Great piece in Women's E-news. Just read this short excerpt:
"The Women Deliver Initiative, which works to promote action on maternal and newborn health, estimates that 1 in 8 women die in childbirth in Afghanistan.
In the United States it's 1 in 4,800; in Sweden it's 1 in 20,000."
Can the US really still call itself a Superpower?!! This is shameful in a wealthy country.
Click here to read the entire piece.
Friday, May 29, 2009
New DVD: How the Media Influences Birth Choices
Finally, Vicki Elson's DVD is out on how the media influences our beliefs when it comes to childbirth. I can't wait to see it!
Click here to view a clip.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
One-Act version of the play now available!
In April a One-Act version of my play premiered at the Arkansas Literary Festival to rave audience reviews. Now the One-Act is available to perform!
My vision in writing a One Act version of "Birth" was to make the play more accessible to people who know little about childbirth like students or the average consumers/pregnant couples. The One-Act gives people a taste of what childbirth is like today for low risk mothers. It's approximately 50 minutes. This allows for a lengthy and engaged discussion afterwards!
If you are interested in performing the play you can do it as part of BOLD or license the play directly from me. Email me for details at: Karen@boldaction.org.
I've already received BOLD requests to possibly perform the One Act as a student social justice project at a University in Canada...and to mothers at Babies R Us stores in Houston.
I just love the BOLD spirit!
(photo: BOLD London, Ontario, Canada, 2008)
My interview with KUAR in Little Rock
Here's an interview I did with Ann Nicolson, the host of KUAR's Arts Scene:
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kuar/local-kuar-838354.mp3
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kuar/local-kuar-838354.mp3
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Congratulations to BOLD Organizer Michal Klau-Stevens!
Check out this wonderful piece of BOLD Organizer Michal Klau-Steven's birth advocacy work in Connecticut! Michal produced BOLD performances from 2006-2008 (and who knows, maybe 2009?!).
http://www.jewishledger.com/articles/2009/05/07/news/on_the_cover/news02.prt
BOLD Gainesville rocks the high schoolers!
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I'm rarely speechless, but I was after reading this feedback from BOLD Gainesville's recent performance of the play in front of over a hundred high school students and BOLD Red Tent with teenage girls and mothers.
BOLD Gainesville's organizer, Heddy Vernon shares:
BOLD Gainesville had an amazing experience bringing the message of BOLD and the stories of BIRTH to a local high school on Monday, May 18th. Loften High School is home to the ACCEPT program which focuses on pregnant teens and teen mothers, supporting them as they continue their education. Loften is the only high school in the area with an on-campus daycare for use by the students. The daycare is provided free of charge and cares for the children from the beginning to the end of a full school day. Loften is proud to have a very high breastfeeding rate and girls are called out of class to nurse their babies.
Girls from PACE were also invited to the performance. PACE is a community-based, gender-responsive prevention, diversion and early intervention program serving girls, ages 12-17. It is nationally recognized for helping girls find success in school, with their families and in their communities by integrating education, counseling, training and advocacy.
We had approximately 130 Loften students and 20 girls from PACE in our audience. The program ran in the morning for about an hour and a half. The audience laughed, shouted back at the treatment of some of the characters, and chanted MY BODY ROCKS throughout the play. They were engaged and moved. We were all moved too by the reactions of the audience. The air truly felt electric in that room.
After the performance, we had a local pediatrician and two childbirth professionals for our talkback panel. Students wrote down questions on index cards that ranged from 'What do they cut during an episiotomy?' to 'Can you really give birth in water?'. At one point someone said the way for a man's body to rock is to be supportive of his partner in birth and parenting and a number of young men in the audience stood up and applauded.
We held a private red tent for the girls from the ACCEPT and PACE programs. Lunch was provided and they were given the space to process and share their feelings on the play and their own birth experiences. It was a special bonding experience for both the girls and the cast. We were able to share our birth stories too and support one another with our experiences and thoughts. It was an energizing (and exhausting) day that reinforced in all of us the reason why we are part of this movement. It was powerful and beautiful!
