Motherwise News Letter

 

Motherwise Welcome's Allison LiaBraaten, Family Nurse Practitioner.

 

Allison is delighted to join the Motherwise team, as they share an enthusiasm for providing excellent care and building valuable relationships with their clients. In addition to providing prenatal and postpartum care for patients of Motherwise, Allison sees patients for regular checkups and problem-focused appointments. She is available to see women before, during, and after pregnancy, as well as men and children.

Call 541-318-6961 to make an appointment and experience personalized care for the entire family!

 

 

Now Open....

Motherwise Clinic in Prineville

Located at the Prineville Associates

Medical Building

1251 NE Elm Street

                                   Thank you

  We would like to thank Kristi Eckberg Photography and
Wahoo Films for their wonderful contribution to our web site and Birth Center.
www.kristieckbergphotography.com
www.wahoofilms.com

                                     

    MIDWIFERY MODEL – AFFORDABLE

    & EFFECTIVE MATERNITY CARE

                     By Christyn King  (published in 2009 Today's Tots)

 

The United States has the second highest infant mortality rate in the developed world, ranked alongside of Hungary, Poland, Malta, and Slovakia.  It is more than mere coincidence that every single country with maternal and infant mortality rates lower than the United States has both universal health care and midwives attending the majority of births.  In 2000, a landmark study was published in the British Medical Journal showing that planned out-of-hospital (OOH) births with Certified Professional Midwives (CPM) were safe for low risk women.   Further, the number of interventions (i.e. induction, augmentation of labor, electric fetal monitoring, episiotomy, vacuum extraction, forceps delivery) was drastically less compared to hospital births, suggesting that OOH births are likely a safer option for the majority of women and their babies.  Midwives focus on keeping their clients healthy and low-risk throughout pregnancy, labor, birth, and postpartum.   Interventions are used only as necessary on a case-by-case basis and with informed consent. If a situation becomes higher risk at any time, midwives help to facilitate consultation with a specialist, transfer of care, or transport to the hospital.   Of the 5,418 participants in this study, only 3.7% necessitated transport from home to the hospital for a Cesarean section. This is a far cry from the 2006 U.S. Cesarean rate: a staggering 31.5%!   This is over a 50% increase in the last decade, making it the most common operating room procedure in the country.   According to the World Health Organization (WHO) there is no medical reason for any country to have rates exceeding 10-15%.   

Culturally, we have lost sight of pregnancy and childbirth as natural processes, accepting expensive and sometimes dangerous obstetrical interventions and technology to be routine and normal.   Birth is big business in the USA, with about 4 million births occurring each year.   A straightforward vaginal birth at a local hospital runs roughly $10,000.  The cost increases with each intervention and is considerably higher when a Cesarean is preformed.   Out-of-hospital birth with a CPM typically costs less than half of that figure.    Further savings can be attributed when you look at significantly higher rates of breastfeeding success, lower rates of postpartum depression, and shortened postpartum recovery time.   The care midwives provide to women, babies, and new families is multi-dimensional, encompassing physical, mental and emotional wellness.  Thriving families growing from comprehensive support during the transformative childbearing years contributes further innumerable wealth to communities.    Many of the systems currently in place in this country are in obvious need of major, sweeping changes and the maternity system is no exception.    We need to follow the lead of England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Spain, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Chile, and Thailand in realizing that midwives are the optimal choice for healthy, low-risk women.   Midwives are essential for affordable and effective maternity care and it is time we value women and children enough to demand new standards.   

A link to the full text of the CPM 2000 study is available at www.mana.org/CPM2000.html.   If you are interested in more information about midwifery in Central Oregon, contact Motherwise Community Birth Center at 541-318-6961 or visit www.motherwisebirth.com.   If you are interested in having your voice heard on the steps of Washington, tell President-elect Obama what you think needs to be changed about the maternity system at www.change.gov and follow the link to health care.  

 

 

  JUST ADD WATER              

                                                      By Christyn King

Increasingly, across the globe women are seeking out information and care providers that support a more gentle birth experience for themselves and their babies.

The therapeutic uses of water are plentiful and easily adaptable to the individual circumstances of each labor and birth. In situations when full immersion in water is not recommended, using warm or cool compresses on the low abdomen and back can bring relief. The use of a shower can make getting through the end of labor more manageable. Having a partner rhythmically pour cascades of water over your body will bring relief during labor as well.

Once an active labor pattern is established, many women find immediate pain relief with submersion in a warm bath. The water allows for the body to become buoyant facilitating a feeling of weightlessness reducing pressure on bones and joints, and allowing for easier movement with changing positions. Full immersion in warm water redistributes the blood volume, increasing circulation, decreasing both blood pressure and fluid retention. The pain relief and sense of support provided by laboring in water fosters a sense of calmness that empowers mothers to tune into her innate birthing wisdom. Some women choose to utilize the benefits of water for the birth process as well. The warm support of the fluid allows the perineum to stretch as the baby’s head begins to crown (warm wash cloths provide a similar effect if choosing to birth out of the water).  As the intensity of the 'ring of fire' is reduced in water women are often able to birth the head slowly which reduces tearing. 

Those of us who have had the honor of witnessing waterbirth can surely attest to the gentle transition from the womb to the world through water.  In addition to mimicking the warm fluid of the intra-uterine environment, the water softens the myriad stimuli (lights, color, and noises) that surround the newborn in those first precious moments of life.