Current Birth Currents!

Birth Tales:
Stories of Amazing Births (submitted by midwives, apprentices, doulas and parents)

What if doctors discovered a substance so potent, it could prevent dozens of diseases and even reduce the risk of cancer? Breastfeeding contributes significantly to child health.

Los Angeles Best Babies Network and Eisner Pediatric & Family Medical Center Partner to Expand CenteringPregnancy® in Southern California (from April 1, 2008 Los Angeles Best Babies Network Perinatal e-News).

LA Best Babies Network will partner with Eisner Pediatric & Family Medical Center, to create a Southern California CenteringPregnancy® Consortium and to provide training for five clinics on the CenteringPregnancy® model of group prenatal care. Funding for the CenteringPregnancy® Consortium and training was provided by a $49,000 grant from the March of Dimes.

CenteringPregnancy® is designed to maintain the essential components of quality prenatal care by providing assessments, education and medical and psychosocial interventions, while empowering mothers-to-be to manage their own health care and learn from each other. CenteringPregnancy® creates an atmosphere and opportunities for peer group support to reduce the sense of isolation that participants may face in the medical setting and in their personal lives. As a result, the CenteringPregnancy® model is a proven standard for improving pregnancy outcomes and reducing preterm births1.

In the CenteringPregnancy® model, women join groups of 8 to 12 expectant mothers with similar due dates (partners are also welcome) for their prenatal visits. Within this nurturing environment, women actively engage in their pregnancy by learning self-care activities such as checking their own blood pressure and weight, as well as monitoring fetal growth and heartbeat with either their physician or a certified nurse midwife. Health topics are covered in group sessions with the provider and individually as needed; topics include: nutrition, exercise, childbirth, breastfeeding and parenting among others.

"The CenteringPregnancy® model offers much more than the traditional model in which expectant women have individual visits with their provider during the prenatal period," says Janice French, CNM, MS, director of programs for LA Best Babies Network. "CenteringPregnancy® participants report that they often learn more about their own health, and their baby's health by questions that others ask. The group discussions also provide important emotional support for women sharing the experience of pregnancy."

To learn more about the development of the Southern California CenteringPregnancy® Consortium or to learn how your clinic can apply for CenteringPregnancy® training, please contact Sandra Trinidad, MPH, RD, care quality program coordinator for LA Best Babies Network at (213) 250-7273, ext. 111 or STrinidad@LABestBabies.org
Reference

Here’s an angle you may not have thought about: breastfeeding and disaster preparedness. As a maternal child health advocate, I am thinking about what the population I serve would need in an emergency. You may have heard about the Chinese Police Officer who breastfed 6 babies in the aftermath of the earthquake in China. Well, in our culture, people would think that was obscene. However, during the Katrina episode in New Orleans, many babies and mothers were separated. Disaster Planners and rescue workers did not consider the biological needs of mothers and infants to remain together. One solution is mobilizing the breastmik supply. While sharing nursing and wet nursing is considered taboo in our culture, We really need to rethink this - because mobilizing the breastmilk supply could be life saving in a disaster. Lessons learned from International public health planners in lesser developed regions is that where there is famine and war and extreme poverty, breastmilk is often times the ONLY means of survival for infants. Also, did you hear the story about people who were shipwrecked in the ocean, and a lactating mom fed everyone on her breastmilk...even adults, and they all survived?! Breastmilk truly is the "milk of human kindness". Of course, we need to be mindful about contagious diseases spread through breastmilk and take precautions, but we need to realize that breastmilk is a valuable commodity in a disaster or crises, and we should think about mobilizing a "brigade of breastfeeding moms" during a disaster.

In Jennifer Block's bestselling book "Pushed", about childbirth in America, she writes about a hurricane in South Florida's affects upon one hospital. They were without power and so they could not do "business as usual". During that time, they decreased their c-sections and elective induction of labors dramatically because the hospital was so hot, women could not stand to sit in a hospital bed for 20 hours getting induced. The lesson learned was that the hospital was MORE efficient, not LESS efficient when they let women come in active labor, and they delivered faster too, freeing up more beds sooner. This could also be true of breastfeeding...when there is a lack of refrigeration and clean water, breastmilk is always the right temperature in the right quantity and quality at the right time, In fact, breastmilk has ensured human survival from Day One...So we really need to rethink our ideas about the "socially unacceptable" practice of shared nursing or wet nursing.

