Midwifery Emphasizes Healthy Nutrition for Healthy Moms and Babies

            Courtney Stasny is expecting her second child, who she will deliver at home with the help of midwife. Asked why she chose midwifery over traditional care, she said, “I’m pretty holistic about everything I do, so I wanted to have my babies as naturally as possible.”

            Stasny, along with her 18-month old son Noah, attended a healthy food cooking demonstration at CentreVida Birth and Wellness Center in Austin held as part of the nationwide Organizing for America Health Care reform program on Saturday, June 27^th.

            “Prevention is at the heart of midwifery,” explains June Lamphier, LM, CPM, a Licensed and Certified Professional Midwife (LM, CPM) and founding partner of CentreVida. “From the first interview through post-partum visits, we talk about nutrition because we know so many common problems can be prevented by eating healthy foods,” Lamphier said.

            Participants were shown how to prepare several easy-to-make and highly nutritious foods, including dishes made from lentils (high in protein), kale greens (high in calcium), and green beans. Everyone made their own three-ingredient savory sauce which they were given to take home, along with a healthy snack – maple syrup mixed nuts. Throughout the class, all sorts of nutritional tips were discussed such as how and why to soak dried beans and how to make ghee, clarified butter. The event ended with a meal made of the day’s dishes served with brown rice.

            Event organizer, Christy Tashjian, RN, CPM, LM says midwifery fits well into the framework of healthcare reform. Delivering babies at home or in a birth center costs a fraction of traditional methods. In Central Texas, for example, midwife service fees average $2,500 and include full-spectrum prenatal and postnatal care along with the actual birthing. Normal deliveries in a hospital, on the other hand, typically cost $10,000-15,000, and a Cesarean section can cost as much $25,000.

            “Midwifery is cost-effective and sustainable because this is holistic healthcare that’s about more than just money,” says Laurie Fremgen, CPM, LM, who also attended Saturday’s event.

            Another participant, Illysa Foster, M.Ed., CPM, LM, adds, “Midwives are experts at normal births. We provide each mother with nutritional counseling, emotional support and education throughout her pregnancy.”           

            Tashjian says an effort is under way to elevate awareness and consideration of midwifery as a viable healthcare alternative. Midwives and Mothers In Action (MAMA) is national organization that’s trying to achieve federal recognition of Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) as Medicaid providers.

            For more information about the organization and the effort to include midwifery in healthcare reform, please visit www.mamacampaign.org.

Written by Laurie Stoneham

Midwives who hosted the event

June Lamphier, Illysa Foster, Christy Tashjian, and Laurie Fremgen 

During the wee hours of this morning, June 28th, 2009, Jenny and Wade worked beautifully together  to bring their new son, River Indigo, into this world.  Prior to the birth, Jenny and Wade had a vision of how they wanted the birth of their baby to happen.  They built a trellis in their back yard, decorated it with lights, plants, and art and put a kiddy swimming pool  under the trellis.  In this loving, intentional space is where the birth occurred!!

Nothing is sweeter than a family snuggling

with their newborn baby just after birth

Mothers in Action (MAMA) Campaign

Come visit our new website at www.mamacampaign.org

• Sign up to be part of the campaign
• Endorse the campaign as an Individual or as anOrganization
• Share your birth story
• Donate and volunteer

Please forward this invitation to family and friends.

The goal of the Midwives and Mothers in Action (M.A.M.A.) Campaign is to increase women’s access to midwives and to quality, affordable maternity care by securing federal recognition of Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs). The MAMA Campaign is a partnership between the National Association of Certified Professional Midwives (NACPM), Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA), Citizens for Midwifery (CfM), International Center for Traditional Childbearing (ICTC), North American Registry of Midwives (NARM), and the Midwifery Education Accreditation Council (MEAC).

Contact Us: info@mamacampaign.org

This morning little Sloane made her entrance at 8:33am.  Not only where her loving mom and dad there to greet her, but also her grandma and big sister Meredith!  As you can see, she started rooting and wanting to nurse immediately and didn’t stop even when grandma was holding her.  Big sister Meredith was very excited and eager to see the birth and was so amazed as the new baby slipped into this world. Unfortunately Meredith looks a little less than pleased about Grandma holding the new baby in this picture…I think it’s because she wanted to be holding baby Sloane herself!