And finally, some feedback from Liz Purdue, Director of ACCEPT:
"WOW!!!! What an incredible experience! My students are still talking about it! Thanks so much to you, the other cast members and the Red Tent coordinators for an outstanding event. I had so many positive comments from the ACCEPT girls, especially. They were touched that you made them feel so special."
For more info on BOLD Gainesville check them out here.
Purple pushing: reconsider!
Boy was I happy to read this:
Reconsideration of 'purple pushing' urged
Lisa Miller, the midwife they quote, is a labor and delivery nurse, turned midwife, and is also a lawyer. Wow! What a winning combination for these times!
Reconsideration of 'purple pushing' urged
Lisa Miller, the midwife they quote, is a labor and delivery nurse, turned midwife, and is also a lawyer. Wow! What a winning combination for these times!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
BOLD Winnipeg, Paris, and Little Rock
In addition to BOLD Gainesville's performance for high schoolers (which I heard went REALLY well!) lots of BOLDness has been happening this month:
Winnipeg! (pictured above) Packed 160 people into their performance and had a dynamic talkback building communication between an OB and Birth Center.
Paris! Rocked a full house this month and plans to "rent a little theater on a barge, floating on the river La Seine that go through Paris" in June. Oooo la, la!
And tonight is my "hometown" Little Rock's first of two performances. Click here to check out the PSA they're running in Little Rock to promote the performances.
I'm so proud of all these BOLD women! Wish I could make it to all of the performances!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
BOLD Gainesville: performance for high schoolers
In honor of BOLD Gainesville's (Florida) performance this week at a local high school in Gainesville, I'm wearing my BOLD Gainesville t-shirt today!
BOLD Gainesville are presenting the play to a program called ACCEPT where they take in pregnant teens and have onsite daycare and pull the girls out of class to nurse. They have pre-natel and parenting classes at the school. After the play and talkback they are catering a lunch for the girls who are in the ACCEPT program and having a more intimate BOLD Red Tent.
Rock on, BOLD Gainesville!
Sudan: Maternity Care Needs Our Attention too!
Yes, all women need our attention when it comes to maternity care. Not just American mothers.
Here's an interesting piece from Suden on biking for safer childbirth:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=83727
Childbirth Connection: How Maternity Care Can Be Overhauled
Love this!
May 18, 2009
Maternity Care, A Major Segment of Health Industry, Must Be Overhauled
For Health Care Reform to Succeed, Says Childbirth Connection
New York NY – As competing interests work out the particulars of health care reform, a leading national advocate for families and the women who give birth to over 4.3 million babies each year reminds the nation that rapid gains in the quality, value and cost of maternity care are achievable.
“It’s crystal clear: Let’s start providing maternity care that is proven to be the best,” said Maureen Corry, Executive Director of Childbirth Connection, a not-for-profit advocating evidence-based maternity care (www.childbirthconnection.org). “Then, women and babies will get higher quality care with better results, and the savings from following best practices can be put toward providing health care to all."
Maternity care is a major segment of health care:
-- 85% of women give birth. Childbirth is the number one reason for being hospitalized: 23% of those discharged from the hospital are childbearing women or newborns.
- Maternal and newborn charges are the runaway leader in hospital charges: $86 billion in 2006, $39 billion of which was shouldered by Medicaid. Childbirth accounts for six of the fifteen most common hospital procedures. Cesarean section is the most common operating room procedure.
-- The cost of childbirth is borne by employers and private insurers who pay for 49% of all births, and taxpayers and Medicaid programs who pay for 43% of births.
Costly childbirth procedures that entail risk are overused and wasteful, while proven ones that are generally safer and cheaper are underutilized:
-- Per capita health expenditures in the U.S. far exceed those of all other nations, but our performance lags distantly behind other developed nations on quality indicators including low birthweight, c-section and maternal death rates.