RevolutionHealth. com Releases momScore, First-of-Its- Kind Examination of Maternal Health in the U.S.

Wednesday, May. 07, 2008
Vermont Tops 50 States in First Annual Analysis

WASHINGTON — Revolution Health today announced momScore, a
first-of-its- kind health index that provides nationwide state rankings
for maternal health - the health of women during pregnancy, childbirth
and the postpartum period. The health index, including state-specific
metrics, may be viewed by going to
http://www.Revoluti onHealth. com/momscore

"We believe it is critical that consumers have the information and
tools they need to make smart health decisions for themselves and
their families. With momScore, our team has collected information
about the critical factors that influence maternal health in every
state, displayed this information in one place and provided
easy-to-understand, comprehensive rankings," said Val Jones, M.D.,
senior medical director at Revolution Health. "momScore demonstrates
how clear information can promote awareness of important maternal
health issues. I hope that this health index will also encourage
states to compete with one another for higher momScores by improving
the quality of care and access to health services for moms and babies."
The cumulative momScore was compiled by a team of independent experts
including medical professionals, public health officials, advocates
and real-life moms. The panel looked at 10 key factors, including
maternal health and wellness, early childhood health, socioeconomic
factors and public policy. They reviewed more than 40 datasets from
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Bureau of Labor
Statistics, Census Bureau, American College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists, and others. momScore covers the 50 states and the
District of Columbia. This is the first time such information has been
compiled into one set of rankings.
To help moms take action to improve their health, RevolutionHealth. com
has coupled the momScore rankings with expert-led groups on topics
ranging from parenting and healthy eating, to losing weight and
de-stressing. In addition, RevolutionHealth. com is hosting forums for
discussions on momScore and the ways the online community can improve
their individual state's momScore rankings.
"Maternal health is of critical importance and has not been given
enough attention on our national research agenda for the last decade,"
said Vivian Dickerson, M.D., Executive Medical Director of Women's
Health Services at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, California and a
past President of the American College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists and one of the experts who informed the development of
momScore. "By analyzing and presenting these complicated data in a
simple, digestible way for moms and moms-to-be, we hope to help them
understand the various factors and policies that affect maternal
health and encourage women to take action to improve their own health.
The release of Revolution Health's momScore is an important step
towards bringing attention to maternal health so that, for all women,
motherhood is a healthy and positive experience."

Milkmen? Can men breastfeed?
This article discusses lactation in men...it is very interesting:

Slate Magazine’s article review on Rikki Lake’s film “The Business of Being Born”

Push!
Ricki Lake's valentine to the home-birth movement.
By Dana Stevens
Posted Friday, Jan. 11, 2008, at 6:07 PM ET

The Business of Being Born, a documentary directed by Abby Epstein and produced by talk-show host Ricki Lake, is a generous-spirited tribute to the practice of home birth. It's full of moving (and surprisingly ungross) filmed deliveries, including those by Epstein and Lake themselves. Unfortunately, the movie is also a propagandistic brief on behalf of the home-birth movement that's so selective in its presentation of information that it makes Michael Moore look like a fat lady in a blindfold holding a pair of scales.

ACNM Talks with Cara Muhlhahn, CNM, Midwife Featured in The Business
of Being Born, Rikki Lake and Abby Epstein’s Film on Birth In America
Click here for more on The Emergency Transfer Scene: What the Cameras
don't Show
An American College of Nurse Midwives www.acnm.org member featured in Rikki Lake's new birth documentary talks about the film and shares her personal calling to midwifery.

FIRST NATIONAL SURVEY OF WOMEN'S CHILDBEARING EXPERIENCES RESULTS ARE NOW AVAILABLE, LISTENING TO MOTHER'S SURVEY

The maternal health promotion organization, Childbirth Connection (formerly Maternity Center Association) did two landmark national Listening to Mothers Surveys in 2002 and 2006 which are valuable resources for understanding and improving women's childbearing experiences. They focus the discussion on views of those who care most about maternity issues: mothers themselves.
We invite pregnant women to read the report to help understand maternity experiences, set goals and make plans and decisions. New and experienced mothers can use this national profile to put your own experiences in perspectives.