I love it when babies come to visit!  Raphael and his mama Shama and big brother Gabriel came by today for their last postpartum appointment.  We spent most of the time chatting about changes since Raphael’s birth and upcoming family events.  It is always amazing to me when the little ones who had been coming to prenatal appointments with their mom, suddenly look so big next to their recently born sibling.  And, of course, it is always surprising to see how much the baby has grown too.  This little guy is 11 weeks old now and  was almost 15 pounds today!

Midwives & Mothers in Action (M.A.M.A) Campaign, is a new national campaign to secure federal recognition of Certified Professional Midwives. The M.A.M.A. Campaign Steering Committee includes the National Association of Certified Professional Midwives (NACPM), the Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA), the North American Registry of Midwives (NARM), the Midwifery Education Accreditation Council (MEAC), Citizens for Midwifery (CfM) and the International Center for Traditional Childbearing (ICTC). 

The work of this campaign is to ensure that Certified Professional Midwives (CPM) are recognized as maternity care providers in the national health care reform bills that will be considered by Congress in the months ahead.  The goal is for CPMs to be covered by all insurance companies and medicaid so that women and families have a true choice about who their pregnancy, birth, and postpartum care provider will be.  

If you are interested in supporting the efforts of the M.A.M.A campaign, donations can be made HERE.  All donations will go directly to help lobby for this very important cause.

             The World Needs Midwives Now More Than Ever!

                         International Day of the Midwife – 5 May 2009

 Midwife numbers must be expanded to achieve Millennium              Development Goals 4, 5 and 6 by 2015 

                              350,000 more midwives are needed!1   

The UN Millennium Development Goals Report 2008 states: The high risk of dying in pregnancy or childbirth 

continues unabated in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia … little progress has been made in saving 

mothers’ lives.  Over 60% of women in these areas of the world still do not have skilled care during childbirth. 

This report notes better progress for all of the MDG goals, apart from MDG5!2  Yet all the goals are linked: until 

poverty and hunger are reduced, until diseases such as HIV and malaria are controlled, until there is more 

equality between men and women, until every child completes primary education, until all women have access 

to reproductive healthcare - then mothers and babies will continue to die.  

 Midwives are key healthcare providers in achieving MDG 5: Improving Maternal Health3 

That is the clear message coming from the WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF and the World Bank: the four UN agencies 

that have recently united to pledge increased support to countries with the highest maternal mortality rates. 

They identified mortality in pregnancy and childbirth as the “highest health inequity in the world with over 99% of 

deaths occurring in the developing world”. They committed to work with governments and civil society 

organizations to address the “urgent need for skilled health workers, particularly midwives”.4    

 Midwives provide skilled newborn care to achieve MDG 4: Reduce Child Mortality5 

Every year in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia more than 1 million infants die within their first 24 hours of life 

due to lack of adequate health services, including midwifery care.  The midwives of the world understand that 

every childbearing woman deserves to give birth within a safe and supported environment for herself and her 

baby.  Skilled midwifery care includes emergency care for both mothers and their newborns.   

 Midwives are essential to achieve MDG 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases 

Thousands of pregnant women and hundreds of thousands of newborns die each year due to preventable 

disease.  Throughout sub-Saharan Africa governments have recognized the primary role of midwives in 

reducing these devastating deaths. As essential frontline workers, midwives provide vaccines to newborns and 

children; they identify, counsel and treat pregnant women with HIV and AIDS, thus preventing mother-to-child 

transmission of HIV; they also provide anti-malarial drugs and bed nets to vulnerable pregnant women and their 

children, saving lives and promoting health.   

The achievement of MDGs 4, 5 and 6 requires a global commitment to grow a strong, well 

educated midwifery workforce within functioning health service delivery systems. 

The sense of urgency to achieve MDGs 4, 5 and 6 in the next six years is increasing daily. The ICM and the 

midwives of the world are committed to working with global partners to achieve these goals. The Confederation 

has grown to 91 member associations with 250,000 midwives in over 80 countries and has recently partnered 

with the UNFPA to strengthen midwifery education, regulation and associations in 40 low income countries. The 

ICM has also joined the White Ribbon Alliance (WRA) and Sarah Brown’s Maternal Mortality Campaign to 

increase public awareness and apply political pressure on the G8 and G20 to make maternal and newborn 

health a global priority.  The ICM recognizes that health delivery systems must be strengthened and the 

midwifery workforce must be increased to stop the needless deaths of millions of women and their newborns 

who will die in the next six years if immediate action is not taken now.  

The world needs midwives now more than ever! 

For more information contact ICM President Bridget Lynch or ICM Secretary General Agneta Bridges at +31 70 

3060520 or e-mail a.bridges@internationalmidwives.org. 

