|
|
PS From Penny Simkin
|
June/July 2009
Volume 1, Number 1
|
|
|
Greetings!
Welcome to the first issue of my newsletter, PS from Penny Simkin. Its been a busy and exciting year so far - lots of travel, teaching, writing, and counseling - but only 3 doula clients so far this year.
Highlights of the year so far have been Childbirth Connection's 90th Anniversary Symposium, "Transforming Maternity Care: A High Value Proposition", in April in Washington, DC, and the ACNM National Convention here in Seattle in May. To those of you who stopped by and introduced yourselves in Seattle, it was a pleasure to meet you!
I look forward to seeing many of you at this summer's DONA conference in Atlanta and at Lamaze in the Fall.
Sincerely,
Penny
|
Transforming Maternity Care: A High Value Proposition
Childbirth Connection has spent the last 20 months
orchestrating meetings of representatives of every group involved in
maternity care, including childbearing women; their care providers;
the locations for birth; 3rd party payers; academic faculty;
researchers; risk management people; economists; and more. From those
meetings, came a vision for high quality, cost effective
equitable evidence-based maternity care. I had the honor and
privilege of serving on the vision team.
 The meeting brought
together 250 key people. Each element in the proposal was presented
and followed with comments and analysis from experts in each area, and
questions and comments from the audience. Everyone at the meeting was
acutely aware that our maternity care system is broken, with costs
soaring, outcomes worsening, and heavy utilization of practices that have been proven to be less safe, less effective, and
more expensive than other available and options, such as midwifery care
and promotion of normal physiologic childbirth. (Here I am at the symposium with Debra Pascali-Bonaro.)
Childbirth Connection has taken the lead in proposing a comprehensive
model of maternity care that addresses the major problems that face our
maternity care system. With the new administration in Washington,
D.C., there is real hope for reform.
To keep abreast of further
developments, including their upcoming "Blueprint for Action", visit their website, childbirthconnection.org. This website also
includes numerous trustworthy, relevant, and up-to-date publications
for both the public and professional maternity care providers.
|
|
American College of Nurse Midwives Conference in Seattle
Judith Rooks discusses Nitrous Oxide for pain relief in labor
The ACNM conference spanned the Memorial Day weekend, and provided
excellent speakers and enlightening meetings, as well as an opportunity
to renew friendships and make new ones. My own two presentations were
well-received, which I appreciated very much.
One highlight that
I'd like to mention is a small meeting called by Judith Rooks to
discuss the implementation of Nitrous Oxide for pain relief in labor,
as an effective and desirable alternative to the epidural. Judith
makes a compelling case for more safe, low-cost pain relief options in
the USA.
The meeting was attended by 25 or 30 interested people, some
from Canada and other countries where nitrous oxide is easily
available. Interest in the USA seems to be growing to make nitrous
oxide available for women who want pain relief but don't want loss of
all sensation and the side effects of an epidural. It also would be
very useful in hospitals that do not have epidural services available
round the clock, and for use when a quick brief procedure (perineal
repair, manual removal of the placenta is needed.)
If you'd like to
learn more about Nitrous Oxide and explore the possibility of making it
available in your hospital or birth center, you should join the Nitrous Oxide Discussion Group by clicking this link.
|
The Labor Progress Handbook: Early Interventions to Prevent and Treat Dystocia
by Penny Simkin & Ruth Ancheta
 Referred to as their "bible" by many of the midwives stopping by our table at the ACNM conference, the 2nd edition of The Labor Progress Handbook offers maternity
professionals strategies to maintain normal labor progress and lower
cesarean rates. The completely
updated 2nd edition includes a lengthy new chapter on assessing
labor progress, more on epidurals, many new techniques, and hundreds
of illustrations. Click here to order>
|
|
Looking Back at the Changing Face of Maternity Care
Penny's Article published in Seattle's Child
 "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."
Click here to read the article.
|
Penny on Mindful Mama
Video interview: Birth as a Rite of Passage
Click here to watch the video.
|
Penny's Newest DVD:
Comfort Measures for Childbirth
 If you haven't heard about the new Comfort Measures for Childbirth,
click here for details on this completely new 90-minute DVD featuring
40 tools and techniques.
Great for individual or class use, this highly
interactive DVD allows you to choose exactly what you want to watch -
the entire DVD, a single section, or even a single comfort measure to
learn or review. Use the coupon code CMJUNE09 for a 10% discount
through the month of June. Click here to buy it now.
|
|
|
Here's what I've been working on.....
- A new DVD to prepare siblings for the birth of the new baby in the family and life afterwards. I'm doing that in conjunction with Passionflowers Services - the people who edited my other 2 DVDs, "The 3 Rs: Relaxation, Rhythm, and Ritual" and "Comfort Measures for Childbirth."
- A PowerPoint presentation on pain medication for childbirth (from Childbirth Graphics) for use by childbirth educators.
- Complete revision of the booklet, "Simkin's Ratings of Comfort Measures for Childbirth" (also from Childbirth Graphics)
- PATTCh:
Phyllis Klaus, Sharon Storton, Annie Kennedy, Teri Shilling, and I are
hoping to bring together researchers, therapists, and counselors who
work with women who have had psychologically or physically traumatic
childbirths, in hopes of advancing knowledge and care in this area.
The organization, in its infancy, is called PATTCh - Prevention and
Treatment of Childbirth Trauma. There is great need for an organization
like this, because surveys from many countries have found that one
woman in 3 or 4 reports her child's birth as traumatic, and about 1 in
4 of them goes on to develop full-blown Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD). This percentage must be lowered, since Post-Traumatic Stress
and PTSD are serious postpartum mood disorders that interfere with
women's self-confidence and well-being, and jeopardize her ability to
embrace the mothering role.
|
Upcoming Workshops with Penny
(Click on the title for details and registration information)
Doula Association of Central Oklahoma, Advanced Doula Training6.12-13.2009, Oklahoma City, OK
Penny will present on the following
topics: When Survivors Give Birth: Understanding and Healing the
Effects of Early Sexual Abuse on Childbearing Women,
Non-Pharmacologic Methods of Pain Relief in Labor, When pain becomes
suffering, TENS Training, The OP fetus: How little we know,
Postpartum: The Neglected Phase of Childbearing.
Seattle Midwifery School, Labor Support Course for Birth Doulas
6.24-27.2009, Seattle, WA
Penny will be co-teaching this 4-day labor support course.
DONA International, 15th Annual Conference
8.6-9.2009, Atlanta, GA
Penny will present on the following topics: Eco-Friendly Birth
and The Seduction of Induction
For additional workshops in September and beyond, visit the schedule page at PennySimkin.com
|
More Popular Products from Penny
|
|
I'd like to invite you to visit my website. Many of my presentations and handouts are posted there for you to download, and my presentation schedule is also posted there. If I come to your area to speak, please come and see me, and let me know you're on my newsletter list. I hope to keep in touch with you informally on maternity care topics that mean the most to me. Without putting pressure on myself, I'll keep in touch as I have the time and inclination.
I'd love your feedback.
All the best,
Penny |
|
|
|
|