Policy makers, administrators, clinicians, educators and others with responsibility for mothers and babies can use survey results to understand and improve the quality of maternity experiences.

Childbirth Connection invites others - including states, health plans and hospitals - to use and adapt the survey questionnaires to understand and improve the experiences of specific populations.
To view learn what mothers said about their birth experience go to:
Childbirth Connection's Listening to Mothers Survey

The Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) asks the question “Is normal birth a thing of the past?” and gives guidelines from WHO for the management of maternity care, very similar guidelines to the CIMS Initiative. See full article below.

At a time when nearly one in three US births are cesarean and the rate of medical intervention in maternity care continues to rise, the January/February issue of the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses' Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic and Neonatal Nursing (JOGNN) explores the evolution and implications of current high-tech birthing practices and offers nursing recommendations for a return to normal birth.

The "Reclaiming Normal Birth" issue features articles that explore evidence-based nursing practices to promote normal physiological birth - that is, birth that occurs naturally with minimal medical intervention. Also discussed is how to balance these care practices in today's current birthing climate where interventions have become routine.

According to the article, "Promoting, Protecting, and Supporting Normal Birth: A Look at the Evidence," six evidence-based care practices adopted from the World Health Organization (WHO) can be implemented by nurses to promote physiological birth:

The article reviews evidence surrounding each of these care practices and determines that interventions that are not medical necessary increase the risk of complications for mother and baby during birth. However, nurses, as the most prominent, hands-on caregiver in the labor and delivery environment, are in a unique position to reintroduce care practices that support normal birth.

In "The Emergence of High-Tech Birthing," Elaine Zwelling, RN, PhD, a perinatal nurse consultant with the Hill-Rom Company, details the transition from pregnancy and birth as a normal, intervention- free event to a high risk and high-tech event.

Zwelling makes the case that normal birth, as defined by the six parameters adopted from WHO, may be difficult to achieve in the United States today due to routine high-tech interventions.

"As the primary caregivers for women during labor, nurses often find themselves walking a fine line between the wishes of the consumers and the preferences of the women's medical care providers," states Zwelling in the article. She recommends that nurses strive to balance high-tech with high-touch rather than selecting one over the other.

Both articles make the case that hospitals are well-equipped for high-risk, complicated births, but not set-up for normal birth due to policies, protocols and physical infrastructure. Therefore, advocating for normal birth is a challenge for nurses in the current maternity care environment and will require dramatic changes in the typical American hospital.

Continuing Nursing Education Credit may be earned by nurses who read and complete an online post-test and evaluation for the article, "Promoting, Protecting and Supporting Normal Birth: A Look at the Evidence," by Amy M. Romano, MSN, CNM, a perinatal research and advocacy coordinator at Lamaze International, and Judith A. Lothian, RN, PhD, LCCE, an associate professor at the College of Nursing, Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey.

AWHONN is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation.

The Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic and Neonatal Nursing (JOGNN) is the bimonthly peer-reviewed journal of the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses.

The Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) was founded in 1969 and is the foremost nursing authority that advances the health care of women and newborns through advocacy, research and the creation of high quality, evidence-based standards of care.

AWHONN's 22,000 members worldwide are clinicians, educators and executives who serve as patient care advocates focusing on the needs of women and infants. A leader in professional development, AWHONN is the first and only association to be awarded the designation Premier Provider by the American Nurses Credentialing Center for innovation and excellence in Continuing Education.

Check this out.
A new survey of mothers reveals some disturbing things about hospital maternity care that may make pregnant women want to take a closer look at their options. See link below to full article.

Did you see this article that appeared in the LA Times on Monday Sept.
24th? Finally, the connection between increased medicalized childbirth/C-Sections in the U.S. and the rise in maternal deaths is getting the attention it deserves!

