unlocking the mystery of prenatal care

Healthy Beginnings for a Family
Bridging the gap between men & women's journeys through pregnancy

Enriching your relationship during this special time
Using communication & understanding to build strong bonds

A window into the miracle of creation

Healthy Choices for our Births
Freeing yourself to create the birth you want
How Did We Get Here?
Understanding how our past & our present influence our choices in childbirth.

Homebirth as the standard for normal birth & why
Issues of safety vs. risk
Your choice; doctor or midwife?

Components of a positive birth
Positive births can happen everywhere

An Example of the Wonder of Birth

Welcome Little Slugger!
Some births are so full of surprises they confound even the "professionals". Thank you Baby Ryan for reminding all of us that labor and pain are not one and the same and that birth is new every day.

Where Does a Dad Fit into the Picture?

To my love, my partner, my son’s father this is for all the things you didn’t do.

Begging Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s pardon…

“How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways”

My husband never said, “Wouldn’t it be easier to use formula?”

My husband never looked at my small breasts and said, “Are you sure you can make enough milk?”

My husband never said, “If we used bottles I could help out more.”

My husband never said, “If we used bottles I could feel closer to Joe.”

My husband never said, “Are you sure you know what you are doing?”

My husband never said, “My mother didn’t breastfeed me and I turned out fine.”

My husband never said, “My dad’s really uncomfortable with you nursing. Maybe you shouldn’t nurse while we are visiting my parents.”

My husband never said, “He’s too attached to you. He needs to learn how to be independent.”

My husband never said, “I want my wife back.”

My husband never said, “I want my life back.”

My husband never said, “What are you doing taking Joe to the barn? It is too dirty and dangerous there for an infant.”

My husband never said, “You’re going back to teaching riding? But Joe is only 5 weeks old. You can’t go away all day. What if he won’t take these bottles of breastmilk while you are gone? What am I to do?”

My husband never said, “I don’t think I can do this.”

My husband never said, “I don’t want to do this.”

My husband never said, “I don’t want my talking, walking son to breastfeed. It’s perverted.”

My husband never said, “The pediatrician said you can’t know if Joe has a dairy sensitivity. I believe the doctor. He is the expert.”

My husband never questioned my commitment or ability to breastfeed our son. He felt that it was the very best choice for my son’s health and future development. If he sometimes thought I didn’t know what I was doing he never let it show. He has always been my devoted partner in the great adventure of parenthood.
**************************************************
Six days after my son was born we left our tiny rented house in Shell Beach for our first family walk. The love I felt for the tiny bundle I was carrying in the Snugli Sack on my chest was overpowering. I had never felt such a strong emotion. As we walked back from the ocean’s edge I confessed to him my need for his help.

“I’m going to need your help because I’m never going to be able to let him go. I love him too much.”

“What do you mean?” he answered.

“Well you know how I feel about all my animals and that is nothing compared to how I feel about him. Can you imagine how devastated I would be if Spot walked in one day and said, ‘Well I’m going now. Thanks for taking care of me.’

“I know” he said.

“I mean I understand that the goal is to raise him so he CAN go away and I want to be a good parent. I want him to be successful and grow up to be independent, but it feels wrong. I don’t know if I can do it.” I added.

Putting his arm around me he replied, “I’ll help you”.

And he has. He has allowed me to be free to focus on nurturing and closeness while he has lead each step of Joe’s moving away from us. He has been the rock I can lean on. He creates an ever enlarging safety net under Joe so that I feel ok about letting him go. Whether it is scouting, or backpacking, or hiking to the top of Mount Whitney, I know I can count on Mike. Now college and on to traveling in Europe, I know I can count on Mike. He stood by my side when I gave Joe a hug and said good bye after dropping him off for his freshman year at college. He knew how hard that moment was for me. Then he drove for 3 days to get us home while I sank into a deep sadness. He was patient with me; waiting to see what would happen next. And what happened next was that I learned I could live without my son, although it still feels as if part of me is missing. And I also learned once again how much I love my husband.

To my husband on Father’s Day,

How Do I love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways..."
    By Elizabeth Barrett Browning

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.                              
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;                          Click here to read a birth story which includes
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.                            this amazing dad!
I love thee with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose,

I shall but love thee better after death.

