After a civil uprising in Timor-Leste that scattered civilians into rural enclaves across the country, the establishing of a far-reaching healthcare system seemed an almost impossible task. But in 2006 a group of moped-riding health workers began blazing a trail into the more inaccessible areas, offering family planning and maternity services to isolated communities. Geralda Maria, district team leader of Midwives on Bikes, explains how she’s been making a difference to people’s lives.

http://www.guardianweekly.co.uk/?page=editorial&id=985&catID=3

Mothers-to-be in Nova Scotia will have access to publicly-funded midwifery services as the province begins the integration of midwives to primary maternity care teams.

The Midwifery Act comes into effect Wednesday, March 18.

“We are moving towards teams of health-care professionals working together to provide care to Nova Scotians in their communities,” said Health Minister Karen Casey. “Midwives are key team players in providing the right care to mothers and their families.”

http://www.gov.ns.ca/news/details.asp?id=20090316004

I handed over our birth plan right away and made perfectly clear my thoughts on the upcoming labor: I trust in my body. I trust in Mark. Together, we’re going to get this baby out. If you think you want to be a part of that, great, but above all, I trust in us and our ability to have a peaceful labor.

They handed my care over to their midwife on staff, but we’d still have to have a doctor present at the birth. Soon, I learned something important to natural birth: just because she’s called a midwife doesn’t mean she won’t “medicalize” your pregnancy.

http://ecochildsplay.com/2009/03/12/the-medicalization-of-my-natural-birth/

With the UK’s birth rate set to increase by as much as 12.5 per cent each year for the next few years, the demand for midwives will be constant. The problem? There is a serious shortage of qualified professionals to meet this demand. As the majority of current midwives are fast-approaching retirement age, the Royal College of Midwifery is facing a shortfall of more than 10,000. Typically, midwives can expect to earn £25,586 (ONS).

http://lifeaftersmsaforkbians.blogspot.com/2009/03/10-growing-jobsdespite-economy.html

Online isn’t just powerful because it’s more engaging (which it is). Online is powerful because it allows you to really measure conversions and ROI. And you can apply those numbers to bring your conversions and ROI up further. Few offline channels can match that online capability–which makes online far more than a uniquely powerful engagement provider. It makes online a better medium for building conversions and returns. And focusing on returns, I think, is a far more powerful value proposition than just engagement.

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=51972

This is a letter that I got in an Email that is so beautiful and descriptive and it reflects the life of a Free Soul who has followed her Bliss, through the years, beginning in the wonderful ’60’s to present. She has become wise in the interim and has something to say.

She represents, I think, the individuals with the vision to help us keep our heads in these shocking times and may have more to say as we gain a new Positive Future. She gave me permission to publish her letter. I am going to edit it slightly and leave names out.

http://lovelight9112001.blogspot.com/2008/12/beautiful-letter-about-life-and-freedom.html

I wanted to look at whether as an educator I did enough to prepare the men in class? Do they want to be present during the labour and birth? Are they the most appropriate person to be adequately supporting women through the birthing process?

I also wanted to know if the men felt under pressure to be present during labour and birth and where did that pressure come from their partners or their peers. I also wanted to know if their intention was to be supportive or was it more about witnessing the birth of their offspring? But whatever the questions I wanted to know if there was more I needed to be doing as an educator and midwife to prepare the men to be more effective as a support person.

http://nzmidwiferypractisingreflection.blogspot.com/2008/12/men-in-labour-room-do-they-want-to-be.html

When it’s time to bring a new baby into the world, there’s a lot to be said for letting nature take the lead. The normal, hormone-driven changes in the body that naturally occur during delivery can optimize infant health and encourage the easy establishment and continuation of breastfeeding and mother-baby attachment. Childbirth without technical intervention can succeed in leading to a good outcome for mother and child, according to a new report.

http://auguriesofinnocence.wordpress.com/2008/10/13/childbirth-back-to-basics-is-better/

I don’t know how to swim and when I venture in any swimming pool, I always end up like a talaba: immersed in water but clinging on whatever stable matter I can hold on to, never letting go.

I fear heights. Whenever there are scenes on tv particularly showing a POV of someone on a building ledge, I feel an uncomfortable sensation in my groin!

I fear snakes. I fear poverty. I fear popular people.

And now that I’m no longer, ehem, young, I hear William Wallace’s famous Braveheart line: …and dying in your bed, many years from now, would you trade this day to that day…!

http://isladenebz.blogspot.com/2009/02/cowered-by-fear.html

Anita, a midwife friend of mine, and I have been going around our city of just over 100,000 people distributing flyers for her birth center and homebirth practice and Midwifery Today’s Eugene conference programs. We take our flyers with pins and tape and tack them on bulletin boards in health food stores, community services agencies, the public library and many other places.

