December 2009
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Volume 7 No 11
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Greetings!
Warm holiday greetings to all of our friends and best wishes for a joyous holiday season!
You may have recently heard from us asking for your donation to our two scholarship funds - the Myers Midwifery Scholarship Fund and the Simkin Center Leadership Fund. We are hearing from you and on behalf of the students who will benefit from your gifts we say THANK YOU!
If you haven't had a chance yet to give, it is not too late. Click on the links below and join us now. Remember this is a tax deduction and it is your way to preserve our mission to educate and inspire leaders in the childbirth professions.
To give to the Myers Midwifery Scholarship Fund and support midwifery students, click here and designate your gift to MMSF.
To give to the Simkin Center Leadership Fund and support the training of doulas, childbirth educators and breastfeeding educators, click here and designate your gift to SCLF.
Thanking you in advance for your generosity,
Sincerely,
Mary Yglesia
Director
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When Survivors Give Birth with Penny Simkin
February 5-6, 2009
Join maternity care, mental health and allied providers to focus on the issues of the least understood of pregnant clients. Two full days with Penny Simkin PT
- Advance your understanding of an all too common issue for childbearing women and families.
- Expand your care practices for women at risk of poor physical and psychosocial childbirth outcomes.
- Improve your response to women who express emotional concerns about childbearing.
Click here for more information or here to register now>
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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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Pregnant, in Prison and Denied Care - Article by Rachel Roth in The Nation
"Over the past year, incarcerated women and their allies have achieved a
remarkable string of victories against inhumane treatment. First, they
persuaded the Bureau of Prisons to issue a new policy in October 2008
limiting the use of restraints on women who are in labor, giving birth
or recovering after childbirth; the Marshals Service, which transports
people in federal custody, followed suit. Next, they won legislation in
the spring and summer of 2009 restricting the use of restraints on
pregnant women in New Mexico, Texas and New York. Finally, they
successfully petitioned the US Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit for a
rehearing of the full court in a case from Arkansas, which resulted in a
ruling in October that shackling women in labor is unconstitutional."
Read Roth's article in The Nation>
And we also continue to rely on the efforts of doulas who work with imprisoned populations. For information about the Birth Attendants project in Washington state, click here>
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Interested in Becoming a Lactation Educator or Consultant?
Enroll in the Next Professional Education in Breastfeeding & Lactation Course
Feb 1-3 & 5-7, 2010
The
Simkin School six-day Professional Education in Breastfeeding and
Lactation course sets the standard for comprehensive instruction based
on current research as it applies to best practice issues in the
clinical setting.
Click here for more information>
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What SUVs Can Teach Us About Maternity Care
From one of our favorite Lamaze blogs - Science and Sensibility
"A recent advertising campaign for a large sport utility vehicle (SUV) offers an excellent analogy to conventional thinking in maternity care. The SUV, the ads declare, is "built for the one percent." Read the S & S post to see how the flaws in this argument translate to maternity care.
Click here for the Science and Sensibility blog post>
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 2009: What a Year for CPMs! (From the MAMA Campaign News)
Midwives and Mothers in Action (MAMA) was "birthed" by the partner organizations on the International Day of the Midwife in Washington, D.C. in May. Since then, MAMA: - Hired a national health policy and lobbying firm to guide our advocacy work in DC
- Held a "fly-in" of more than twenty MAMA activists to DC in June to meet with over 30 key congress members
- Traveled to DC nearly every week throughout the summer and fall to build support in the House Energy & Commerce Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, which have jurisdiction over Medicaid issues
- Prepared a cost-analysis based on Medicaid data from a health policy study in Washington State that was submitted to the Congressional Budget Office on our behalf by Chairman Waxman's office
- Met with 8 top Medicaid officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), a very unusual opportunity for a provider group new to Capitol Hill
- Achieved a significant partial victory: Senator Cantwell's provision in the Senate bill that will have the effect of requiring Medicaid to pay the provider fee, in addition to the facility fee, to CPMs attending births in birth centers
- Has raised over $140,000 towards our goal since mid-July in the most successful fundraising effort for midwives ever!
- Is still on the Hill for CPMs as we move into January, working to include CPMs in the final health care bill that will be signed by the President!
As we head into the New Year for CPMs, we take with us what our
lobbyist, Billy Wynne, has told us: that, in just a few short months,
we have achieved Congressional attention and support for our cause that
often takes 3 to 4 years! Thank you for your dedication and support!
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MAMA Campaign Highlights SMS Graduates, WA Midwives in their National Newsletter: Why Including CPMs in Medicaid Will Improve the Lives of Women
As we take stock at the end of this year, we never forget who we're working for: women who need the choice of a CPM but won't be able to afford one unless CPMs are included in Medicaid.
We are reminded of the work of CPMs Constance Frey, LM, CPM, and Carolee Hall, LM, CPM. Frey and Hall have a thriving midwifery practice in Olympia, Washington, which attends to 10-20% teenage clients.
