Category — Midwifery Education

Not in the opinion of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
As a follow up to last year’s passage of legislation that would require evidence-based informed consent for all women seeking home birth Evidence Based-It’s Now the Law, the Virginia Regulatory Townhall posted the first of two public comment opportunities.
Please read the following open letter to Midwifery Advocates and take a moment to post a comment to the Commonwealth of Virginia regarding your thoughts on informed choice in maternity care.

Dear Midwifery Advocates, Researchers, and Educators -

I am writing on behalf of the Certified Professional Midwives licensed in Virginia to ask for your support involving establishment of regulatory precedent for evidenced-based informed consent for women seeking maternity care.  As some of you may already know, last year the VA General Assembly passed a bill that required CPMs to provided evidenced-based informed disclosure to all women seeking home birth. You can read the history of how this happened here:  http://midwifemonologues.com/making-lemonade-a-recipe-to-support-hb-2163/

Risk factors that were listed in the law included vbac, twins, and breech presentation but also allowed for “other high risk pregnancies”.  The law does not state that these conditions would prohibit CPMs from attending a woman at home, just that the CPM will be required to provide clear, evidence-based informed consent before doing so.

The process that follows a statutory mandate for regulatory change in Virginia is open to the public and participation is simple.  The notice of intended regulatory action (NOIRA) has recently been posted to the Virginia Townhall Website.  The summary and details of the guidelines for this regulatory change are listed in a pdf (here) and there is now a 30 day public comment period.  Comments can be submitted by any member of the public, both in Virginia and outside of the state.

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Click on the rainbow to watch a short slideshow from my trip

Though you might not know it from my  previous post about squeezing lemons in our Capital this week, I have actually just returned from the jungles of Belize feeling somewhat transformed and completely inspired by my Professional Training in the Arvigo Techniques for Maya Abdominal Massage (MAM).  It wasn’t just the breathtaking views from Rosita Arvigo’s mountain top home where the class was held.  It wasn’t only jungle walks to said mountaintop from the camp along the Macal River where I slept at night to the sound of Howler monkeys in the trees overhead.  And finally, it wasn’t just the fact that I spent 7 entire days without making a single meal for myself or others.  What actually facilitated this feeling of deep satisfaction and well-being were the healing techniques themselves.  [Read more →]

I am very excited to be attending Rosita Arvigo’s Maya Abdominal Massage Practitioner Training in Belize in in January of 2009! I have taken the level one (self care) course and can’t wait to be able to offer this simple and profound technique to the women of Charlottesville.  The basic concept is that your uterus moves, both in it’s monthly cycles and in response to injury, body changes, and childbirth.  For centuries, mayan healers have used specific techniques to gently massage the uterus into a balanced alignment.  The benefits are numerous and modern practitioners are finding amazing results in treating a multitude of health problems with this simple process.  More later….  I’d love to hear from other folks who have practiced or received this technique.