Surprising, no…horrifying, yes.

39.4% of women birthing in a hospital in NY end up giving birth via cesarean section.  

Check out where your state ranks (click link above). Then scream with horror.

***note stat #2***

We spend the most on maternity care but moms in the US are more likely to die here than in 40 other nations (including nearly all industrialized nations). Even more maddening – african american women are at least 3x more likely than white women to die from complications due to pregnancy/childbirth. Does this make sense to you!!?? Where is the $$ going?? (For more on this and other shocking statistics see Amnesty International’s Deadly Delivery: The Maternal Health Care Crisis in the USA)

*from PopJolly

Amazing Video of Baby Moving Inside the Womb

I am a student nurse-midwife!

I have decided to go the part-time route while working as an RN at a big city hospital to gain more experience (and avoid being an impoverished fulltime student any longer)! That means in spring of 2013 I’ll be ready to take Boards for certification as a CNM. I’m so glad that I quit my job 3 years ago to be a doula and head back to school to become and RN and midwife. Dream (almost fully) realized. I think I finally have time to get back to blogging… we shall see…

PS If you have time to check out a movie this weekend – check out Babies. Can anything be cuter and more fun? I doubt people will be able to leave without a smile on their face.

In the analysis of the data, authors concluded:

“Planned home birth attended by a registered midwife was associated with very low and comparable rates of perinatal death and reduced rates of obstetric interventions and other adverse perinatal outcomes compared with planned hospital birth attended by a midwife or physician”.

As Amy Romano points out in Lamaze’s Science & Sensibility blog, “The researchers isolated the effect of the birth setting itself by comparing midwife-attended home birth with midwife-attended hospital birth”. I think this is good stuff.  It means the outcomes are based on the birth setting instead of the provider.  I would love to see more detailed studies like this published ASAP! Preferably before I get my CNM license

click here to watch (video uploader thingy isn’t working – sorry)!

The above video of a new simulation robot that helps “train” med students in obstetrics.  After watching this video I am more than frustrated (but not surprised) that the lithotomy position (flat on back, working against gravity), an IV, and fetal monitoring are “standard”.  Someone send these folks to visit Ina May on The Farm!

*many thanks to birth babies breasts oh my for sharing this video on her blog*

However, I was not so pleased (read: pissed off) when I finally caught up with my DVR list and watched 16 and Pregnant – Life After Labor.  Now, I realize they only had an hour to recap the season and get all the participants together to talk about their experiences raising babies (or with adoption).  But why did Dr. Drew brush off BREASTFEEDING! Ugh! An opportunity for him to discuss the merits and benefits of breastfeeding to a ginormous national audience of future parents and he took less than 2 minutes to make it sound like a crappy option.  Thanks Dr. Drew, thanks for NOTHING.

So here is what happened in a nutshell:

A (very bright) audience member asked why none of the mother’s chose to breastfeed.  As the mother’s began replying about trying and not getting encouragement from family or being talked out of it by family members or about how painful breast engorgement can be, good ol’ Dr. Drew interrupted and shouted out “It hurts!”.

Well, Dr. Drew, NEWSFLASH: Neither you or I have breastfed any babies, but here is what I know that you apparently do not – BREASTFEEDING IS NOT SUPPOSED TO HURT.  I have helped lots of my clients with breastfeeding and attended quite a few breastfeeding classes (while this does not make me an expert, it does give me some insight).  The rule of thumb is if it hurts, there is a reason, and usually that reason can be fixed.  Most likely it’s about positioning.  Now, due to the fact that I have not breastfed myself, I feel I should follow up that statement with some resources that make this a bit more clear and justifiable:

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1. “Pregnant women at a recent Maternity Fair were heard to ask La Leche League Leaders, ‘I want to breastfeed my baby but I heard you will get sore nipples. Is that true?’ Breastfeeding is not supposed to hurt. It is intended to be an enjoyable experience for you and your baby…Sore nipples are most frequently caused by improper positioning of the baby at the breast.” La Leche League FAQs

2. “pain and/or ineffective milk transfer indicate that there is a problem somewhere, and the first suspect is ineffective latch/positioning” kellymom breastfeeding and parenting

3. “Myths about Breastfeeding: 2. It is normal for breastfeeding to hurt. Not true! Though some tenderness during the first few days is relatively common, this should be a temporary situation that lasts only a few days and should never be so bad that the mother dreads breastfeeding. Any pain that is more than mild is abnormal and is almost always due to the baby latching on poorly”. Dr. Jack Newman NBCI

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Dr. Drew could have pointed out that while breastfeeding is difficult and uncomfortable for many moms at first, there are resources that can help them get through the experience and make it enjoyable.  For instance, he could have suggested they seek help from a lactation consultant or La Leche League leader in their area.  He could have suggested, books, websites or videos dedicated to helping moms breastfeed.  He could have suggested that they look for help from a trusted friend or family member that has breastfed before and might have some sage advice to pass along. At the very least, he could have talked about the benefits of breastfeeding and the fact that it is a personal choice which expectant moms should carefully evaluate.  Not every mom can breastfeed (due to work constraints, time constraints, personal issues, etc) but every mom should be educated about the options in feeding their baby.  It just makes sense that human babies drink human milk.

But no, instead Dr. Drew yelled “It hurts” and scared thousands of young women about breastfeeding.  Thanks, Dr. Drew. Sigh.

Some Breastfeeding Resources:

La Leche League

NBCI (Dr. Jack Newman)

KellyMom Breastfeeding and Parenting

CDC: Breastfeeding Resources Guide

Childbirth Connection: How Breastfeeding Works

there are countless others…if anyone has any great suggestions to add, please do!

That is striking quote pulled from this video for the G8 by the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood.  I urge you to check it out on the Massachusett’s Friends of Midwives blog – here.