-- While the vast majority of childbearing women and their babies are healthy and at low risk, the current style of maternity care is procedure-intensive, costly and entails unnecessary risk. For example, induction and routine repeat c-section often contribute to preterm birth and expose women and babies to harm while offering little or no benefit. These and other common interventions: are associated with risk of harm to woman and baby; are experienced by a large and growing number of childbearing women; and result in wasted health care spending.
-- While the economic stimulus bill has over a billion dollars slated for research on the comparative effectiveness of different medical treatments, a wealth of systematic reviews (well over 2,000 summarizing high quality research evidence on specific maternity care topics) is already available to guide maternity care practice. But this valuable knowledge is grossly underutilized in the U.S.
-- A recent Milbank Memorial Fund report, Evidence-Based Maternity Care: What It Is and What It Can Achieve, shows that much of the care women receive is not consistent with the best evidence. It also outlines practices that have better results and are less technology- and procedure-intensive (e.g., continuous human support during labor). A Los Angeles Times op-ed (12-24-08) about this report concludes: "The Obama administration could save the country billions by overhauling the American way of birth."
“Consumers, legislators and health care stakeholders agree that access needs to be broadened, quality and value improved, and costs reduced. All of these goals are achievable for maternity care today by simply putting into practice what we already know,” said Corry.
What women want is often not what they get:
A national Harris Interactive survey of over 1,500 mothers shows that: About half of those with a previous c-section were interested in the option of vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC), but 57% were denied this option due to caregiver or hospital unwillingness; 17% who were induced say they felt pressured to do so by their caregiver, as did 25% of women who had cesareans; and, 73% of women had an episiotomy (a cut, rarely needed, to enlarge the opening of the vagina) reported that they had no choice in the matter.
“It’s time to replace provider and institutional centered care with patient-centered, evidence-based care that meets the individual needs, values, and preferences of women, babies and families. Better informed, shared decision making between patients and providers is essential to quality improvement,” said Corry.
Childbirth Connection’s 8 Steps to Reform Maternity Care:
-- Ensure access to quality, affordable health care to all women. Stop insurers from excluding pregnancy as a pre-existing condition and using past birth experiences (e.g., c-section) to justify ineligibility or higher charges.
-- Use maternity care practices proven to be best for women and babies.
-- Move to a primary maternity care model by, for example, employing more midwives and family physicians and expanding access to freestanding birth centers. Most childbearing women and babies are healthy and at low risk. Primary maternity care supports innate capacities for birthing, breastfeeding and attachment, avoids overuse, and gives priority to prevention and wellness.
-- Measure and publicly report the performance of maternity care providers and facilities, and use results to improve care.
-- Reform payment policy to stop rewarding procedure-heavy maternity care that is unnecessary for most women and babies, through such mechanisms as bundled risk-adjusted payment for an entire episode of pregnancy.
-- Medicaid, who pays for more than 43% of U.S. births, should initiate demonstration projects to test key strategies for maternity care quality improvement.
-- Engage and educate consumers to help them make informed maternity care decisions including use of decision-aids based on comparative effectiveness research.
-- Improve maternity health professions education and maternity care guidelines to enhance primary maternity care skills and knowledge to support innate capacities of mothers and newborns.
About Childbirth Connection
Founded in 1918, Childbirth Connection is a not-for-profit organization working to improve the quality of maternity care through research, education, advocacy and policy. As a voice for the needs and interests of over 4.3 million women who give birth annually, Childbirth Connection uses best research evidence and the results of its periodic national Listening to Mothers surveys to inform policy, practice, education and research.
# # #
May 18, 2009
Maternity Care, A Major Segment of Health Industry, Must Be Overhauled
For Health Care Reform to Succeed, Says Childbirth Connection
New York NY – As competing interests work out the particulars of health care reform, a leading national advocate for families and the women who give birth to over 4.3 million babies each year reminds the nation that rapid gains in the quality, value and cost of maternity care are achievable.
