Pregnant Robot Trains OBs

You must check this out...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAzmC0uYKAY&feature=related

Here's my two favorite comments:

Ummm.....how interesting that here we are in 2009, and the robot is positioned flat on her back - that absolute worst and most illogical position for a birthing mother to be in! And the doctor actually says the robot is in "the same position" that a real mother would be in - as if all mothers give birth in the same position!

and this one sums it up:

thats cool but fucked up

Why Obama Must Support My Body Rocks Education

So last night I'm watching Obama speak about healthcare reform and I think all his points lead to one conclusion in maternity care: midwifery.

Here's the quote I loved the most:

"Why not pay half price for the thing that's going to make you well?"

For low risk pregnant women that's midwives!

Here's something he said that I question given all the evidence-based research on maternity care that says midwifery is a safe option for low risk women:

"If doctors and patients have the best info about what works and what doesn't then they're going to want to pay for what works."

It's a logical argument, but it's not that simple. Why? One word: fear. Not money, which is part of the problem, but fear is really the bigger problem. I see this again and again at BOLD events when evidence based information on maternity care is presented, when women are told their local hospital has a very high c-section rate, and they still want to go to the local hospital and try to have a natural birth. Or they think a c-section - major abdominal surgery - is what works; what's best for women. So my question is how do we rid people of fear? Fear of their bodies, fear of prosecution, fear of feminine wisdom?

I completely agree with Obama that patients need to be "more discriminating consumers," but what does this mean on a grassroots level? How are people supposed to sort through all the information out there and discriminate? I think the only answer is to get people more in touch with their bodies and souls. THEN we can discriminate, THEN we make decisions that are heart-based, not fear-based. THEN we can have a "My Body Rocks!" birth experience. For me, that's the point.

Healthcare warning: People will be harmed!

I'm about to go watch Obama speak about Healthcare Reform tonight, but I did want to share this tidbit I heard today on NPR from a NY Times Healthcare reporter. He said - and of course we know this - that the healthcare industry is huge and the bottom line is money. Right now, he said, the healthcare industry is being very careful to frame their argument for less reform in a "if we reduce costs then people will be harmed" instead of the truth which is "if we reduced costs then there would be less money in our pockets."

Maternity care is an obvious place where billions are spent needlessly for procedures that are often unnecessary. You just have to look at the UK where they officially support homebirths with midwives because they have a healthcare system where they try to keep costs low to see that the "people will be harmed" argument doesn't hold.

Where are the protests?!!

ACOG on Labor Induction

Do 1 out of every 5 mothers really need to have their labors induced? I've got to wonder. And ACOG, I guess, is wondering too. Although I'm a little concerned their quick reference to misoprostol (in layman's terms Cytotech)doesn't really address the many deaths caused by this drug in first time mothers. Women need to know this. They also need to know that sometimes- as in the hospital I went to last year to attend the birth of my good friend - Cytotech is the only drug offered to "gently induce" because it's cheaper than Cervadil and as one OB told me "does the job quicker." Well, check out Ina May's Maternal Mortality quilt to learn more about the consequences of doing birth quicker.

Here are the ACOG guidelines: http://www.acog.org/from_home/publications/press_releases/nr07-21-09.cfm

ACOG revises thoughts on Electronic Fetal Heart Monitoring

I've been meaning to blog about this for a month now. (Yes, my kids are home ALOT this summer and think I'm a camp counselor not a writer!).

I was so happy to see this. Finally, ACOG is addressing the wide variability that exists with interpretation by doctors of electronic fetal heart monitoring on mothers in labor.

Now let's confront the number of women who ended up with c-sections because of EFM mis-interpretations!

We must work together to use EFM to improve care to mothers, not harm them!

Hmmm...

Here's ACOG's statement: http://www.acog.org/from_home/publications/press_releases/nr06-22-09-2.cfm

PUSH for out of hospital maternity care

Sign the Big Push for Midwives' petition. Now!

http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/6063/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=444

Zambia, Birth Photo, an Arrest. and... you're not going to believe this!

Shame on Zambia. A mother gives birth in front of the government hospital because the nation's health workers were on strike and she couldn't get any medical attention. The child dies. The father takes photos of his wife giving birth to the newspaper to make sure people know this is happening. The editor of the newspaper sends the photos to various "Big Men" in Zambian politics and...the editor is charged with pornography and may go to jail! This is just outrageous.

Check out the NY Times piece here.

I've been at government hospitals in several African countries and even if the health workers weren't on strike women are laying in the hallway in labor and often there are not enough medical supplies for emergencies, but to ignore these dire realities and needs and instead take a picture of a mother giving birth and call it pornography is really the lowest of the low for mothers in Zambia.

ALL mothers need access to safe and compassionate maternity care. The reality is neither is often available for African women. (Check out the The White Ribbon Alliance, Earth Birth and contribute to helping our sisters in Africa).

"Pit to Distress"

There's lots of blogging buzz at the moment that "Pit to Distress" - that's PITOCIN, the common drug given to women who get induced or are told by the hospital their labor needs to speed up (Pitocin gets the uterus to contract faster), and the DISTRESS meaning doctors are giving orders for nurses to up the Pitocin on mothers until the mother/baby go into distress and then the mother can be told "We have a problem and we're going to need to do a C-section."

Is this criminal? Well, if it isn't it should be.

Do I wish I had never heard about this? Yes, but unfortunately this is not my first knowledge of "Pit to Distress" orders. When I wrote my play and was doing research 2 Labor and Delivery nurses told me about this practice. Neither would go on the record for me so I decided not to put it in the play.

Did I know it was more common practice than the two hospitals where these nurses worked? No. But you bet I suspected it's more widespread than 2 hospitals. That's why I quickly finished writing my play and tried to do my part to warn women that, I'm sorry, the hospital does not have your best interest at heart. I know people don't want to hear this - especially a pregnant woman - but it's the unfortunate truth. Sure there are better hospitals and some fabulous OBs and midwives. Some women do have wonderful birth experiences in hospitals. But the bottom line in hospitals is money. And c-sections are money and lower the risk of lawsuits. It's that heartless.

I noticed one blogger mentioned that Dr Marsden Wagner told women in his book "Born in the USA" that this term is being used. I've always been shocked that his book got so little press. We all embraced Jennifer Block's book "Pushed" - which is fabulous - but in turn we discarded one of the most right-on people writing about maternity care. Dr Wagner has seen maternity care first hand and is a physician who has not been afraid to blow the whistle. I encourage everyone to embrace his book. It's unfortunately the honest truth. Yes, a cold shower and not the literary prose of Jennifer Block's book, but it's the truth and everyone needs to hear it and rise up, be BOLD and stop these criminal practices in maternity care.

Here are some links of people weighing in on this:

http://www.unnecesarean.com/blog/2009/7/6/pit-to-distress-your-ticket-to-an-emergency-cesarean.html

http://phdoula.blogspot.com/2009/07/pit-to-distress-around-birth-blogs.html

And a passionate You Tube video by a mom on this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRpseY2aiwM