For further information check out the Safe Motherhood USA website at:
http://www.rememberthemothers.org. The Safe Motherhood Initiatives-USA is a partnership of organizations whose goal is to reduce maternal mortality in the United States. SMI was launched on October 25, 1997, the Tenth Anniversary of the International Safe Motherhood Initiative.
They launched a quilt project; each patch has the name and birth date and death date of woman who died of childbirth-related causes. The quilt travels and can be brought to your venue -- a powerful tool to educate about this hidden crises in the US!

More women are dying in childbirth thanks to the high numbers of doctors and mothers who opt out of normal delivery.

Pre-term births are on the rise. Nearly one-third of women have major abdominal surgery to give birth. And compared with other industrialized countries, the United States ranks second-to-last in infant survival.
For years, these numbers have suggested something is terribly amiss in delivery wards. Now there is even more compelling evidence that the U.S.
maternity care system is failing: For the first time in decades, the number of women dying in childbirth has increased.

For further information check out the Safe Motherhood USA website at:
http://rememberthemothers.net/.
The Safe Motherhood Initiatives-USA

Lamaze eNews:
March 2008 Planned Cesarean Surgery Is No Safer for Breech Births
Despite one study's conclusion that planned cesarean surgery results in superior outcomes for babies and equivalent outcomes for mothers, flaws in this research indicate otherwise. In "When Research is Flawed," obstetric research expert Henci Goer finds several problems in how the Hannah study—a randomized trial to compare planned cesarean surgery vs. planned vaginal birth for breech births was conducted and its interpretations of the results. Other studies, based on a good selection of patients, contradict these findings and report that with a good selection of patients, properly trained medical staff and careful management during labor, vaginal birth is safe for breech babies.
"When Research is Flawed," developed by the Lamaze Institute for Normal Birth, provides brief critiques of some of the most influential research studies published on topics that shape and affect policy and practice in maternal-child health care, such as breech birth. These research study critiques help childbirth professionals evaluate the quality of evidence and communicate that evidence to expectant parents, who may be misled or confused by information they receive from the media.
Read the complete critique on the Hannah study on breech birth, as well as critiques of studies on epidural analgesia, home birth, induction of labor and vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) at "When Research is Flawed" on the Research page of www.lamaze.org.

Avoiding Induced Labor Is More Beneficial to Moms and Babies

In a new press release, Lamaze discusses research that shows that allowing labor to start naturally, rather than inducing, reduces the possibility of complications, and increases a woman's ability to work with her contractions to facilitate the process of birth.
"By avoiding induction, women are less likely to encounter other medical interventions," says Lamaze International President Allison J. Walsh, IBCLC, LCCE, FACCE. "Experiencing natural contractions and laboring without unnecessary medical interventions increases a woman's freedom to respond to contractions by moving and changing positions, both of which facilitate the process of labor and birth."
Lamaze International recommends that women allow their body to go into labor on its own, unless there is a true medical reason to induce. To support this, Lamaze has developed a care practice paper entitled "Labor Begins on its Own," which presents the research surrounding labor induction and tips for avoiding induced labor.
To encourage positive birth outcomes for both baby and mother, the Lamaze Institute for Normal Birth has developed six care practice papers, adapted from the World Health Organization, that promote, support and protect normal birth. Download and share these care practices with expectant parents, colleagues or your students.

U.S. Maternal Mortality Rates on the Rise
The U.S. maternal mortality rate rose to 13 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2004, according to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics. By comparison, in 2003, the maternal mortality rate was 12 deaths per 100,000.

The CDC reports a total of 540 pregnancy-related deaths in 2004, 45 more deaths than in 2003. Some factors affecting the maternal mortality rate include:

-Reprinted from perinatal e-news, LA Best Babies Network at www.labestbabies.org

Pushed, a book by Jennifer Block,

Explores Reproductive Rights in the United States
Pushed: The Painful Truth about Childbirth & Modern Maternity, a new book written by Jennifer Block, takes readers on a journey across the country to investigate all sides of childbirth issues in the United States today. In this provocative, well-researched analysis of childbirth, Block witnesses several births—from a planned cesarean to an "underground" home birth—and explores the assumption that routine cesarean surgeries, inductions and epidurals equal medical progress. Read more of Block's incisive discussion on reproductive rights by purchasing Pushed at the Lamaze Bookstore & Media Center. Copies are available for $26 for non-members, and are available at a special discounted rate of $23.40 for Lamaze members.

