Choices In Childbirth » Health Care

Prematurity is a Health issue for North Americans

doula — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:08:38 +0000

In response to a March of Dimes report, the NY Times published an AP piece this morning highlighting the fact that while premature babies remain a concern in developing countries, this is also a local issue for those of us who live in North America.

Early Births Take a Toll

One thing we need to keep in mind is that premature birth can have long term consequence well-past the time spent in the NICU. These families may have to deal with a lifetime of blindness, cerebral palsy, developmental delays and other issues.

The March of Dimes is doing amazing work to help educate families and prevent prematurity around the world.

For some simple and practical solutions that can point our families and babies toward healthier, safer beginnings, check out this video on Reducing Infant Mortality.

Where can I find Safer, Less-Costly Maternity care? With a Midwife.

doula — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:09:12 +0000

There is a great article published this week outlining many of the benefits of having a midwife attend your birth. The first and most important is that it is safer for you and your baby if you are healthy and low risk (close to 90% of pregnancies can be cared for by midwives). This means that low-risk births attended by midwives have equal or better outcomes. The to add some icing to the cake, it doesn’t cost as much!

I know that culturally to Americans, this makes no sense at first glance. We are programmed culturally to respond that when we throw more money and gadgets at a given situation, we feel like it has to be “better.” But in the case of childbirth, less is actually more. The less we interfere with high tech measures and the more low-tech emotional and physical support we give women, we have more healthy moms and babies.

Check it out here: Midwives: A Safe, Cost-Saving Alternative

And here: The Milbank Foundation Outlines how midwifery care has better outcomes and lower costs.

Reducing Infant Mortality – the Video

doula — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 03:18:04 +0000

Becoming parents for the first time or adding another new life to your family is full of decisions and choices about your health care – during the pregnancy, the birth, and beyond. This video looks at pregnancy and childbirth through a broad lens advocating practices that best serve moms, babies, and families nationwide.

Reducing Infant Mortality from Debby Takikawa on Vimeo.

Reducing the Infant Mortality Rate and Improving the Health of Babies

doula — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 04:26:19 +0000

Screnshot from the trailer of Reducing Infant Mortality

Just saw on UnneCesarean a post about a free online film being released on July 26th: Reducing Infant Mortality and Improving the Health of Babies. It highlights the sad fact that too many babies are dying in the U.S. around the time of birth. As health care is debated on Capitol Hill this summer, this film is hoping to bring light to a particularly dark corner of our health care system.

I knew that in the US, we ranked very poorly overall, especially when compared to other developed nations (42nd in fact). I learned watching the trailer that it is even more perilous for African American babies in the U.S. With a rate of 16 deaths per 100 births, African American babies are close to 2.5 times more likely to die around the time of birth than babies from the general population in the U.S. This is scandalous.

Experts interviewed for the film are Obstetricians, Family Physicians, Midwives, MD’s, Doulas, and PhD’s including: Michel Odent, Thomas Verny, Marshall Klaus, Phyllis Klaus, Marsdsen Wagner, David Chamberlain, Karen Strange, Robbie Davis-Floyd, Jennie Joseph, Sarah Buckley, Bruce Smith, Yeshi Neumann, Paul Fleiss, Maria Iorillo, Stuart Fischbein, Debra Bonaro-Pascali and Judith Prager.

Watch the trailer here: Reducing Infant Mortality

Get Involved Here: Reducing Infant Mortality: Take Action