Midwifery Today articles from March 22 2003

Midwifery Today archives from March 22 2003

Editorial: one birth, one woman at a time.(Brief Article)(Editorial)
March 22, 2003... Do you ever have this haunting thought: "Why am I working so hard for change and to improve conditions for motherbaby when things keep getting worse?" When I look at birth around the world I realize that the changing of medicalized,...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
March 22, 2003... In the table of contents in Issue 63, we incorrectly listed Rebecca Turecky as the author of "Midwifing Midwifwery in Mexico," an article written by Laura Cao Romero. Our apologies to both authors.

Vision of Unity.(Poem)
March 22, 2003... VISION OF UNITY Like many of us, I have been praying with my ears, listening to midwives all around the world. How can we (wo)manifest the vision of unity that would serve families? Meditating upon the divisions...

Aggressive medicine. (Networking).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... I love your Web site and find it a source of inspiration. I was first introduced to midwifery during college, while working at a bookstore in Greensboro, NC. An aspiring midwife special-ordered Spiritual Midwifery, and I fell in love with...

Mainstream desires? (Networking).
March 22, 2003... After reading Jan Tritten's editorial "Out of the Pot, Into the Fire" [Issue 63], I had thoughts swarming in my head about the nature of midwifery and all the political aspects that have been added to it lately. There is a huge movement...

Preventing perineal tears. (Tricks of the Trade).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... If a mom is in the birth tub, I encourage her to position herself instinctively and put her hands on the perineum as the head emerges. This eliminates entirely the "push a little, now pant, now push a little" routine. The mother knows exactly...

Chinese remedy. (Tricks of the Trade).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... My midwifery partner and I have had great results using the Chinese herbal remedy, Yunan Paiyo, both for postpartum hemorrhage and bleeding from perineal tears, even vascular tears. We purchase it in capsule form, open each capsule as needed,...

In the water. (Tricks of the Trade).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... Laboring in the water is wonderful. I encourage women to get in at about 6cm. They immediately sigh with happiness. Birthing in the water is a very gentle way for the baby to be born. I have taken care of several women who previously had...

Slow birth. (Tricks of the Trade).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... I have attended several births with women who have had fourth-degree tears, and they usually deliver just fine. The side-lying position is very good. I always try for slow birth with a little warm oil on the perineum and support of the head...

Iced treats. (Tricks of the Trade).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... For herbal postpartum treatment of the perineum, instead of, or in addition to using squeeze bottles, line a cookie sheet with foil, place sterile 4x4 gauze pads on the foil, pour the herbal liquid over them and freeze. Once the pads are...

Four-handed birth. (Tricks of the Trade).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... In order to prevent tears upon delivery of a baby, I have found it very useful to have my midwifery partner take care of the inferior part of the body as it slides from the mother's body while I hold the part closest to the head. If I am by...

Too many Braxton Hicks contractions. (Tricks of the Trade).
March 22, 2003... If a woman complains of excessive Braxton Hicks contractions, have her try the following herbal remedy: Three parts skullcap or passionflower One part sliced fresh ginger Two parts wild yam Mix 1 oz. of herb to a pint...

The worst day, the best day. (Tricks of the Trade).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... It isn't harmful to tell a mom that during labor and birth she could have pain that is like nothing she has ever felt--be it tightening, cramping, exploding, whatever--or that she could sail through the experience. Every body is different and...

When she's torn. (Tricks of the Trade).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... It is a good idea to advise all moms who have torn, whether sutured or not, to keep their legs together as much as possible for the first week following birth. For some women, being sutured may give a false sense of security as to the...

Childbirth and healing. (Marion's Message).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... The muscles of the human pelvic floor are like a sling or hammock that carries the weight of the abdominal organs. They are attached around the inner surface of the pelvic brim and interweave in a complex manner that supports and protects the...

Q: What new or old techniques have proven useful to you in preventing tears during childbirth? (Question of the Quarter).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... A: I only needed two stitches after giving birth to my daughter three years ago. I was told during my pregnancy to take warm baths and then apply olive oil to the vaginal opening a few times a week to soften the tissue and help it to become...

Champagne and the fetus ejection reflex.(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... The more I try to combine what I have learned from my experience of hospital birth and homebirth, the more I am convinced that the best way to protect the perineum, to avoid a serious tear and to eliminate the reasons for episiotomy is to...

Everything you need to know to prevent perineal tearing.
March 22, 2003... This is on edited version of an excerpt from her book, Get Through Childbirth in One Piece! How to Prevent Episiotomies and Tearing Risks for Tearing When a woman wisely decides to forgo an episiotomy, is it realistic to expect her...

