Natural Birth First

"There is a.. surprising maternity care provider shortage nationwide...Midwives, who currently attend less than 10% of births in the United States, could fill the maternity care provider shortage for low risk, healthy pregnancies. Unfortunately, midwives remain inaccessible to many, because private insurance plans are not required to cover midwifery care and often do not list midwives among their provider lists. In fact, many hospitals do not have midwives attending births." According to KFF.org (link in article) 120 additional providers are needed in WA and 140 in OR. Guess how many licensed midwives there are? So frustrating! Moms and babies are literally dying from lack of access to care. What can you do? Insist that your insurer add midwives! And use a midwife yourself, It frees the doctors to care for the higher risk families that need them. Consumers have the power to change this!

Maternal mortality is the shame of US health care Every day, more than 800 women around the world die from complications of pregnancy and childbirth -- and many of those deaths could be prevented if society dedicated itself to lowering maternal mortality rates, writes Every Mother Counts CEO Christy Turlington Burns.

One step at a time! Encouraging VBAC is a good thing!

ACOG Releases New Guidance Aimed at Making VBAC Available to More Women - ACOG About Us ACOG Departments & Activities ACOG Districts ACOG Sections Careers at ACOG Contact Us Find an Ob-Gyn Junior Fellows Leadership & Governance Medical Students Membership Services ACOG Mentorship Program Newsroom News Releases Statements Practice Advisories ACOG President's Blog ACOG Newslette...

Listeria is a bacteria that can cause pregnancy complications, it's the reason for the general recommendation to heat lunch meat and avoid soft cheese while pregnant. In the last several years, it has been found in so many other foods, those not typically thought of as "risky" for pregnant people to consume. For the latest, see the list attached.

Mann Packing Recalls Minimally Processed Vegetable Products Because of Possible Health Risk Mann Packing of Salinas, California is voluntarily recalling minimally processed vegetable products listed below because they may be contaminated with listeria monocytogenes. Mann Packing is issuing this recall in response to a single positive result found during random sampling by the Canadian Food...

Hey! Did you all see this!!

Midwifery Care Lynette now offers full service prenatal, birth and postpartum care!

I've been saying this for a LONG time. Glad to see it's making the rounds.

How Using Our Power as Consumers Could Change Maternity Care Forever - Mothering Simply re-thinking your role as a birthing woman can change maternity care. Re-thinking maternity care- from patient to consumer.

Lots in the media about these recent articles. Here's the short and sweet of it.

How safe are home births for mothers? (Opinion) - CNN.com The rising interest in home births tells us a lot about the experiences of mothers in the 3.9 million hospital births every year.

"women ... with low-risk pregnancies may be better off staying out of the hospital. Why? Because the significant risks of over-intervention in hospitals, such as unnecessary C-sections, may be far more likely (and therefore more dangerous) for patients than the risks of under-intervention at home or in birth centers...for women in much of the U.S., the choice is often the hospital or nothing."

Let's change this!

Harvard Obstetrician Speaks on Safety of Giving Birth at Hospitals Much of the developed world offers only one pragmatic alternative: the hospital

Ever so busy with midwifery school but this one caught my eye. Thought you might enjoy it too!

Studies Show Alternative Birthing Positions Reduce Pain & Or**sm Is Possible When the topic of child birth comes up we might first think of new life and a beautiful miracle, but after that we might think of the agonizing pain that is experienced by most mothers who give birth to a child. Could it be possible that the body was meant to experience birth in a […]

One of the many drugs used for induction of labor. Make sure you have the facts!

Cytotec: What Your Doctor Isn't Telling You Cytotec is a drug created for the prevention of stomach ulcers, but is used off-label for on women during birth.

Baby's 9 instinctual stages after birth!

The Magical Hour

Know anyone expecting this fall? My next series starts Sunday and there are still a couple of spots left!! I'd love to send you a referral gift! http://www.naturalbirthfirst.com/childbirth-classes.html