Health-care legislation increases birth options: Women covered by Medicaid are insured for delivery at birth centers as well as hospitals

Publised in the SLO New Times April 14, 2010
Picked up by the American Association of Birth Centers for their web site.

BY JENNIFER STOVER

A provision in the new legislation for health care gives women more latitude to decide where, how, and with what kind of professional they will give birth, and may lead to a birth center finally being established in San Luis Obispo.

Most Americans don’t know that 42 percent of all births in the United States are paid through Medicaid reimbursement. Thanks to the passage of the health-care bill, women so insured will have a choice of how they spend that money. Section 2301 includes full Medicaid reimbursement for free-standing birth centers, certified nurse midwives working in hospitals or birth centers, and certified professional midwives (CPMs) working in birth centers. Women can continue to choose a hospital birth with a doctor or midwife, but now they can choose to birth at a licensed out-of-hospital birth center attended by midwives instead.

The average cost of a birth-center birth is approximately one-fifth of a doctor-attended hospital delivery, a huge potential savings to Medicaid: Consider that the typical hospital birth costs approximately $20,000 and the cost can climb to $60,000 for a cesarean birth. Not all women will want to birth naturally without pain medication in birth centers. Not all women are appropriate candidates for birthing with midwives in birth centers. But if only 5 percent of the 4.3 million women in this country who give birth annually choose this option, it would mean millions of dollars saved each year.

For 28 years, local women have been asking now-retired Certified Nurse Midwife Linda Seeley why we don’t have this option. She explained, “A lot of women don’t want to have their babies at home, but also don’t want to be in a hospital. A birth center is usually located close to a hospital but not in a hospital.” After General Hospital closed, Seeley was part of San Luis Obispo General Hospital Foundation’s attempt to start up a birth center. She continued, “A center is more intimate, the women themselves are more in control of what happens. There is more satisfaction and lower stress. It is well known that the lower the stress, the better the outcomes.”

We have no out-of-hospital birth centers in the county. Atascadero midwife Edana Hall, CPM, who is licensed by the California Medical Board, said she is “cautiously optimistic this could lead to the opening of a birth center in San Luis.”

Tiffany Dietrich, a naturopathic doctor and midwife who recently moved to San Luis Obispo, explained that in the greater Seattle area where she recently practiced there are two birth centers. The fact that Medicaid in Washington State already paid for out-of-hospital birth-center births is part of what made that possible.

“When Medicaid pays for something, eventually the insurance companies also begin to pay,” Dietrich said. “It’s a good time to open a community birth center here. Our culture is changing. Out-of-hospital births are on the rise due to media exposure, such as The Business of Being Born, the documentary by Ricki Lake.
“What is happening in Washington State shows that birth centers are a successful model of care for women and babies—as well as financially—for the birth center and Medicaid,” she added.

Jessica Elliott relocated from Morro Bay to Oregon, where Medicaid and insurance companies already pay for out-of-hospital births. She echoed Dietrich: “There are currently three birth centers located in the Portland area where CPMs attend births.”
Elliott, a participant in an intensive clinical training for midwifery at the Andaluz Waterbirth Center, continued, “We do anywhere from 20 to 30 births a month, but demand is growing. The center recently had to hire two new midwives to keep up.”

Last June, a panel of local professionals who work with children and birthing women met with Congresswoman Lois Capps’ district representative, Betsy Umhofer, to present information about the merits of midwifery and out-of-hospital births. She listened to us carefully and relayed our information to Capps, who, as vice chairman of the Health Committee, was in Washington, D.C., working on the legislation that just passed.

After the signing ceremony, Congresswoman Capps issued this statement about this important section of the health-care bill: “I know that bringing a new life into the world can be the most profound moment of a woman’s life. And I am proud that this new legislation will afford women more choices regarding the setting in which this momentous occasion can occur. One of the many important provisions in the new health-care reform legislation is the increased access to care in a variety of settings, including for women who choose to obtain prenatal care and deliver their babies in freestanding birth centers. I was proud to support this provision that assures these centers Medicaid reimbursement for providing this important service in promoting women’s health.”

Jennifer Stover, the president of Birth and Baby Resource Network in San Luis Obispo, is a childbirth educator and doula.

Send comments via the editor at econnolly@newtimesslo.com.

