tagged w/ midwifery
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Ina May Gaskin started delivering babies in 1970 while on a hippie cross-country trip known as the caravan. She had no medical training, just a master's degree in English and a gut feeling that women deserved kinder, gentler births. When the hundreds of caravaners settled in Tennessee on what they called the Farm, Gaskin and several other women began delivering the community's babies at home and also opened one of the first, nonhospital birthing centers in the country. Word got around when Gaskin wrote about her successes in Spiritual Midwifery, and a movement was born.
Today, women still travel far and wide to give birth on the Farm, and Gaskin's methods have the respect of clinicians around the world (there is even an obstetric maneuver named after her). Now 71, she is credited with reviving what was essentially a dead profession in the U.S., inspiring scores of women to enter the field and helping found the Midwives Alliance of North America. But even while midwives attend more births in the U.S. — about 7.5% in 2008 — they're finding it increasingly hard to get practice agreements with doctors and hospitals. In her latest book, Birth Matters: A Midwife's Manifesta (Seven Stories, April 2011), Gaskin argues that America needs midwives more than ever.
You started attending births with no formal medical training. How did you know you could do it?
I knew how to deal with potential complications because kind doctors helped me. But basically I was behaving the way my aunt, who had a farm, would around any laboring mammal. You don't disturb her, you don't upset her. She deserves peace and quiet and respect. Doing that meant that no C-sections were necessary for the first 200 births on the Farm.
The C-section rate on the Farm is very low, under 2% for about 3,000 births, while the average in the U.S. for low-risk women is 20%. Can you explain?
It's very rare to see an undisturbed birth in a modern U.S. teaching hospital, but when you see a woman who isn't frightened, who's giving birth without interference, you stand back in awe and realize how little needed you are except in the rare circumstance. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't be around in case there is a problem. It just means that you should be able to tell when there's a problem, and you should be able to tell how not to create problems.
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http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2062393,00.html#ixzz1P9FhJMRxIna May Gaskin started delivering babies in 1970 while on a hippie cross-country trip... more
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The 62cms (24.4ins) boy, who has not yet been given a name, was born by caesarean section at a hospital in North Sumatra province.
A gynaecologist who took part in the operation said the 'special delivery' was no easy feat.
"This heavy baby made the surgery really tough, especially the process of taking him out of his mum's womb. His legs were so big," Binsar Sitanggang said.
The boy's huge size was most likely the result of his 41-year-old mother having diabetes, Mr Sitanggang said.
Mr Sitanggang described the baby as "extraordinary" in almost every way.
"He's got strong appetite, every minute, it's almost non-stop feeding," he said.
"This baby boy is extraordinary, the way he's crying is not like a usual baby. It's really loud."The 62cms (24.4ins) boy, who has not yet been given a name, was born by caesarean... more
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Pregnant with her first child, Julie Speier prepared to deliver with the help of a midwife at a New York City birthing center. But in June -- three weeks before the due date and 600 miles from home -- her water broke.
Speier gave birth at a Cincinnati hospital, where she and her fiance tried desperately to keep the birth natural -- a vaginal delivery without pain medication.
"I believe in the power of nature and that creation is next to perfect," said Speier, a 34-year-old yoga teacher. "I knew what I wanted and I had the confidence."
But as labor pains increased and Speier asked about breathing techniques, the doctor replied, "How do I know? I've only ever done two (natural childbirths)."
Today, natural childbirth is a medical anomaly in the United States, so much so that doctors are often thrown off guard by a determined woman like Speier.
A small but growing number of women who seek to avoid aggressive medical techniques like induced labor, epidural blocks and Caesarean sections find they are a lone voice among their friends and doctors.
--read the whole article at link--
I'm currently editing a pod on midwifery, does anyone have any birth stories to share? Pregnant with her first child, Julie Speier prepared to deliver with the help of... more
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