“It’s crystal clear: Let’s start providing maternity care that is proven to be the best,” said Maureen Corry, Executive Director of Childbirth Connection, a not-for-profit advocating evidence-based maternity care (www.childbirthconnection.org). “Then, women and babies will get higher quality care with better results, and the savings from following best practices can be put toward providing health care to all."
Maternity care is a major segment of health care:
-- 85% of women give birth. Childbirth is the number one reason for being hospitalized: 23% of those discharged from the hospital are childbearing women or newborns.
- Maternal and newborn charges are the runaway leader in hospital charges: $86 billion in 2006, $39 billion of which was shouldered by Medicaid. Childbirth accounts for six of the fifteen most common hospital procedures. Cesarean section is the most common operating room procedure.
-- The cost of childbirth is borne by employers and private insurers who pay for 49% of all births, and taxpayers and Medicaid programs who pay for 43% of births.
Costly childbirth procedures that entail risk are overused and wasteful, while proven ones that are generally safer and cheaper are underutilized:
-- Per capita health expenditures in the U.S. far exceed those of all other nations, but our performance lags distantly behind other developed nations on quality indicators including low birthweight, c-section and maternal death rates.
-- While the vast majority of childbearing women and their babies are healthy and at low risk, the current style of maternity care is procedure-intensive, costly and entails unnecessary risk. For example, induction and routine repeat c-section often contribute to preterm birth and expose women and babies to harm while offering little or no benefit. These and other common interventions: are associated with risk of harm to woman and baby; are experienced by a large and growing number of childbearing women; and result in wasted health care spending.
-- While the economic stimulus bill has over a billion dollars slated for research on the comparative effectiveness of different medical treatments, a wealth of systematic reviews (well over 2,000 summarizing high quality research evidence on specific maternity care topics) is already available to guide maternity care practice. But this valuable knowledge is grossly underutilized in the U.S.
-- A recent Milbank Memorial Fund report, Evidence-Based Maternity Care: What It Is and What It Can Achieve, shows that much of the care women receive is not consistent with the best evidence. It also outlines practices that have better results and are less technology- and procedure-intensive (e.g., continuous human support during labor). A Los Angeles Times op-ed (12-24-08) about this report concludes: "The Obama administration could save the country billions by overhauling the American way of birth."
“Consumers, legislators and health care stakeholders agree that access needs to be broadened, quality and value improved, and costs reduced. All of these goals are achievable for maternity care today by simply putting into practice what we already know,” said Corry.
What women want is often not what they get:
A national Harris Interactive survey of over 1,500 mothers shows that: About half of those with a previous c-section were interested in the option of vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC), but 57% were denied this option due to caregiver or hospital unwillingness; 17% who were induced say they felt pressured to do so by their caregiver, as did 25% of women who had cesareans; and, 73% of women had an episiotomy (a cut, rarely needed, to enlarge the opening of the vagina) reported that they had no choice in the matter.
“It’s time to replace provider and institutional centered care with patient-centered, evidence-based care that meets the individual needs, values, and preferences of women, babies and families. Better informed, shared decision making between patients and providers is essential to quality improvement,” said Corry.
Childbirth Connection’s 8 Steps to Reform Maternity Care:
-- Ensure access to quality, affordable health care to all women. Stop insurers from excluding pregnancy as a pre-existing condition and using past birth experiences (e.g., c-section) to justify ineligibility or higher charges.
-- Use maternity care practices proven to be best for women and babies.
-- Move to a primary maternity care model by, for example, employing more midwives and family physicians and expanding access to freestanding birth centers. Most childbearing women and babies are healthy and at low risk. Primary maternity care supports innate capacities for birthing, breastfeeding and attachment, avoids overuse, and gives priority to prevention and wellness.
-- Measure and publicly report the performance of maternity care providers and facilities, and use results to improve care.
-- Reform payment policy to stop rewarding procedure-heavy maternity care that is unnecessary for most women and babies, through such mechanisms as bundled risk-adjusted payment for an entire episode of pregnancy.