Mothering as a Spiritual Quest

Below is a quote by Dr. Sarah Buckley,MD which I saw posted on FaceBook today. It immediately rang true for me and expressed a piece of mothering I have always felt. Who is really doing the growing; our children or ourselves? For me this was indistinguishable.

"In our society, mothering is often seen as a chore — a time in our lives
when we are unintellectual, and unproductive. There is, however, a radically different point of view,shared by many in other cultures, that sees mothering as a women's spiritual practice, and our babies as our teachers. We have the opportunity in mothering, as never before, to practise devotion, awareness, selflessness, and
unconditional love through our daily mothering tasks. Our intellectual
capacities may (or may not) be diminished, but our hearts and instincts
can bloom, and we can practise the mindfulness that allows us to be
totally in the present — in love with our babies and children — which is
where they are. Blessed be the babies."

I would love to share your thoughts on this quote with other about-to-be-mothers. Please post a comment.

This came from a new resource, a blog site about many issues in gentle parenting practices. To read about Elimination Communication, The Circumcision Decision, Baby Wearing, The No Cry Sleep Solution and many other topics visit:http://www.drmomma.org/2009/07/mothering-mindfulness-and-babys-bottom.html.

Thank you to Pacha for posting this and for being a mindful mother.

More Good News about Breastfeeding

In today's Tribune is a wire story about breastfeeding.The results of a study published today in the Journal Pediatrics says if 90% of babies were breastfed exclusively for the first six months of their lives it could save billions of dollars and 900 babies lives. An article on La Leche League International's web site talks about a different study published in 2009, "a group of infants fed artificial milk had $68,000 in health care costs in a six-month period, while an equal number of nursing babies had only $4,000 worth. In Brazil, where medical care is not readily available, an artificially fed baby is 14 times more likely to die than an exclusively breastfed baby, and at least four times more likely to die than an infant receiving both mother's milk and artificial milk." Why? Because of all the childhood and life time diseases that breast-feeding protects kids from, such as, asthma, diabetes, ear infections and even Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. They don't even factor in the psychological issues for mom, baby and bonding which lead to less postpartum depression, better relationships and less child abuse and neglect.

And that doesn't even factor in the health benefits for the moms! Dr. Alicia Dermer says in an article for La Leche League, "Breastfeeding reduces risk factors for three of the most serious diseases for women-female cancers, heart disease, and osteoporosis-without any significant health risks." Choosing to breast-feed will also reduce your chance of developing high blood pressure and diabetes. In another LLL article researcher Dr. Eleanor Bimla Schwarz, an assistant professor of medicine, epidemiology, obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences, said: "Breastfeeding is an important part of the way women's bodies recover from pregnancy. There are certain hormonal and physiological changes the body expects to go through after pregnancy and when those changes don't happen, that leaves certain body systems in a precarious way. The longer a mother nurses her baby, the better for both of them."

This may be new information for some people but the local women who work with nursing moms and babies have known this for many years. I heard about all the health benefits 20 years ago sitting in a breastfeeding class at General Hospital given by Kathleen Huggins. She is our local breastfeeding guru and author of several books on the topic, including one that I referenced often during my nursing era, The Nursing Mother's Companion. She also started the Breastfeeding Warm Line and currently owns Simply Mama in downtown SLO. Understanding the health impact of breastfeeding is one of the reasons the midwives and nurses at General Hospital worked so hard to become Baby Friendly Certified by the World Health Organization. To be certified a hospital must actively promote breastfeeding in their practices and give out no "freebies" from formula companies. Then our other hospitals followed suit and became very pro-breastfeeding. Because of the great local support for breastfeeding in our hospitals and out our county has had a fantastic breastfeeding rate for years. At times we have been at the 90% mark promoted in this new study when women first leave our hospitals.

Breastfeeding is the most important thing you can do for your child's immediate and long term health!

Local Warm Line: telephone help, classes and one-on-one support: 541-Baby.

La Leche League: For the best breast-feeding resources available on the planet

Local La Leche League: group and individual support and counseling

To check out the articles I quoted

Good For Moms Too: What does the April 2009 Journal, Obstetrics and Gynaecology have to say

A Well-Kept Secret: Breast-feeding's Benefits for Mothers

Breastfeeding Saved My Child's Life: One mother's story

Nursing the World Back to Health: A great article about the connection between breast-feeding, the environment and saving our planet

A Salute to the Nurses and Midwives of General Hospital

Yesterday I attended Lois Capps' thank you rally for people who helped to get the health care bill passed. It was held in the parking lot of the Community Health Care buildings across from the old General Hospital building. It was a surreal experience standing there looking at that building where so many babies were caught by Certified Nurse Midwives over the years and hearing Representative Capps speaking about a bill I passionately hope will encourage an upswing in the numbers of women receiving midwifery care in this country.

