The MAWS eBulletin
| Volume 3, Issue 5
December 2010 | |
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 Greetings!
Happy New Year! Exciting things are afoot! At MAWS' urging, Childbirth Connection's Maureen Corry and Carol Sakala have been invited by Senator Karen Keiser, Chair of the Senate Health and Long-term Care Committee, to come to Washington State at the start of this legislative session and present their groundbreaking Blueprint for Action as a template for transforming maternity care. If you haven't yet seen this comprehensive roadmap which, among other things, emphasizes increasing access to evidence-based midwifery care as a strategy for lowering costs and improving outcomes, you should check it out at www.childbirthconnection.org. MAWS' Annual Lobby Day is coming up-Friday, February 4th. Please plan to join us in Olympia from 8:00 - 5:00 and invite your clients to come, too! We'll be meeting with legislators throughout the day to educate them about the significant health benefits and cost savings associated with midwifery care. Details to follow in the next couple of weeks.
Thank you to all the MAWS members who have already renewed your membership for 2011. If you haven't renewed yet, please log in to your account and renew now. If you aren't a MAWS member, and would like to join, now's the time to do it, as memberships are calendar-year based. Click here to join online with a credit card (there is also an option to pay by sending a check). If you need assistance with joining or renewing, we'd be happy to help you with the process. Simply send us an email with your phone number and a good time to call you. We value your participation in MAWS and we like hearing from you-what could we be doing better? What great ideas do you have for MAWS to work on in 2011? It's looking like a year of unprecedented promise and possibility. Wishing you and yours much joy and peace,
Audrey Levine, LM, CPM President
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2010 Gestational Diabetes Update
A summary of the most recent research on Gestational Diabetes was presented by Kristin Effland, LM, CPM at the 2010 MANA (Midwives Alliance of North America) Conference. Click here for an outline of the data she presented.
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Win Registration to a 2011 Conference! Read About NACPM's Work in 2010
Only two days left to join or renew your NACPM (National Association of Certified Professional Midwives) membership and be entered in a drawing to win registration to the Midwives Alliance of North America 2011 Conference or the International Center for Traditional Childbearing 2011 Conference.
Read about the amazing work that NACPM has been doing and learn why it is so important to join and support this organization!
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A New Breastfeeding Book is Here!
I Can Breastfeed. Visualizing Your Way to Breastfeeding Success.
Part self help guide, part nursing companion, I Can Breastfeed offers a new way to prepare for the arrival of your baby. Learn to use visualization and affirmations to build confidence and foster a successful breastfeeding relationship with your baby. Based on her experience as a lactation consultant, midwife, and mother of two, Kristina Chamberlain, CNM, ARNP, IBCLC, provides practical advice for the new mom, and the working mom.
View on Amazon.com >
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Member-Designed Flow Sheet for Incident Reporting
Thank you to Elias Kass, ND, LM, CPM for sharing this flow sheet he designed for reporting incidents to the MAWS Quality Management Program and to the JUA.
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Fall 2010 MAWS Awards
At our 2010 Fall Conference and Annual Meeting, MAWS presented our Women of Wisdom Award (MAWS members who have been practicing midwifery for 25 years or more) to Laurie Braunstein. Laurie founded Wenatchee Midwife Service in 1985 and opened a freestanding birth center in Wenatchee in 1996.
Laurie Braunstein, left, with Marge Mansfield, right
MAWS presented a special award for service to childbearing women to midwife Toni Erickson. Toni has been a licensed midwife in the Enumclaw area since 1994 and worked with birthing women as an RN prior to attending Seattle Midwifery School. Due to health concerns, Toni is sadly retiring in early 2011.
Toni Erickson, left, with her colleagues Nancy Spencer, center, and Molly Gray, right
This year's annual award for service to the midwifery community was presented to Jeff Thompson, MD. See article below.
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Ordering Paternity-Related Materials Online
This information offers providers the information you need to comply with federal and state laws and meet the needs of parents who desire to sign a paternity affidavit.
Informational website for providers >
How to order materials >
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2011-2012 MAWS Board of Directors
Thank you to all who helped to confirm the latest Board of Directors for MAWS! We are pleased to have a lot of new energy on the Board and look forward to a fruitful year of work.