Making room for babies.
March 22, 2003... Attending women in labour who give birth with intact perineums is something that midwives take great pride in. There have been many theories, tips and tricks for midwives to help women birth without injuring their perineums. Many of these...

Is prevention always the best cure?(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... Without having read the other articles in this issue of Midwifery Today, I feel fairly confident that a number of my midwife friends will have written brilliant articles sharing tips, tricks and ideas for preventing perineal tears. And I am...

Tear prevention the orgasmic way.(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... They kissed lovingly as their baby's head began to emerge from her perineum. It was almost too intimate a moment to witness: mother and father expressing their love as the mother opened her lips, soft and moist, and the baby boy came into the...

Easing the baby out.(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... The aura of a labor in full bloom. She is having waves of contractions every two to three minutes, with breathing that sounds full and deep, musical with intensity at the peak and then, the exhale.... Blowing away, releasing. A moment of...

Tips on tear prevention.(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... We asked midwives for their insight into tear prevention. Here's what they said: I know most of us believe that tear prevention begins with the first prenatal visits. Healthy tissue, a trust in the birth process and a good working...

The perineum and the birth environment.
March 22, 2003... The hallmark of a good midwife seems be her ability to preserve an intact perineum. Indeed, it is a blessing to avoid a tear and its accompanying pain. Women have been, and continue to be, traumatized and scarred by unnecessary damage done to...

What if? Tearing, stitching and pelvic floor healing.
March 22, 2003... Recently the "stitch or don't stitch" question came up on a mailing list. The question made me look at my own fears about tearing and the consequences of the choice to stitch or not to stitch. When my daughter was born in the hospital, I knew...

The art of the sitz bath.
March 22, 2003... Sore, swollen perinea, "skid marks," tears, episiotomies and hemorrhoids all heal beautifully when aided by herbal remedies. Options for application include poultices, compresses, peri-washes and vaginal steams. Another convenient method of...

More than just a scar.
March 22, 2003... "Here," I tell my husband, pressing the tips of his fingers into the scar across my abdomen. "Touch it right here." "Doesn't that feel weird?" I say. "Doesn't that just feel awful?" "Yes," he says. He says, "Yeah, wow." He says,...

Reflections of my obstetrical training.
March 22, 2003... This article first appeared in Mother to Mother, October 2002. My first obstetrical exposure was a high school job working in the newborn nursery at a community hospital. From the nursery, I could hear all the laboring women suffer and I...

Culture of fear: parallels between hospital birth and gun ownership.(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... Most parents in the U.S. choose to give birth at a hospital. It's hard for many Americans to imagine handling birth any other way. Fearing life-threatening complications, most rush from home and spend the last hours of pregnancy at a labor...

Midwifery and the constitution: a certified paralegal lays down the law: success will be achieved in the state legislatures, not the courts.
March 22, 2003... Two common arguments midwives make against laws affecting midwifery are that the statutes (typically medical, nursing and midwifery practice acts) violate the midwife's right to practice a profession or violate the mother's right to privacy....

Midwife's journal.
March 22, 2003... It's one a.m. and I roll out of the warmth and comfort of my lover's arms to answer the telephone. On the other end is the anxious, breathless voice of a young husband saying," I think my wife needs you." The room is cold as I dress, clutch...

Homeopathy for the childbirth attendant.
March 22, 2003... Homeopathy can be, at times, a great comfort, and at other times, profoundly life saving. In the art of midwifery, the use of homeopathic remedies can make all the difference in the world in the prevention and treatment of conditions that...

Dehydration and the infant: warning signs and treatment.
March 22, 2003... One of the most common questions that accompany breastfeeding and first-time moms is, "How do I know if my baby is getting enough?" In a society where infant formula is served in visibly graduated bottles, women who breastfeed often worry...

Enlisting change around the world.(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... Since founding Midwifery Today magazine in 1986, I have had an interest in international midwifery. I have always had the feeling that the keys to helping and understanding the birth process would be found all over this marvelous globe with...

A happy collaboration.
March 22, 2003... I am part of an eight-member group of home and hospital birth center professionals in Guadalajara, Mexico, who work together, sharing births and welcoming new life. Recently, I was called to the home of a couple planning their third home...

En Esopanol: La crianza empieza en el utero.(text in Spanish)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... A si es. Entre las tareas cotidianas, las preocupaciones, los ensuenos, las vitaminas, las ecografias, los controles, las relaciones, los bebes se van incorporando a la vida dentro del cuerpo materno y van sumando sus mensajes...