-- Medicaid, who pays for more than 43% of U.S. births, should initiate demonstration projects to test key strategies for maternity care quality improvement.
-- Engage and educate consumers to help them make informed maternity care decisions including use of decision-aids based on comparative effectiveness research.
-- Improve maternity health professions education and maternity care guidelines to enhance primary maternity care skills and knowledge to support innate capacities of mothers and newborns.
About Childbirth Connection
Founded in 1918, Childbirth Connection is a not-for-profit organization working to improve the quality of maternity care through research, education, advocacy and policy. As a voice for the needs and interests of over 4.3 million women who give birth annually, Childbirth Connection uses best research evidence and the results of its periodic national Listening to Mothers surveys to inform policy, practice, education and research.
# # #
LA Times article on Health Reform: Now what?
Kudos to The LA Times for pointing out in a piece last Sunday (Childbirth: Can the U.S. Improve?)what every birth activist and pregnant mother who felt she had a raw deal by the medical community knows: childbirth has got to change.
Please, mothers, if you're not going to listen to me or to your local birth activist then listen to Dr. Elliot Main, chief of obstetrics for Sutter Health, a Northern California hospital chain who was quoted in the WSJ piece saying:
"Cesarean birth ends up being a profit center in hospitals, so there's not a lot of incentive to reduce them."
Let me repeat that:
"Cesarean birth ends up being a profit center in hospitals, so there's not a lot of incentive to reduce them."
Yes, women, your bodies are not being respected and it's time to rise up and say something about it!
When is the US government going to finally address this billion dollar industry that abuses women's bodies? Just look at the economics: an incredible amount of money would be saved if low risk women were attended to by midwives. Why is the US so behind on this? Yep, you guessed it. Because money can be made off of women's pregnant bodies.
Please, everyone, wake up! Be BOLD! Get involved with healthcare reform. Obama is saying it's a priority, everyone's talking about it. Now they need to show women the money. Not the money that's being wasted on healthcare, the money that needs to be invested in saving women from abusive human rights violations all in the name of the almighty dollar.
Okay, done.
Visit:
1. The Big Push for Midwives click here
2. Childbirth Connections Millbank Report referred to in the WSJ piece.
Please, mothers, if you're not going to listen to me or to your local birth activist then listen to Dr. Elliot Main, chief of obstetrics for Sutter Health, a Northern California hospital chain who was quoted in the WSJ piece saying:
"Cesarean birth ends up being a profit center in hospitals, so there's not a lot of incentive to reduce them."
Let me repeat that:
"Cesarean birth ends up being a profit center in hospitals, so there's not a lot of incentive to reduce them."
Yes, women, your bodies are not being respected and it's time to rise up and say something about it!
When is the US government going to finally address this billion dollar industry that abuses women's bodies? Just look at the economics: an incredible amount of money would be saved if low risk women were attended to by midwives. Why is the US so behind on this? Yep, you guessed it. Because money can be made off of women's pregnant bodies.
Please, everyone, wake up! Be BOLD! Get involved with healthcare reform. Obama is saying it's a priority, everyone's talking about it. Now they need to show women the money. Not the money that's being wasted on healthcare, the money that needs to be invested in saving women from abusive human rights violations all in the name of the almighty dollar.
Okay, done.
Visit:
1. The Big Push for Midwives click here
2. Childbirth Connections Millbank Report referred to in the WSJ piece.
Big Push for Midwives on Capitol Hill
Wow, I'm super excited that the Big Push for Midwives is having a briefing for congress on how out-of-hospital maternity care reduces costs and improves outcomes. It's all happening this week on Thursday May 21. (I sure wish I wasn't dropping my kids off at school when it was happening...I'd love to be there!)
Right now you can: contact your congress member and tell them to be there! Click here for info on how to do it.