Midwifery care, which offers these young women choices and gives them the opportunity to birth unhindered by medication, can allow these girls and young women to be authorities over their own bodies. Direct entry midwifery care provides for one-on-one counseling between midwife and client, and focuses on educating the client, making her a partner in her own healthcare.
"They gain confidence to birth their own babies without pain medication and surrounded by love," says Frey. "Oftentimes teens are the population that needs more of the individual attention that a midwifery practice can offer them." Frey and Hall have had great success with teens who come to their clinic with difficult histories, including drug abuse, and who are able to change their lives to become more responsible and healthier. "Many, many of these teens end up having natural, unmedicated childbirth and breastfeeding their babies."
Like most midwives in Washington State, Frey and Hall's practice is comprised in large part of women on Medicaid. "We are committed to working as much as possible with those whom we can support as they step into that transition into education and empowerment." (MAMA Campaign News, 12/17/09)
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US Maternity Facts & Figures from Childbirth Connection
We are so thankful for the important ongoing work that Childbirth Connection does for childbearing families and maternity professional. They have compiled a "brief, new resource document called 'United States Maternity Care Facts and Figures.' It details current statistics including the number of births, proportion of hospital care that is devoted to the care of pregnant women and babies, maternity outcomes such as preterm birth and low birthweight rates, as well as statistics about paying for maternity care. Sadly, many of the numbers are sobering. The 2007 cesarean rate of 31.8% marked the 11th consecutive year of increase and a record-level national rate. The rate of vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) within childbirth related hospitalizations was 9.7% in 2006, a decline of 73% from 1997, when the VBAC rate was 35.3%."
Learn more at the Childbirth Connection web site by clicking here>
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Study: Impact of Low Birth Weight, Preterm Birth on Motor Development
A study published in the November 25th edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) investigates the relationship between very preterm birth and very low birth weight (VLBW) on a child's motor development. Forty-one articles were compiled for this meta-analysis that included 9,653 children. For the purposes of the study, "very preterm" was defined as being born at less than 32 weeks of gestation and VLBW was defined as weighing less than 1500 grams. In comparison with peers who were born full term, very preterm and VLBW had lower scores on tests of motor skills, including some deficits that continued during elementary school and early adolescence. Click here to access the study>
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Faculty Member Penny Simkin Speaks to Audiences in Israel and India
 Simkin Center faculty member Penny Simkin recently traveled to Israel and India, where she gave a number of talks to birth professionals, students and the public.
In Jerusalem, Penny addressed an audience of 300 professionals about the impact of sexual abuse on pregnant and birthing women. Click here to read the excellent coverage she received for that talk in the Jersalem Post. Penny also did a doula training in Jerusalem (photo, right).
Penny then traveled to India, where she gave two public talks, spoke to obstetricians and midwives, and later spoke to childbirth educators and doulas in Chennai. In Vellore, she spoke at the Christian Medical College to obstetricians and midwives and then spoke with midwifery students. Penny toured the hospital there (and attended a birth!). Click here for an article in the Times of India. (Photo left pictures Penny with an Indian obstetrician at a public talk in Chennai).
Penny was excited to receive an email from an Indian doula who wrote to let her know of a recent birth she attended where the obstetrician chose not to perform an episiotomy because of what he learned at her talk. Thank you, Penny, for carrying these important messages far and wide!
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 Applying to the Midwifery Education Program in 2010?
Our program view book, website information and application materials will be available very soon. If you are thinking of applying for the Fall 2010 or would like more information about the midwifery program, please contact our admissions advisor, Stephanie Safholm, by e-mail or by phone at 800.747.9433, x101.
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Bastyr Admissions Open House, January 23, 2010
9am- 4pm at Bastyr University in Kenmore, WA
This is a great opportunity to meet midwifery faculty and students as well as Simkin Center staff and faculty. Get all your questions answered - attend information sessions, tour campus and speak with admissions specialists.
More information and RSVP>
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Dr. Sears Letter on Seafood Consumption for Pregnant Women
Dr. William Sears and 11 of his physician colleagues have written a letter, commending the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its draft report on the net effect of eating fish for pregnant women and their babies and consumers at risk for coronary heart disease and stroke. The group is urging the FDA to finalize the report and revise current fish guidance for pregnant and nursing women, which is now five years old. The letter states that a clear, consistent public health message will benefit women, children and the greater U.S. population.
Click here to read the letter and sign on in support>
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Upcoming Conferences & Workshops
Coalition for the Improvement of Maternity Services (CIMS) 2010 Mother-Friendly Childbirth Forum & Annual Meeting
Feb. 26-27, 2010 - Austin, TX. More information>
NIH VBAC Consensus Conference
March 8-10, 2010 - Bethesda, MD. More information>
Normal Labor & Birth: 5th International Research Conference: The Benefits & Challenges of Preserving Physiologic Birth
July 20-23, 2010 - Vancouver, BC. More information>
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Pregnant in Seattle? - Panelists Needed
The Simkin Center 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 January 23rd and February 19th at SMS' Talaris campus 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 truly appreciate the feedback you continue to give us on the 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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