1. The World Health Report: Make every mother and child count. World Health Organization, 2005. 

2. The Millennium Development Goals Report 2008. New York, USA: UN, 2008  

3. MDG 5 Target: Reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio. UN, 2000. 

4. Accelerating efforts to save the lives of women and newborns. WHO/UNFPA/UNICEF/World Bank. Joint statement: Sept. 2008.  

5. MDG 4 Target: Reduce by two thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate. UN. 

Well, I waited nearly two weeks for this little baby to come.  During the waiting, I got to visit friends I do not get to see often….go to the International Cesarean Awareness Network conference…work on Midwives Alliance projects…sleep….get a pedicure along side my pregnant friend…

And then the day before I was supposed to leave, Melanie woke up and started having regular, short contractions.  She was very surprised how quickly they picked up in intensity.  I had explained to her that second babies often come much more quickly than first babies, but I don’t think she believed me.

Now she does….Little 7 pound, 8 ounce Maddalena was born just 4 hours after her mama felt the first contractions.  Those first moments after the birth, after any birth really, are treasures I will always cherish.  My favorite thing to do just after a birth is to watch the faces of the mother and father.   So many expressions can be seen there, so many emotions, all at the same time.  

Thank you so much Melanie, Marco, Nicolo, and Maddalena for  sharing your home and family life with me, and for letting me help you welcome this new baby girl.

As my friend and I await the birth of her baby, we have been getting creative!

This is the link to the pdf  of the article regarding Home Birth safety in the Netherlands.
http://tinyurl.com/c2o44v

Abstract:
http://tinyurl.com/c8xq8n

Perinatal mortality and morbidity in a nationwide cohort of 529 688 low-risk planned home and hospital births

A de Jonge ^a , BY van der Goes ^b , ACJ Ravelli ^c , MP Amelink-Verburg ^a,d , BW Mol ^b , JG Nijhuis ^e , J Bennebroek Gravenhorst ^a , SE Buitendijk ^a

^a TNO Quality of Life, Leiden, the Netherlands ^b Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Amsterdam Medical Centre, Amsterdam, the Netherlands ^c Department of Medical Informatics, Amsterdam Medical Centre, Amsterdam, the Netherlands ^d Health Care Inspectorate, Rijswijk, the Netherlands ^e Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, the Netherlands

Correspondence to Dr A de Jonge, TNO Quality of Life, P.O. Box 2215, 2301 CE Leiden, the Netherlands. Email ankdejonge@hotmail.com

Copyright Journal compilation © 2009 RCOG

KEYWORDS

Midwifery perinatal mortality  pregnancy outcome

Please cite this paper as: de Jonge A, van der Goes B, Ravelli A, Amelink-Verburg M, Mol B, Nijhuis J, Bennebroek Gravenhorst J, Buitendijk S. Perinatal mortality and morbidity in a nationwide cohort of 529 688 low-risk planned home and hospital births. BJOG 2009; DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.2009.02175.x.

ABSTRACT

Objective To compare perinatal mortality and severe perinatal morbidity between planned home and planned hospital births, among low-risk women who started their labour in primary care.

Design A nationwide cohort study.

Setting The entire Netherlands.

Population A total of 529 688 low-risk women who were in primary midwife-led care at the onset of labour. Of these, 321 307 (60.7%) intended to give birth at home, 163 261 (30.8%) planned to give birth in hospital and for 45 120 (8.5%), the intended place of birth was unknown.

Methods Analysis of national perinatal and neonatal registration data, over a period of 7 years. Logistic regression analysis was used to control for differences in baseline characteristics.

Main outcome measures Intrapartum death, intrapartum and neonatal death within 24 hours after birth, intrapartum and neonatal death within 7 days and neonatal admission to an intensive care unit.

Results No significant differences were found between planned home and planned hospital birth (adjusted relative risks and 95% confidence intervals: intrapartum death 0.97 (0.69 to 1.37), intrapartum death and neonatal death during the first 24 hours 1.02 (0.77 to 1.36), intrapartum death and neonatal death up to 7 days 1.00 (0.78 to 1.27), admission to neonatal intensive care unit 1.00 (0.86 to 1.16).

Conclusions This study shows that planning a home birth does not increase the risks of perinatal mortality and severe perinatal morbidity among low-risk women, provided the maternity care system facilitates this choice through the availability of well-trained midwives and through a good transportation and referral system.

Accepted 26 February 2009. Published Online 15 April 2009.