The photo, taken at the fall conference, depicts left to right: Kristin Effland, Charlene Campbell, Suzy Myers, Louisa Wales, Elias Kass, Audrey Levine, Peggy Thurston and Melissa Hughes.
Not present were Erin Curtiss, Bev Schubert, Wendy Prowell and Valerie Sasson.
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Are You on Facebook? "Like" the Midwives' Association of Washington State! And LMs Can Join a New LM Group
We've decided to move from a Facebook "group" to a Facebook "page," so if you're on Facebook, visit us and "like" our page. We want to make better use of this tool to stay in touch with our members and supporters!
And from MAWS member/board member Elias Kass ND, LM, CPM - An LM Facebook Group:
Live on Facebook? There's a new Facebook group for LMs. Membership is for midwives licensed in Washington only and content can't be viewed by the public, but confidential or sensitive discussions should happen on the MAWS forum (see below). This is not an official MAWS group and is not associated with MAWS in any way, it's just a useful way for LMs to connect. You know, since you're living on Facebook anyway.
MAWS Forum (confidential, secure, for MAWS professional members only)
LM Facebook Group - Click "apply to join"
Thanks Elias! Great idea.
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Lobby Day 2011
Mark your calendar now!
Friday, February 4th, 2011
Fireside Room at United Churches of Olympia
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Sharing Breast Milk: The FDA and the 'Ick' Factor
In early December, this warning was published by the FDA: "FDA recommends against feeding your baby breast milk acquired directly from individuals or through the Internet. When human milk is obtained directly from individuals or through the Internet, the donor is unlikely to have been adequately screened for infectious disease or contamination risk.
Click here to ready a blog post on Today (NBC TV) Moms about this warning>
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MAWS Annual Award Presented to Jeff Thompson MD
Since Dr. Jeff Thompson, Chief Medical Officer for Medicaid, was unable to make it to our Fall Conference to accept the MAWS 2010 Annual Award, MAWS President, Audrey Levine, hand-delivered the award to Dr. Thompson at his office in Olympia on December 14th. The award was given to Dr. Thompson in recognition of his "bold and innovative efforts to improve the health and safety of mothers and babies in Washington State."
At this meeting, Dr. Thompson acknowledged the significant role that licensed midwives can play in reducing the c-section rate and pledged his support for an Out-of-Hospital VBAC Pilot Project. He also offered to work with MAWS in the coming year to increase access to licensed midwifery care amongst Medicaid recipients.
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More Collaboration With the
ACNM Washington Affiliate
Aside from our collaboration on the very successful Miles for Midwives event that raised nearly $6000 for our organizations, ACNM and MAWS staffed a table at the October La Leche League Conference in Redmond.
Thank you to MAWS members Melissa Denmark, Elias Kass and Laura Hanna-Bergen (a MAWS and ACNM student member) for helping to staff the table. All staffers agreed it was a great opportunity to get out and network with the birth and breastfeeding community. The image at left was a poster on our table and an ad in the conference program.
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Greetings From the QMP!I'm happy to provide you with this bi-annual update. In 2010 we set a goal for ourselves of adding one ND, LM and one Licensed Midwife to the QMP committee who completed the WA state challenge process, and we've met that goal! The QMP is happy to announce our two newest members; Lauren Riccio, ND, LM and Jen Isaaks, CPM, LM. We appreciate and need them, so the next time you see one of them, remember to thank them for their service to you through their work on the QMP.
If you would like to conduct a Peer Review in your region, please contact Lynn Hughes
at info@washingtonmidwives.org. She will instruct you on exactly what to do and she'll
provide you with all of the necessary paperwork that you will need in order to properly
lead a Peer Review. Remember to thank her in your email, too! Lynn has been absolutely essential in our efforts to improve and streamline the Peer Review process and to improve the internal communication system between Peer Review and the QMP.
Our next big project is to provide a QMP Public Relations Packet to all of the Washington State hospitals informing them of who we are and what we do. It includes
information regarding how they can access and utilize the QMP. Geraldine Lee, LM
deserves a huge thank-you for single handedly taking this on and doing a wonderful
job with it. It's not been sent out yet, but it will be very soon. Look for an update in the summer E-news.Reminders!*We all have a shared responsibility to participate in Incident Review Panels when called upon to do so. We very much need and appreciate your participation!*Midwives are required to self-report occurrence of any of the following clinical indicators, regardless of site of birth to the QMP within 14 days:- neonatal/maternal mortality
- maternal shock
- uterine rupture
- neonatal/maternal seizure
- uterine inversion
- NICU admissions within 72 hours of birth (except for observation and congenital
- anomalies).
