More and more women are asking us about the benefits of ingesting their own placentas after their birth.  The practice is becoming more well known, CBS just did a story on it.  The benefits are considered worth the yuck factor; better milk supply, reduced postpartum depression and more balanced hormones in the weeks following birth. 
There are some intriguing recipes that you can try- the simplist is to just dehydrate it and put it in capsules.  Many of our clients bury their placenta and plant a tree or shrub to commemorate their baby’s birth. 

What did you do with your placenta?

Since your bill would essentially mandate surgery for the underprivileged women in your community, I highly encourage you to become educated about the risks of cesarean section, especially when a woman has more than one.  The maternal death rate is rising in our country.  The CDC has acknowledged that the death rates are actually under reported and that many of these deaths are attributed to the rising c-section rate and the associated complications for future pregnancies.

Dear Delegate Lohr:
 
Thank you for your prompt reply and your attention to this important issue of access to midwifery care. I appreciate your willingness both to hear and act upon some of the items we discussed this week. Thank you for your promise to pull HB 2163 from the docket.

I am looking forward to reviewing your amendments to HB 2167.  Without seeing the actual wording, I remain a bit unclear as to how this bill will affect CPM practice. As I discussed on Wednesday, the issue of VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) is an evolving area of medical and cultural understanding. Since the scientific and medical experts still disagree about the best route for a woman to take for all of her birth options, l contend that legislation seems premature.  The next several years would be expected to bring about emerging information that will help to inform the most evidenced based decision making for women and their providers.

When we understand that the rate of uterine rupture (the primary concern among some obstetricians for VBAC deliveries) is 27 out of 10,000, we know that 400 women will need a repeat c-section to prevent 1 uterine rupture during labor. Since uterine rupture itself has varied degrees of severity and since midwives do not induce or augment labor and because they provide constant, hands-on care and one-on-one monitoring to identify the slightest variation in heart tones well before they become a problem and take appropriate measures to stabilize or transport, many researchers, mothers and Virginia DMAS have all made the evidenced-based decision that Home VBAC (or HBAC) is a reasonable choice for families to consider. Every study has shown that when providers follow these guidelines, the risks associated with VBAC are reduced to the very same level as for other extremely rare events, all of which CPMs are trained to identify and assess well before they become emergencies. Link to Research on Uterine Rupture

I make the comparison between VBAC at home and repeat c-section because the option of VBAC in hospital is not available to many women in the Commonwealth.  Many hospitals and providers in Virginia have “No VBAC” policies, which leaves women no other choice but to stay out of the hospital for their normal birth.  Since your bill would essentially mandate surgery for the underprivileged women in your community, I highly encourage you to become educated about the risks of cesarean section, especially when a woman has more than one.  The maternal death rate is rising in our country.  The CDC has acknowledged that the death rates are actually under reported and that many of these deaths are attributed to the rising c-section rate and the associated complications for future pregnancies. When you factor in the reality that many of your constituents plan very large families, the physical and financial burdens of 5-10 future surgeries is staggering.  [Read more →]

Please take action now to stop two bills HB 2163 and HB 2167 introduced into the House to limit the practice of Certified Professional Midwives.  These bills have been introduced by Delegate Matthew Lohr- Harrisonburg. 

URGENT: Please send him an email TODAY telling him that you would like him to pull these bills from the docket and to work to help increase access to midwives, rather than restrict it.  You can also call his office: (804) 698-1026.

NEXT: Contact your legislators and tell them that you oppose HB 2163 and HB 2167.  You can visit the VA Birth PAC to find out who your legislators are and register to receive updates on this important issue.

STILL MORE: Contact everyone you know who lives in the Harrisonburg area.  Ask them to contact Del Lohr TODAY to express their concerns about these bills.  He filed these bills for a single constituent, he needs to hear from 50 who oppose them.

STAY TUNED:  We will be sending updates through all available channels.  If you are not registered with the VA BirthPAC…please do so NOW!  We need all of our voices united!!!!!

[Read more →]

The monthly Birth Circle meetings sponsored by Birth Matters Charlottesville have become incredibly popular in the midwifery community.  These informal gatherings generally involve birth stories, resources sharing, and building connections among expecting and new moms in the Charlottesville area.  The group is not midwife or home birth exclusive. In fact, the compelling nature of the group comes from the respect of all perspectives on birth choices and options.

The gathering is girl heavy.  And at the request of a few regulars who want to bring their guys for a fun night out, Birth Matters is sponsoring a Couples Birth Circle on January 23 at 7pm at the Body Mind Spirit yoga studio at 923 Preston Ave in the Preston Plaza (next door to Integral Yoga Natural Foods). 