This has been a terrific outreach for both of us. We’ve learned a lot about our community’s resources while carrying out marketing efforts. It has been so fruitful and fun that I recommend that midwives and doulas do a similar outreach in their communities. One of the best parts is that while we’re driving around we are talking, ranting and otherwise solving all of the problems in birth today. The other delight is the amazing people we’ve met who are part of our community.

http://community.midwiferytoday.com/blogs/jan/archive/2009/03/01/back-door-birth-activism-let-your-community-know-about-midwifery.aspx

The Midwifery Business Network is an organization composed of Certified Nurse-Midwives (CNMs) and Certified Midwives (CMs) from nurse-midwifery practices across the United States, and who are active members of the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM). The group meets semi-annually in the spring and fall in order to network, share information and provide support to other members. Practices represented are both large and small, rural and urban, public and private.

http://www.midwiferybusinessnetwork.com/

Save the Date! Wednesday March 18, 2009 (Gig Harbor, WA)

For more information, Location, Registration, Fees and Outline:
http://www.birthjunkie.com/KitsapBirthCollective/harper.html

Need Contact Hours/CEU’s? Want to know more about waterbirth? Do you know the two new reflexes on the aquatic apgar? Steps to resolve shoulder dystocia in the water? Do you know the indications for water as an intervention in labor?

http://childbirthand.blogspot.com/2009/01/waterbirth-credentialing-workshop-with.html

Midwives At Southampton, England, Helping Women Who Have Previously Had A Caesarean Section To Choose A Normal Birth For Their Next Baby
17 Feb 2009

Nationally, the number of c-sections has dramatically increased over the last decade. This has led the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement to develop a toolkit to help midwives reduce these numbers.

This toolkit has been in development at Princess Anne Hospital for the last 18 months and during that time there has been a 4 per cent reduction in the number of c-sections. This is double the target reduction.

http://www.glorialemay.com/blog/?p=90

We are a dedicated group of individuals and families from across the state of Iowa working to ensure that Iowans have access to home birth as one of many safe childbirth options. Our success depends on your support and participation.

We currently have active chapters in the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids area, Central Iowa, and the Quad Cities.

http://www.friendsofiowamidwives.org

You might be interested in an interview I participated in with my wife Nicole Warren on WBEZ’s (PBS) Worldview program regarding a project that we have launched called Mali Midwives, which some of you already know about. The purpose of the project is to facilitate continuing education for rural auxiliary midwives in Mali, where we both conduct research. The ultimate goal is to help strengthen health care delivery to rural areas of Mali and, in particular, to help reduce maternal mortality which kills about 1 in 15 Malian women.

The interview was this morning and it first aired at noon today (2/26/09). It will rebroadcast tonight at 9 pm on 91.5 FM and it can be found streaming on the web at http://www.wbez.org/content.aspx?audioID=32386. Our marketing at this point consists of a page on Facebook, a video slideshow on YouTube, and a fundraising page on ChipIn. I can provide more info if you’re interested.

http://travelerswife.blogspot.com/2009/03/mali-midwives.html

A short film by five midwives and a doctor in Tanzania documenting the dire conditions of maternal health care in the country has inspired the Tanzanian government to double the number of midwives trained each year.

The 10-minute film, made by midwives trained in participatory film-making, looks at “the appalling conditions in which women have to give birth” in Tanzania and incited government action on maternal health care after it was screened before the Minister of Health (see the full story below). Click here to watch the video.

One of the goals for Project HOPE’s mission in Ghana was to conduct a training for midwives that was held at Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital in conjunction with the Nursing Midwifery Training College. The Regional Health director selected specific hospitals/health centers in the region to send a couple of their midwives to the training. They were sent letters of invitation and we had 16 participants the first day.

http://projecthopeinthefield.blogspot.com/2009/03/midwives-saving-lives-skills-training.html

It is already known that caregivers’ attitude and behavior is important in determining whether a woman has a satisfying experience of childbirth. But our knowledge about memory of labor pain is still limited. Is satisfaction with labor linked to memories of the pain?

Professor Ulla Waldenstrom and colleagues at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden explain that the memory of labor pain usually reduces over time, but for some women it increases. The team set out to investigate the memory of labor pain after two months, one year, and five years, and whether it is linked to the pain relief used and the woman’s feelings about her experience.

http://psychcentral.com/lib/2009/childbirth-experience-determines-memory-of-pain/

Birth is often seen as a physical event of necessity – the unfortunate process needed to have the baby. The spirituality can be forgotten in the sterility of a clinical birth setting, with TVs on, monitors attached, caregivers only remotely available but generally busy and unknown. These images are what many women come to expect for birth. They do not expect to be celebrated nor are they encouraged, generally, to create individual ritual symbols or ceremony.

http://midwifeintheclouds.blogspot.com/2009/03/symbols-of-childbirth.html