This Concord Monitor Online article was sent to you from Cordelia (calenhad.publicus.com)

Look Inside a Lamaze Class
Do you or someone you know want to learn more about what happens during a Lamaze Childbirth Education Class or a normal birth? Lamaze International has developed a six-minute video called "Look Inside a Lamaze Class," which takes viewers on a journey through a childbirth education class and one mother's experience of normal birth. The video is a beautiful example of continuous labor support, and demonstrates how to implement a variety of comfort measures and position changes during birth.
View the video online or download it for FREE to your computer from the Lamaze Web site, so you can show it to friends, colleagues or in your childbirth education classes. You also can view the video on YouTube and add it as one of your favorites!

Epidurals 'hamper breastfeeding'

Breastfeeding may be affected by how a woman gives birth.
Having an epidural to relieve labor pains is associated with problems breastfeeding, a study suggests. Researchers said those who have the anaesthetic are more likely to have problems in the first week after birth and to stop breastfeeding early.

Mother breastfeeding her baby University of Sydney researchers looked at 1,300 women who gave birth in 1997.

A chemical in epidurals may affect babies or it may be that women who do not have pain relief are more likely to persist with breastfeeding, they said.

However, a UK expert said that while the International Breastfeeding Journal study was interesting, women should not worry.

Around 20% of UK women have epidurals - inserted into a space near the spinal cord - to ease the pain of labor. Although the findings of this study are interesting and warrant further investigation, it is so far a theoretical concern Pat O'Brien Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
The researchers looked at the women's childbirth and breastfeeding history.
Of the 416 who had an epidural, 172 also had a Caesarean section.
Although 93% of the women studied breastfed their baby in the first week, those who were given an epidural were much more likely to have problems.
They were also likely to completely stop breastfeeding before six months compared with women who did not have any pain relief.
Three-quarters of those who had no analgesia were breastfeeding at 24 weeks, compared with 53% who received pethidine or epidurals.

Benefits

The researchers, led by Dr Siranda Torvaldsen, say: "There is a growing body of evidence that the fentanyl component of epidurals may be associated with sleepy infants and difficult establishing breastfeeding."

They add: "Whatever the underlying mechanism, it is important that women who are at higher risk of breastfeeding cessation are provided with adequate breastfeeding assistance and support, both in the initial postpartum period [just after birth] and the following few months."

Pat O'Brien, a spokesman for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said it was possible that fentanyl had an effect on the baby.

But he added: "There are other factors which may explain this link, including that if a woman chooses not to have an epidural, she may also be more motivated to persevere with breastfeeding.

"Also, a lot of those women who had epidurals also went on to have Caesarean sections which - unless you have a lot of support - make it difficult to breastfeed because it's harder for women to pick their babies up."

He added: "For a woman who wants an epidural, there are a wide range of obvious benefits, and although the findings of this study are interesting and warrant further investigation, it is so far a theoretical concern."

From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6161727.stm, 12/12/06

U.S. women are dying from childbirth at the highest rate in decades.
The high cesearean rates are partly to blame. See full article by
clicking on link below. (This artcle does not bring out the fact that
African-American maternal mortality is 4 times higher than it is for
white Americans. A fact that has not changed in decades)

The rate of death in childbirth has risen, possibly due to more
besity and C-sections, but the risk is still small

U.S. women are dying from childbirth at the highest rate in decades,
new government figures show. Though the risk of death is very small,
experts believe increasing maternal obesity and a jump in Caesarean
sections are partly to blame.

Giving Infants a Helping Hand (Summarized from Newsweek)
p45 Spr-Sum 1997

Physical contact may also help preemies gain weight faster and healthy babies digest food better.

Scientist's work with fragile neonates and preschoolers points toward the conclusion: that touch is vitally important to the development of healthy, happy children. Bolstering the immune system, cuddling and massage appears to have many positive effects.