Can’t wait to hear how it goes!

This image by Susan Tibbles accompanied Jennifer Block’s Op-Ed about midwives.

On Christmas Eve, Pushed author Jennifer Block opined in the LA Times that homebirth and Certified Professional Midwives must be key elements of Obama’s healthcare reform strategy.  Read the article or more cool stuff on Jennifer’s blog, PushedBirth.

She highlights some pretty startling facts: Not only is childbirth the most common reason for a hospital stay — more than 4 million American women give birth each year — it costs the country far more than any other health condition. Six of the 15 most frequent hospital procedures billed to private insurers and Medicaid are maternity-related. The nation’s maternity bill totaled $86 billion in 2006, nearly half of which was picked up by taxpayers. 

Anyone know the average cost of a birth in Charlottesville?

Many of you have already heard about the new film, Orgasmic Birth, but the mainstream is about to get an earfull when 20/20 takes on the question of whether orgasms in labor are possible, and if so…how do you get one?

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=6120045&page=1

It’s great to see this kind of story about birth.  The fact that the secret to pleasure in labor is leaving mothers alone speaks well for all kinds of reasons.  The most common concern I’ve heard from natural childbirth advocates is that women will feel disappointed if they don’t have an orgasm in labor.  After watching the film, I have to say that the births are very realistic and not overly portrayed as all pleasure.  The labors are intense, and we get to see that there is more than pain in these women’s expressions…a whole lot more.

Have any of you experienced a labor sensation like an orgasm or actually had one in labor?

This is one of our clients. Please pass this request on to anyone you know who might be willing to share extra breast milk.
Thanks,
Brynne

On September 3rd, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl (Haylie Peyton) via an outdoor water birth at home. It was everything I had hoped for and more. The birth went so well that I was overcome with this feeling that EVERYTHING would go as planned. I quickly learned that wasn’t the case. [Read more →]

An article published this month is the journal of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology recommends labor prior to a primary cesarean as a preventive measure against uterine rupture in future pregnancies.

A powerful argument against medical induction, the researchers tracked over 10,000 women from their primary c-section to the end of their second delivery. Of 10,160 women who had a trial of labor, 39 (0.38%) had a uterine rupture. Women whose primary cesarean delivery was planned or followed induction of labor had an increased risk of uterine rupture and this risk remained after adjustment for other factors. Women with a history of either spontaneous labor or vaginal birth had one uterine rupture for every 460 deliveries; women without this history who required induction or augmentation to proceed with a VBAC attempt had one uterine rupture for every 95 deliveries.

Conclusion: Labor before the primary cesarean delivery can decrease the risk of uterine rupture in a subsequent trial of labor. A history of primary cesarean delivery preceded by spontaneous labor is favorable for VBAC.

Other findings: Augmentation is still bad for VBAC. The study also showed that women with a previous c-section who were induced or augmented for their trial of labor had a greater relative risk (4.24 fold) of uterine rupture.

The study authors convey a desire to see their research actually change the standard of care for all women. If implemented, this standard would likely lower the primary c-section rate in the first place. The authors state, “Our results can inform protocols for treating women who intend a first trial of labor,” …which means: let/encourage a women to spontaneously labor (don’t induce) and you can protect her uterus from damage, now and in the future.

I sat down this evening with a cup of tea to read all about the new publication Evidence-Based Maternity Care by Childbirth Connections, The Reforming States Group, and The Milbank Memorial Fund. [Read more →]

Hello Charlottesville! This is a birth announcement for our new blog: The Midwife Monologues. Our vision is to have a forum for dialogue for all things pertaining to modern midwives and the clients they serve. Topics will include Advocacy, Research, Health, Parenting, Breastfeeding, and (oh yeah) Birth! We invite you and your midwives to join us as we raise this little tyke of a blogspot into a resource for information and community building.
Special thanks to our web-midwife, Michael Davis. A fabulous home birth dad who bartered his web design services for the birth of his son (Baby Jack was our collateral), Michael is behind our brand new site Mountain View Midwives. As Deren and I lean towards being luddite midwives, it has been a fairly sharp learning curve to be able to “blog”. In fact, it required 7 video tutorials for me to learn how to post. Now that I get it (sort of), I am amazed at the potential for knowledge and connection that this communication tool provides.
We have a special category called Charlottesville Midwifery that will be a local forum for birth stories, swapping used baby equipment, events, and general questions about midwifery and related resources in the Charlottesville area. Please let us know what resources we are missing in our Links section! Look forward to seeing you there!