**Self-report and complaint forms are available on the MAWS website. If you have any questions or concerns about QMP related matters, please do not hesitate to contact me, your MAWS/QMP liaison, at erin@homebirthinseattle.com. I will be happy to assist you or to place you into contact with the appropriate person.Sincerely,Erin Curtiss, L.M., MAWS/QMP Liaison
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Why Are We Still Using Oxygen to Resuscitate Term Infants? Journal of Perinatalogy
This article summarizes the historical background for the use of oxygen during newborn resuscitation and describes some of the research and the process of changing the previous practice from a high- to a low-oxygen approach. Findings of a recent Cochrane review suggest that more than 100,000 newborn lives might be saved globally each year by changing from 100 to 21% oxygen for newborn resuscitation. This estimate represents one of the largest yields for a simple therapeutic approach to decrease neonatal mortality in the history of pediatric research. Available data also suggest that, for the very low birth weight infant, use of the low-oxygen approach should be considered with the understanding that some of the smallest and sickest preterm neonates will need some level of oxygen supplementation during the first minutes of postnatal life.
As more data are needed for the very preterm population, creation of strict guidelines for these infants would be premature at present. However, it can be stated that term and late preterm infants in need of resuscitation should, in general, be started on 21% oxygen, and if resuscitation is not started with 21% oxygen, a blender should be available, enabling the administration of the lowest FiO(2) possible to keep heart rate and SaO(2) within the target range. For extremely low birth weight infants, initial FiO(2) could be between 0.21 and 0.30 and adjusted according to the response in SaO(2) and heart rate.View article here >
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Baby-Safe Cleaning
A free publication is available for soon-to-be and new parents from the Department of Ecology. Produced by Ecology's Toxic Free Tips program, the bookmark-style piece gives parents advice on cleaning around babies. Cleanliness is vital because of baby's new and tender immune system. At the same time, baby's skin and organs are delicate and exposing them to harsh cleaners may prove harmful.
Ecology created this publication with recipes for effective but safer cleaners, both for use at home and on the go. And it's full of safety tips.
To get a supply for your clients, simply place an order with Ecology. Contact Dave Zink, publications coordinator, at 360.407.6752, or dzin461@ecy.wa.gov.
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UPCOMING CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS
National Multicultural Conference & Summit (NMCS) 2011
January 27 & 28, 2011 - Seattle, WA. More information>
The Midwifery Management of Neonatal Resuscitation Workshops with Karen Strange
February 6 (Renew Workshop) and February 7, 2011 (Full Workshop) - Seattle, WA.
Karen's Calendar with details>
The 2011 Reache Conference
Reframing Birth and Breastfeeding: Moving Forward (CIMS Annual 2011 Forum in collaboration with UNCG's Center for Women's Health and Wellness and UNC's Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute)
March 11-12, 2011 - Chapel Hill, NC. More information>Midwifery Today Conference: Gentle Birth Is a Human Rights IssueMarch 30 - April 3, 2011 - Eugene, OR. More information>ICAN International ConferenceApril 8-10, 2011 - St. Louis MO. More information>17th Annual DONA International ConferenceJuly 21-24 2011 - Boston, MA.
Lamaze International Conference
See the MAWS web site for ongoing continuing education opportunities.
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 BUY PENNY SIMKIN'S NEW COMFORT MEASURES FOR CHILDBIRTH DVD & PENNY WILL DONATE 10% TO MAWS!
This 90-minute interactive DVD contains more than 40 techniques for reducing and managing the pain of labor contractions. Christiane Northrup, MD states, "Comfort Measures is wonderful. I suggest that it be required viewing for all pregnant couples and childbirth professionals." Use this link to buy it now or click here to read more about it.
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This is your newsletter. Please send any feedback or suggestions to Kristin Effland. We welcome suggestions for future topics, popular articles or research to include.
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