At the University of Miami's Touch Research Institute, director Tiffany Field cites many studies on the effects of touch. "Premature babies given daily massage gain 47 percent more weight and are discharged from hospitals six days earlier - at a savings of $10,000 each in medical costs. Cocaine-addicted and HIV-infected newborns show lower levels of stress as well as say that better weight gain and motor skills with touch therapy. From colic to sleep disorders to hyperactivity, therapeutic touch seems beneficial. Says Field, 'Most of us think touch only has psychological benefits, but it's actually an important stimulus to the central nervous system."

Researchers found that newborn rat pups failed to grow when removed from their mothers. Without their mothers licking them, baby rats showed decreased levels of growth hormones. When a lab assistant imitated the mother's licking with a wet paintbrush, "hormone levels rose and the pups resumed growing". Likewise for human babies. Studies have shown that touching can also lead to weight gain. The pressure releases hormones that make food absorption more efficient -- and babies grow faster. Touch also decreases stress. Infants who receive massage show lower levels of the stress hormone in their urine -- a hormone that kills important immune cells at higher levels.

While many parents of preemies are seeing the benefits of infant massage, the medical establishment isn't always quite as enthusiastic. Many doctors stop short of prescribing massage to help babies grow or reduce their stress. Touch research is still relatively new. Many questions remain unanswered. Yet more and more neonatal intensive care units are beginning to add touch to their therapy, and parental interest in infant massage continues to grow.
So once again, science is catching up to the wisdom of a mother's intuition.

May 1, 2008 — Skin-to-skin contact to reduce pain in preterm neonates has been shown to be effective in infants from 28 weeks of gestation through term, according to the results of a crossover trial reported in the April 23 Online First issue of BMC Pediatrics.

"Skin-to-skin contact, or kangaroo mother care (KMC) has been shown to be efficacious in diminishing pain response to heel lance in full term and moderately preterm neonates," write Celeste Johnston, DEd, RN, from McGill University School of Nursing in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and colleagues. "The purpose of this study was to determine if KMC would also be efficacious in very preterm neonates."

Pregnancy and Auto-Immune Disease
Summarized from an article in Self Magazine

It has long been a mystery why certain autoimmune diseases, like schroederma (in which the skin becomes increasingly hard), occur ten times more frequently in women than in men. Research now indicates that pregnancy may increase the risk of having autoimmune diseases because of a flux of fetal cells in the mother's bloodstream during delivery. Researcher Diana W. Bianchi, M.D. Chief of Genetics at the New England Medical Center in Boston, has harvested fetal cells from mothers up to 27 years after giving birth. This has given rise to the idea that not all "autoimmune" diseases are reactions to the cells of the body and may instead be related to the "foreign" genetic material still present from childbirth. If this hypothesis is proven to be correct, scientists might be able to formulate new and better ways to fight diseases such as schroederma.

Lamaze Institute for Normal Birth:
Why Transparency Matters: A Fact Sheet for Birth Advocates

Transparency means providing health care consumers with the information they need - and the means to interpret it - in order to evaluate the quality of care provided by individual providers and institutions.
Transparency is the missing ingredient to truly informed choice.

Comments from Kimberly Durdin-James http://www.thecroneskitchen.blogspot.com):
Do you know of any women of color that have died within their their first year after having a baby, experienced a near-miss or suffered some type of morbidity related to birth?
Amnesty International is conducting long overdue research to examine why black women IN THIS COUNTRY die after childbirth at a rate of 4X greater than white women and latina moms die at a rate of twice that of white women. If you do know someone to whom this has occured Amnesty International would like to speak to you. Read their brief below. I'll also be doing a piece on my blog, hopefully by this weekend. http://www. thecroneskitchen.blogspot.com
Peace and many blessings,
Kimberly Durdin, IBCLC

Amnesty International is an international human rights organization that undertakes research and action focused on preventing and ending grave abuses of human rights, including the rights of physical and mental integrity, and freedom from discrimination. The organization has also increasingly been working on economic, social and cultural rights. Within the next year, Amnesty International is planning on launching a campaign focusing on achieving equal access to rights, including the right to health.