In English: upbringing begins in the uterus.(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... Editor's Note: This English version of Laura Lerner Emmer's article is less of a word-by-word translation, than it is a capturing of the article's essence and philosophical approach. We have included the article because of its poetic...

The midwife in traditional Ukrainian culture: ritual, folklore and mythology.
March 22, 2003... Excerpted from the Slovic and East European Folklore Association (SEEFA) Journal, Volume VII. In Ukraine, just as elsewhere, the traditional midwife, or baba (grandmother), coexisted with those who had received some training. The latter...

Lessons from one of the last Tica midwives.(Costa Rica)
March 22, 2003... When I moved to Costa Rica in 1990, after finishing my midwifery intensive training course with a California direct-entry midwife, I had dreamed of meeting a traditional Tica (Costa Rican) midwife and working by her side. I was stunned when I...

Improving birth in Nigeria.
March 22, 2003... During the past 35 years, my apprenticeship with birth has challenged me to redefine my concept of fear, trust and responsibility. I am the founder and president of Gentle Birth Education Centre Nigeria, Inc. (GBECN). GBECN is a non-profit...

Midwifery education in Slovenia.
March 22, 2003... "Our mission is to serve the interest of women and their newborn and families through the advancement of midwifery education, practice, management and research worldwide" (International Confederation of Midwives, 1993). Ministering to...

Interviews with "maiden midwivess": reaching out to the next generation.
March 22, 2003... We Continue with this ongoing series, which will explore the individual paths of aspiring midwives. We will learn from these young women, gaining fresh new perspectives. By listening and learning, we can strengthen ourselves and expand our...

Antiretroviral therapy during pregnancy and the risk of an adverse outcome. (Journal Abstracts).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... Tuomala, R.E., et al., New England Journal of Medicine, 2002 346(24): 1863-70. This study sought to determine whether combination antiretroviral therapy in pregnant women with human immunodeficiency virus type I (HIV-1) increases the...

Association of a woman's own birth weight with subsequent risk for gestational diabetes. (Journal Abstracts).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... Innes, K.E., et al., JAMA, 2002 287(19). A study to test the hypothesis that a woman's own fetal growth is inversely related to her later risk for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) used data from live-birth registry and hospital...

Aspirin reduces risk of preterm delivery in high-risk pregnancy. (Around the World).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... In a randomized prospective study of at-risk pregnant women, a low dose of aspirin taken at bedtime, rather than earlier in the day, significantly reduced the incidence of preeclampsia, gestational hypertension, intrauterine growth...

Family member as doula. (Around the World).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... Women in a Botswana hospital who were expecting their first child and were accompanied by a female relative during labor were surveyed for outcome. Statistics for supported versus unsupported women showed that 91 percent had a vaginal...

Episiotomy stats. (Pregnancy and Childbirth).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... Approximately 40 percent of all vaginal deliveries in the U.S. include an episiotomy. A study examined episiotomy in the country from 1980 to 1998, when the trend toward avoiding the routine use of the procedure was strong. Data were obtained...

Perineal massage can be beneficial. (Pregnancy and Childbirth).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... A study that included 616 nulliparous women with singleton pregnancies--half in the experimental group and half in a control group--was undertaken to identify the benefits of antenatal perineal massage. The women in the first group used...

Vaccine protects neonatal mice from group B strep. (Pregnancy and Childbirth).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... Maternal immunization with a recombinant version of the group B streptococcus surface protein, Sip, provides neonatal mice with immunity against group B streptococcal (GBS) infections, Canadian researchers report. Dr. Denis Martin of Centre...

Breastfeeding raises babies' IQs. (Pregnancy and Childbirth).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life gives full-term infants who are born small the advantage of an average of 11 points higher on IQ tests compared with those who are given formula or solids early on. Researchers at the...

Home uterine monitors don't predict preterm birth. (Pregnancy and Childbirth).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in the U.S. studied 306 women in 11 maternal-fetal health units who were given portable uterine contraction monitors, which relay information to a central office, to try to...

Birthmarks best left alone. (Pregnancy and Childbirth).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... Leaving babies' strawberry birthmarks (hemangiomas) alone is as effective as laser surgery because the rate of clear-up a year later is almost identical. The lesions are caused by an excess of blood vessels near the surface of the skin and...

Acute retinopathy of prematurity. (Pregnancy and Childbirth).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... Data from four recent randomized trials and one older quasi-randomized trial failed to show any reduction in acute retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) or poor ROP outcome with the reduction of ambient light to premature infants' retinas. The...