PushMedia Alert From The Big Push for Midwives Campaign
CONTACT: Steff Hedenkamp, (816) 506-4630, Steff@TheBigPushForMidwives.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, May 18, 2009
Congress Invited to Attend Issue Briefing on Maternity Care and the Role of Out-of-Hospital Birth in Reducing Costs, Improving Outcomes
Expert Panel to Address the Need to Include Services of Certified Professional Midwives in Health Care Reform
WHAT:
Members of Congress have been invited to learn more about how increasing access to out-of-hospital maternity care provided by Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) plays a critical role in lowering costs and improving outcomes as we reform our health care system.
WHY:
The current unsustainable model of U.S. maternity care delivers inferior results at premium costs. High rates of cesarean surgery are driving up costs without improving birth outcomes. Escalating rates of preterm and low birth weight deliveries are fueling high rates of infant mortality, and racial and ethnic disparities in birth outcomes, as well as increasing the long-term costs associated with maternity care.
WHO:
Kenneth C. Johnson, PhD, Senior Epidemiologist/ Research Scientist, Evidence and Risk Assessment Division, Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Control, Public Health Agency of Canada, Ontario, Canada
David A. Anderson, PhD, Paul G. Blazer Professor of Economics, Dept. of Economics, Centre College, Danville, KY
Betty-Anne Daviss, M.A., R.M., Research Midwife and Adjunct Professor, Pauline Jewett School of Women’s Studies, Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Eileen Nehme, MPH, Mother of two girls born out-of-hospital: six-year-old Iris and three-year-old Nora, Austin, TX
The Big Push for Midwives Campaign supports grassroots activists across the country as they build winning, state-level advocacy campaigns towards successful regulation and licensure of Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, as well as educates national policymakers about the reduced costs and improved outcomes associated with out-of-hospital maternity care.
WHERE:
Sewall-Belmont House, 144 Constitution Avenue, NE, Washington, D.C.
WHEN:
Between 8 and 9 a.m. on Thursday, May 21. Coffee and refreshments will be served.
#####
Right now you can: contact your congress member and tell them to be there! Click here for info on how to do it.
PushMedia Alert From The Big Push for Midwives Campaign
CONTACT: Steff Hedenkamp, (816) 506-4630, Steff@TheBigPushForMidwives.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, May 18, 2009
Congress Invited to Attend Issue Briefing on Maternity Care and the Role of Out-of-Hospital Birth in Reducing Costs, Improving Outcomes
Expert Panel to Address the Need to Include Services of Certified Professional Midwives in Health Care Reform
WHAT:
Members of Congress have been invited to learn more about how increasing access to out-of-hospital maternity care provided by Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) plays a critical role in lowering costs and improving outcomes as we reform our health care system.
WHY:
The current unsustainable model of U.S. maternity care delivers inferior results at premium costs. High rates of cesarean surgery are driving up costs without improving birth outcomes. Escalating rates of preterm and low birth weight deliveries are fueling high rates of infant mortality, and racial and ethnic disparities in birth outcomes, as well as increasing the long-term costs associated with maternity care.
WHO:
Kenneth C. Johnson, PhD, Senior Epidemiologist/ Research Scientist, Evidence and Risk Assessment Division, Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Control, Public Health Agency of Canada, Ontario, Canada
David A. Anderson, PhD, Paul G. Blazer Professor of Economics, Dept. of Economics, Centre College, Danville, KY
Betty-Anne Daviss, M.A., R.M., Research Midwife and Adjunct Professor, Pauline Jewett School of Women’s Studies, Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Eileen Nehme, MPH, Mother of two girls born out-of-hospital: six-year-old Iris and three-year-old Nora, Austin, TX
The Big Push for Midwives Campaign supports grassroots activists across the country as they build winning, state-level advocacy campaigns towards successful regulation and licensure of Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, as well as educates national policymakers about the reduced costs and improved outcomes associated with out-of-hospital maternity care.
WHERE:
Sewall-Belmont House, 144 Constitution Avenue, NE, Washington, D.C.
WHEN:
Between 8 and 9 a.m. on Thursday, May 21. Coffee and refreshments will be served.
#####
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