Midwifery & Doula News from SMS
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Greetings!
What a wonderful party we had! The auction was great and we did indeed Connect! We met our fundraising goals and equally important everyone seemed to be having fun.
Thank you to everyone who joined us and who contributed so generously of your time, energy and money! Special thanks to our honorary chair, Warren Etheredge, and our incredible auctioneer, Laura Michalek. Please visit our website to see a list of our wonderful sponsors and volunteers and the huge list of businesses and individuals that donated. Please support them. (Tell them SMS sent you!)
We are still wrapping up the details of the auction, but also have to turn our attention to the business at hand ... educating and inspiring leaders in the childbirth professions. Read on to learn more about upcoming Simkin School classes, an update on the merger with Bastyr University, the Myers Midwifery Scholarship Fund and so much more.
Cheers!
Mary Yglesia
Director
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| Contact Us |
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info@seattlemidwifery.org
4000 NE 41st Street
Building D, Suite 3
Seattle, Washington 98105
206.322.8834 / 800.747.9433
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Simkin School celebrates International Doula Month with a $25 discount on all classes!
New Registrations Only!
 Fine Print: Expires May 30, 2009. Good for one 2009 Simkin School course paid in full by 4 PM, Friday, May 29, 2009.
Click here for a class schedule. One coupon per person. Not valid with any other offers. Phone Registration and Credit Card payments only.
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Myers Midwifery Scholarship Fund
 In honor of Jo Anne Myers-Ciecko and Suzy Myers we have raised more than $36,000 to kick start the scholarship fund to offer tuition support for midwifery education. Thank you to everyone who contributed - family, graduates and friends.
This is a great start, and we are now creating the eligibility and funding criteria for this incredible resource. Education is not cheap, and in order to preserve a steady stream of midwifery graduates to serve all women who want this care, we must continue to grow this scholarship. Click here to learn more about this fund and how to make your donation.
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 Looking Back at the Changing Face of Maternity Care
Article by Simkin School Faculty, Penny Simkin
"Over Seattle's Child's lifetime and my
career, we have witnessed massive shifts in maternity care in the U.S.
and in Seattle. For the record, I have always felt (a little
chauvinistically) that Seattle is the best place in the country to have
a baby. I still feel that way today, but with less conviction than I
did a decade ago." Read Penny Simkin's article in Seattle's Child.
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2009 Womens' Health Heroes
Our Bodies Ourselves presents the 2009 Womens' Health Heroes, honoring the work of women's health advocates worldwide. The 20 outstanding individuals and organizations inducted in May 2009 have made significant, long-lasting contributions to women's health. Their work covers a wide range of health fields and disciplines. Included are midwives and women advocating for safer, more comfortable births.
Click here to meet the "heroes."
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Update on Merger TalksEverything is still on track, and we anticipate that the merger of Seattle Midwifery School with Bastyr University will take place this summer. Both programs - midwifery and Simkin School will be in the newly formed School of Natural Health Arts and Sciences at Bastyr, but they will no longer be joined as one. We are sisters forever, but now with separate budgets! Please see our website for more information including a FAQ page.
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From the American Association of Birth Centers: H.R. 2358 - The Medicaid Birth Center Reimbursement Act - Introduced in U.S. House of Representatives
U.S. Reps. Susan Davis (D-CA) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) have introduced the Medicaid Birth Center Reimbursement Act to ensure Medicaid birth center facility fee payments to states.
Today, President Obama announced that health care leaders have pledged to save the nation $2 trillion in the next 10 years. Birth centers are part of the solution to our soaring maternity care costs, and they also provide a safety net for Medicaid women. This is not the time to be discontinuing payment to facilities that provide safe, cost-effective care for healthy women with Medicaid.
All of our work is paying off, however, we still have much to do to pass this legislation.
1) Call your U.S. Representatives and Senators. Ask your Representatives to co-sponsor H.R. 2358 The Medicaid Birth Center Reimbursement Act. Ask your Senators to sponsor a Senate Bill.
2) Click here to sign on to a consumer letter in support of birth center funding.
3) Continue to collect signatures for the Physician Letter from our friends in the medical community. Legislators want to know that we have support from physicians.