In this context, Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) is undertaking a research project aimed at documenting the rate and nature of maternal mortality in the US. The springboard for our interest is the fact that women in the US face a greater risk of maternal mortality than women in other industrialized countries. Even more alarmingly, maternal mortality rates are four times higher for African American women than white women and twice as high for Latina women. The research team is engaged in documenting and gathering information on a broad range of issues that relate to direct and indirect causes of maternal deaths - including the lack of accurate national statistics, access to care, absence of quality care for uninsured and underinsured women, issues of discrimination, the lack of national guidelines on maternal health and emergency care, as well as the issue of informed consent. We are particularly interested in documenting the experiences of racial/ethnic minority women -- in particular African American and Latina women -- and women living in poverty and exploring reasons for the high rate of maternal mortality among these groups of women.

The research will be conducted through interviews, surveys, media research and literature review. AIUSA is planning to produce a report on its findings, providing an overview of issues concerning maternal mortality rates and women’s access to adequate and appropriate healthcare. The report will also contain recommendations on how women’s health outcomes can be improved based on interviews and input from experts, advocates, surviving family members and women who survived life-threatening pregnancy-related complications, building on the framework of international law and standards.

AIUSA is therefore reaching out to organizations and experts willing to share their knowledge and expertise. We are also seeking individuals willing to share their experiences. Any information provided to us by individuals will be kept completely confidential, unless you and your client wish to bring attention to a particular case. All organizations that participate in this project will be clearly credited in the final report, unless your preference is to remain anonymous. We would also appreciate your input on developing recommendations to US authorities and on potential campaign activities, many of which we hope will be collaborative efforts.

We would very much appreciate the opportunity to meet with you. Please contact us by email at rcho@aiusa.org, or by phone at 212-633-4161, if you would be willing and able to work with us in any capacity on this project. Please do not hesitate to contact us for more information or if you have any questions. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

A new international partnership was launched last week that will help build national health systems in some of the poorest countries in the world. It will mean healthier people, living longer lives. Seven ‘first wave’ countries in Africa and Asia today announced that they would join the new International Health Partnership, which is supported by donor governments and agencies representing half of the world’s aid spending on health, which totals $14 billion. The seven in the first wave are Burundi, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nepal and Zambia. These countries have agreed that they would benefit from closer donor and international partner coordination as they work to improve the health of their people.

"How You Can Help Save Mothers' Lives :
Maternal mortality is the leading cause of death for women of reproductive age. Here are seven things you can do to make a difference."

It is good to see that the mainstream media is starting to pay attention to this important issue that is the leading cause of death for women worldwide. American women too are still dying from pregnancy-related causes. Though it is hard to believe this is still happening in modern times in a wealthy country like ours that boasts the most advanced technology and sophisticated medical treatment. The article addresses the disparities affecting Black women disproportionally; American Black women die from pregnancy and childbirth related causes at 4 times the rate of White women.

Is a Home Birth Unsafe? Thu Mar 6, 2008 3:54 pm (PST)
Vancouver Sun (BC, Canada) (02/27/08) Skelton, Chad

While some healthcare providers believe home births are riskier than
hospital births, research by University of British Columbia Perinatal Epidemiologist
Patricia Janssen indicates that those births handled by midwives often are
as safe or safer than hospital births. Janssen examined data on 800 planned
home births and 1,300 hospital births in British Columbia, publishing the
results in 2002; a follow-up study reviewing 3,000 planned home births in the
province from 2000 to 2004 has yet to be published. The 2002 report revealed that
11.9 percent of midwife-attended hospital births and 18.2 percent of
physician-attended hospital births involved Cesarean deliveries, versus 6.4 percent
of home births. Episiotomies occurred in 10.9 percent of midwife-attended
hospital births and 15.3 percent of physician-attended hospital births, but only
3.8 percent of home births. Additionally, 35 per 1,000 hospital births
involved infections, versus seven per 1,000 home births. According to Janssen, "In
a home birth you have the focused and undivided attention of an experienced
practitioner who may be able to pick up complications very early as opposed
to being in a crowded hospital where there's a mix of both experienced and new
practitioners who have other responsibilities. practitioners who have to
Columbia study indicates the importance of regulating midwives, as research from
countries that do not rigorously regulate home birth programs report higher
infant death rates and more complications