I couldn't really concentrate on what she was saying because my mind kept wandering over and walking the halls of that ugly old building thinking of all the uninsured babies born there over the years. Remembering the excitement of being present at the first hospital waterbirth in the county in one of their rooms. Thinking about the wonderful nurses and midwives who worked so hard at General Hospital over the years to create our most pro-natural hospital birthing option in the county. They always led the way, clearing a path for our other hospitals to follow; from postpartum family rooming in to birthing chairs, from the creation of the breastfeeding warm line to birthing tubs. Perhaps their most important contribution was becoming certified by the World Health Organization as a "baby friendly hospital".

It was a bittersweet moment thinking about the General Hospital nurses and midwives trying so hard to create a free-standing birth center within the shell of a building the county supervisors left behind and knowing the new health care reform might breath life back into their dream. How fitting to be listening to Congresswoman Capps, a former nurse, who has continued caring and fighting for women and children her whole life. It shouldn't surprise me. During my career I've met so many "Nurse Hathaways" walking the halls of our hospitals. Women who truly care about making things better for birthing women and their babies.

Although I was invited to attend this event I didn't actually work on getting passage of the legislation. Instead I worked on making sure birthing women's voices were represented in the bill. Women all over the country were similarly working through two grass roots organizations, the Mama Campaign and Childbirth Connections. I'm working on a piece that I hope will come out in the Women's Press about my experience with Lois Capps and the democratic process. Stay tuned.


Here is the article: Adrift on the Ocean of American Democracy.

Good Newsweek Article on V-BACS

Why don't more doctors support a woman's desire to birth naturally after a previous c-section? This is the question posed in a recent Newsweek article. Claudia Kalb does a good job explaining the relationship between the ACOG guidlines for V-BAC, hospital & doctor liability, the latest research put forward by the National Intstitute of Health, and where a woman's choice fits into it all.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/235317.

Thanks to our local chapter leader of International Cesarean Awareness Network for bringing this article to my attention.

The Day President Obama Signed the Health Care Bill

Published in the SLO Tribune on Friday March 26, 2010

Hidden in the thousands of pages of the Health Care Bill that President Obama signed into law were some items very few people were aware of that will effect women all across the country. They target issues concerning maternity care and they have the power to change our beliefs about where, how and with whom women should be giving birth in our country.

Did you know forty-two % of all births in the U.S. are paid for through Medicaid reimbursement? Now women will have a choice of how they use that money. They can continue to choose to birth in a hospital with a doctor but they can also choose to have a Certified Nurse Midwife attend them in a hospital, or they could attend them at an out of hospital birth center. Another option is to have a Certified Professional Midwife attend them at an out of hospital birth center. This doesn’t just represent more freedom for women to choose the birth the want it also represents a huge cost savings to the Medicaid budget. The average hospital birth with a doctor attending costs approximately $20,000. It skyrockets to $60,000 for a cesarean section birth. With our national cesarean section rate climbing every day this is a serious chunk of change. On the other hand the average cost for a birth center birth is approximately ¼ of that or $5000. Not all women should be birthing in birth centers with midwives but if just 5% of women choose this option it will mean millions of dollars a year saved.

Did you know until today they was no widespread standardized assessment of the maternity care being offered in this country? Statistics relating to the benefits and risks of current practices in use today, such as, induction of labor, medication to speed labor, or drugs for pain relief were not being kept in a national database. Over time this data base will yield important information for women and their care providers. Helping them base their care on informed choices.

Did you know women were being denied health care coverage because they had given birth by cesarean section? This was being labeled a pre-existing condition which ruled them out of further care. On top of that the current stance of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists about vaginal birth after cesarean section makes it impossible for many women in the U.S. to do anything except have a repeat cesarean section for all future births. Until today women were faced with the choice of letting their insurance company limit the size of their family or pay about $60,000 per child.