Printed information empowers pregnant women. (Pregnancy and Childbirth).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... The effectiveness of two information leaflets about postnatal vaginal bleeding/discharge for use by postnatal women and health care professionals was studied to test the use of the leaflets in clinical settings. For the women who returned an...

Vaginal prolapse and bowel function. (Pregnancy and Childbirth).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... A study sought to describe symptoms related to bowel dysfunction in women with utero-vaginal prolapse and to compare these symptoms according to extent of posterior vaginal prolapse. The mean age of the study group was 59.2 years, and 78...

Emotions of miscarriage unaddressed. (Pregnancy and Childbirth).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... Although 10 to 20 percent of diagnosed pregnancies end in miscarriage, the emotional effects of the early loss of a pregnancy have been little studied in women and less so in their partners. There is no systematic treatment protocol in place...

Conference celebrates 100 years of licensed midwifery. (Midwives in the News).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) in the U.K. presented an International Conference, "Birth Rights--Liberty through Legislation," in October, 2002, celebrating 100 years of midwifery legislation in Great Britain. The RCM is committed to...

Liability insurance crisis forces obstetrical practitioners out. (Midwives in the News).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... Rapidly increasing malpractice insurance premiums are a problem throughout the health care industry in the U.S., particularly for midwives and other obstetrical practitioners. Extremely high jury awards in medical malpractice cases have led...

Maternal and Infant Assessment for Breastfeeding and Human Lactation: a Guide for the Practitioner.(Book Review)
March 22, 2003... Karin Cadwell, Cynthia Turner-Maffei, Barbara O'Connor and Anna Blair, 2002. (Sudbury, Massachusetts: Jones and Bartlett, $34.95 U.S., 116 pages, paperback.) There are many breastfeeding books on the market today. This gives us the...

Midwifery, Mind and Spirit: Emerging Issues of Care.(Book Review)
March 22, 2003... Jennifer Hall, 2001. (Boston, Massachusetts: Butterworth-Heineman Medical, $34.95 U.S., 134 pages, paperback.) When we think of spirituality we often think of religion. But spirituality is much more. Midwifery, Mind and Spirit...

Waterbirth: an Attitude to Care.(Book Review)
March 22, 2003... 2nd Edition, Dianne Garland, 2000. (Boston, Massachusetts: Butterworth-Heinemann Medical, $24.95 U.S., 165 pages, paperback.) While water-birthing is not a new concept, it is still not widely accepted. This book examines the use of...

A Holistic Guide to Embracing Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Motherhood: Wisdom and Advice from a Doula.(Book Review)
March 22, 2003... Karen Salt, 2003. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Perseus Publishing, $15.95 U.S., 213 pages, paperback.) It's nice to see someone who has published articles in Midwifery Today blossom into a full-fledged author of a book. Karen Salt's debut...

Homebirth Bound: Mending the Broken Weave.(Book Review)
March 22, 2003... Maggie Banks, 2000. (Hamilton, New Zealand: Birthspirit Books Ltd., $21.50 U.S./$39.00 New Zealand, 243 pages, paperback.) What is the broken weave? I wondered when I first picked up this book. Later, I read Maggie Banks' description of...

Midwifery research possibilities. (Networking).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... The Investigator Awards in Health Policy Research program requests proposals to interpret, develop or substantially advance ideas or knowledge that can improve health or health care policy in the United States. The program, sponsored by...

Unity issues. (Networking).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... Thank you for your ongoing efforts to put women first. I am a 22-year-old aspiring midwife and I experience a strong gravitational pull toward this path of love. I am a child of a "natural" hospital birth, a daughter of spirituality and a...

Midwifery symphony. (Networking).(Brief Article)
March 22, 2003... I inhaled your Issue 64--a fresh breath of truth in a world suffocating from the absent simplicity of natural birth. I loved reading about my friend Verena Schmid, a rising star on the firmament of the homebirth renaissance. She was the first...

Calendar.
March 22, 2003... Midwifery Today Conferences Eugene, Oregon: March 27-31, 2003 Midwifery: With Woman London, England: June 26-29, 2003 Toward Better Birth Oaxaca, Mexico: September 24-28, 2003 Honoring the Traditional Midwife in the Americas...

Photo album.
March 22, 2003... Terra Andeana Fleischer February 27, 2002 8 pounds 13 ounces Parents: Amy Jo Rist and Daniel Fleischer Midwives: Marilyn Milestone, Rhonda Ray and Beth Sagli Doula: Joanna Agee Photos taken by Joanna Agee and Kerri...