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Systematic Review of Indications for Labor Induction Commissioned by Childbirth Connection and Published in BJOG
Many Reasons for Labor Inductions Are Groundless
From the Childbirth Connection Newsletter: While labor induction is on the rise (41% in 2005 according to Listening to Mothers II), a systematic review commissioned by Childbirth Connection finds that the best available evidence does not support many reasons medical providers give for using drugs or other measures to cause labor to begin. For example, current evidence suggests that women do not benefit from induction when their caregiver suspects a large fetus, yet this was the reason for labor induction given by 17% of Listening to Mothers II survey participants whose caregiver tried to induce labor. Ellen Mozurkewich and colleagues carried out the new review, which was published in the April issue of BJOG, the journal of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Click here to read the Childbirth Connection press release and here to read the full text of the article.
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"Barriers to Home Birth Fall in Washington State"
Check out Miriam Perez's excellent article posted to her blog at RH Reality Check. This piece pulls it all together - history, training of midwives, reimbursement for out of hospital birth and how we continue the work of closing the gap in health care disparities. SMS alumnae are generously quoted throughout Miriam's blog and we encourage you to read it and join the discussion with your own post!
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La Leche League's Mariana Petersen Discusses Infant Health Care in Guatemala at Shoreline Community College
International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, Mariana Petersen, will talk about her work advocating for better infant health care in Guatemala at the free event, "Infant Health in Guatemala", at 7 p.m., Wednesday, May 27 at Shoreline Community College. Admission is free.
Petersen is a life-long advocate for improved maternal and infant care. She currently educates nurses on the technique and value of breastfeeding, along with other infant-centered techniques, at Roosevelt Hospital, the largest public hospital in Guatemala. Guatemala has the highest infant mortality rate in Central America. For more details, download the press release.
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 Breastfeeding in Seattle? Models Needed
There is new course in the SMS midwifery program on breastfeeding and lactation education this spring. We need a few breastfeeding models who are willing to help students see breastfeeding mamas with young babies (ideally 1-3 weeks old at the time of the class) and how midwives and lactation consultants work with them. Class dates where we need models are May 29, 9:30-noon and June 22, 9:30-noon.
Sarah Huntington, midwife and lactation consultant, will work with moms while eight junior midwifery students observe and ask questions. Moms with difficulties or normal breastfeeding experiences welcome. Small honorarium offered. In other words, this is a chance to get a (somewhat public) lactation consultation and get paid for it! Please contact Sarah Huntington if you have clients who may be interested, or clients can contact Sarah directly by email or by phone (360-357-3801).
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Upcoming Conferences & Workshops
"What is a mother?"An interdisciplinary conference
Saturday, May 16th - 10:00 am - 1:30 pm Registration begins at 9:30 am - South Campus Center room 303 - University of Washington. Click here for a pdf with more information and a registration form.
Reflective Parenting Workshop
Tuesday, May 19, 7-8:30 pm at Mosaic Coffeehouse - 4401 2nd Ave NE, Seattle, WA with Margaret Bergmann-Ness, MA, LICSW. Suggested donation $5. More information on the SMS Calendar.
ACNM Annual Meeting & Expo in Seattle
May 21-27 Sheraton Hotel & Washington Convention Center. More information and to register>
Basics of Breastfeeding for Doulas
Two dates available. Thursday, June 4 and Thursday, July 16, from 1-4pm at Birth and Beyond. More information and to register>
Supporting the Journey and Avoiding the Obstacles: Helping Your VBAC Clients
Friday, June 12, 9 am - 1 pm. Location TBA. PALS Doulas. Click here for registration form>
International Lactation Consultant Association Conference
July 22-26, 2009 Orlando, FL. More information>
DONA International Conference
August 6-9 - Atlanta, GA. More information>
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Pregnant in Seattle? - Panelists Needed
The Simkin School is seeking pregnant women in their third trimester to be
panelists for our popular Birth Doula Labor Support Course.
It's a lot of fun and a great chance to help aspiring doulas learn
about the emotions of pregnancy. We need panelists for June 24, 2009 from 1:00 to 2:00 pm. Honorarium offered. Contact us by email or call Annie Kennedy at 206.322.8834 x115 for more information.
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We've truly appreciated the feedback you've given us on the SMS eNews. Please keep it coming. We welcome your input and, certainly, any news that affects women, babies and families in the childbearing year. You can write to us by simply replying to this email. And please share this with your friends by using the "forward email" link, which will give them the benefit of the graphics and photos. They will not be automatically subscribed to the list, but they can sign up if they like!
Sincerely,
Seattle Midwifery School
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