Did you know until today your insurance company could deny you care simply because you were pregnant? Stopping this practice has the potential of effecting millions of women and babies. Guaranteeing access to quality maternity care impacts not just this generation but the next as well.

Thank you to Representative Capps for working to pass this important legislation for women and babies. When asked about this piece of the bill she said, "I know that bringing a new life into the world can be the most profound moment in a woman’s life. And I am proud that this new legislation will afford women more choices regarding the setting in which this momentous occasion can occur. One of the many important provisions in the new health reform legislation is the increased access to care in a variety of settings, including for women who choose to obtain prenatal care and deliver their babies in freestanding birth centers. I was proud to support this provision that assures these centers Medicaid reimbursement for providing this important service in promoting women’s health."

E-Mail Correspondence with Congresswoman Capps

Here is the e-mail I sent to Betsy Umhofer, Representative Capps' local Liaison and Congresswoman Capps' reply.

Dear Ms. Umhofer,

I would like to thank you and Representative Capps for your work on the Health Care Bill, especially the part that includes Medicaid reimbursement for Certified Nurse Midwives & Certified Professional Midwives working in out of hospital birth centers. Your work will provide quality maternity care for many women in our community who seek out of hospital birth experiences. I have written a piece about the legislation on my blog: http://slolaboroflovedoula.blogspot.com/2010/03/historic-health-care-bill-for-women.html.

I am currently working on an opinion piece about it for either New Times or Women’s Press. Would Congresswoman Capps care to send a quote about why she supported this piece of the overall bill and what she hopes will come from it?

Here is Congresswoman Capps' reply

"I know that bringing a new life into the world can be the most profound moment in a woman’s life. And I am proud that this new legislation will afford women more choices regarding the setting in which this momentous occasion can occur. One of the many important provisions in the new health reform legislation is the increased access to care in a variety of settings, including for women who choose to obtain prenatal care and deliver their babies in freestanding birth centers. I was proud to support this provision that assures these centers Medicaid reimbursement for providing this important service in promoting women’s health."

More Great News About the Health Care Legislation!

This just e-mailed to me from Childbirth Connection, another group that worked hard to get important items for women and babies included in this bill.

Dear Friend, On Sunday, March 21, the House of Representatives took a courageous and giant step toward a better health care system for America’s women, babies and families with the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. This legislation will make a significant difference in the lives of millions of women, babies and families by expanding access to health insurance, ending insurance industry practices that discriminate against women, and improving the quality and cost of health care.

Childbirth Connection worked hard over the last year to ensure that the special needs of women and babies were considered in health care reform. We are happy to report that our efforts resulted in provisions in the bill for measuring and reporting on the quality of adult health care covered by Medicaid. Because Medicaid pays for about 42% of births in the country, this provision offers important opportunities for using performance measurement to improve the quality and value of maternity care. Childbirth Connection is committed to ensuring that the new performance measurement program gives appropriate attention to childbearing women and newborns. We will work on implementation with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and other stakeholders.

This accomplishment would not have been possible without the support of many individuals and organizations committed to significant improvements in maternity care access and quality. Special thanks to Representatives Elliot Engel and Lois Capps, as well as the staffs of the House Energy & Commerce and Senate Finance Committees for supporting these important quality improvement provisions. We also thank the many national organizations and countless individuals who advocated for these provisions.

Other provisions in the bill that will benefit women and babies include:

Health insurance coverage for women before, during and between pregnancies
Medicaid reimbursement for licensed caregivers offering services in licensed birth centers
Medicaid reimbursement of the birth center facility fee
100% reimbursement of Certified Nurse-Midwives’ services in Medicare Part B
Elimination of denial of insurance coverage due to pre-existing conditions such as being pregnant, having had a cesarean section, or being a victim of domestic violence
Workplace protections for nursing mothers
Screening for postpartum depression
Prenatal and postpartum nurse home visits for low-income, first-time families and their children Coverage for a range of preventive services including screening for diabetes and heart disease.

This is all great news for women and families, but there’s still more to do. Please contact your senators (click on “Web Form”) and ask them to pass the reconciliation bill to further strengthen health care reform provisions.

With the President’s signing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law today, please join with Childbirth Connection in celebrating the path-breaking provisions that will be carried out in the weeks, months and years ahead.
Best wishes,

Maureen Corry
Executive Director
Childbirth Connection