Three Rivers Birth Services

Cochrane reviews do meta-analyses of all available research on a given topic then present their findings, and many have described them as the “gold standard” for medical research.  It’s a great place to get evidence-based information for any medical area, including Pregnancy and Childbirth.

A new Cochrane Review says that the Midwives’ Model of Care (intervening less often, only when medically indicated, instead of as a preventative measure) is the preferred, recommended model for low-risk women and has better outcomes.  Here’s the abstract:

Midwife-led versus other models of care for childbearing women

Midwife-led care confers benefits for pregnant women and their babies and is recommended.

In many parts of the world, midwives are the primary providers of care for childbearing women. Elsewhere it may be medical doctors or family physicians who have the main responsibility for care, or the responsibility may be shared. The underpinning philosophy of midwife-led care is normality and being cared for by a known and trusted midwife during labour. There is an emphasis on the natural ability of women to experience birth with minimum intervention. Some models of midwife-led care provide a service through a team of midwives sharing a caseload, often called ‘team’ midwifery. Another model is ‘caseload midwifery’, where the aim is to offer greater continuity of caregiver throughout the episode of care. Caseload midwifery aims to ensure that the woman receives all her care from one midwife or her/his practice partner. By contrast, medical-led models of care are where an obstetrician or family physician is primarily responsible for care. In shared-care models, responsibility is shared between different healthcare professionals.

The review of midwife-led care covered midwives providing care antenatally, during labour and postnatally. This was compared with models of medical-led care and shared care, and identified 11 trials, involving 12,276 women. Midwife-led care was associated with several benefits for mothers and babies, and had no identified adverse effects. The main benefits were a reduced risk of losing a baby before 24 weeks. Also during labour, there was a reduced use of regional analgesia, with fewer episiotomies or instrumental births. Midwife-led care also increased the woman’s chance of being cared for in labour by a midwife she had got to know. It also increased the chance of a spontaneous vaginal birth and initiation of breastfeeding. In addition, midwife-led care led to more women feeling they were in control during labour. There was no difference in risk of a mother losing her baby after 24 weeks. The review concluded that all women should be offered midwife-led models of care.

Although in recent months with the closing of the birth center and several midwives leaving town our options are more limited, there are still a few practicing midwives here in the Tri-Cities, for both home and hospital birth.  Also remember that some midwives practice more like docs, and vice versa.  There are  obstetricians who practice more closely to the Midwives’ Model of Care than to a typical doctor.  Asking pointed questions in an office visit can help you understand the usual ways of practice of any provider.

If you are looking for a midwife/midwifery practice and your local hospital does not offer one, speak up!  It will be impossible for the hospital to get one in time for your birth, but if enough people express interest you might just pay it forward to pregnant women who come after you.

I’ve got a few new pages on my website and wanted to share them with you.  Note specifically the “downloads” section where I’ve put up my pretty new brochures for you all to fawn over!  Please feel free to pass them on – in person or electronically.

- My new doula brochure

- My new Birthing From Within childbirth class brochure

I’ve also got a registration form on my site, and a calendar  (on the right-hand side) that lists upcoming classes (and hopefully soon, events).

- My new Birthing From Within class registration form

And also I’ve listed books in my lending library for those of you who are already clients.

There is still space left in the class – please contact me if you are in your second or third trimester and interested in joining in!  Here’s the class information:

Dates: Mondays, November 3rd, 10th, 17th and 24th
Hours: 6pm-9pm
Location: Wild Rose Midwifery (Fran Wilson, CNM) offices – corner of Fruitland and Kennewick Avenue in downtown Kennewick
Cost: $200 per family (feel free to bring your partner and/or one other person attending your birth)

I love a wide variety of people in my classes.  No matter if you are planning a homebirth or hospital birth, or if drugs and intervention are or are not a planned part of your birth, my goal is that you will accepted for your choices and benefit from the class.  We’ll cover lots of comfort measures, draw pictures, dig into your innate ability to birth and any emotional obstacles standing in your way, learn about pain of birth and much, much more.

I do teach within the Birthing From Within framework/philosophy, and throw a bunch of other things in I’ve learned from Lamaze training (but no pattered breathing) and also my doula training.  You can learn more about Birthing From Within by reading the book by Pam England (that’s the Amazon.com listing and it’s also fairly available commercially) and checking out the website at www.birthingfromwithin.com (make sure to read their philosophy here).

Generally, Birthing From Within classes might differ than a generic birth class in a few profound ways. They aren’t outcome-focused and want to teach a woman how to get through birth an any way she needs to get through it; they have some ancient techniques borrowed from Eastern philosophies such as Taoism, Zen and Bhuddism (but aren’t overtly religious), and they try and connect parents with their primal, creative brain rather than their cognitive, frontal-lobe brain as it’s that primal brain that’s activated in labor and the cognitive brain is harder to connect with.  However I also throw in a lot of practical information as well.

I’d love to have you join our class!

We mothers can’t use our maternal status as an excuse for forgetfulness anymore: it turns out that “mommy brain” is a myth.  Actually, motherhood IMPROVES our brain function.

“The researchers studied rats and primates and compared the brains and skills of females with and without offspring. As well as physical brain differences, they found that females with offspring were braver, could find food up to five times more quickly, and had better spatial ability than females without offspring.  Mother rats were much better at multi-tasking than non-mothers, they were better at finding their way through mazes and they were less anxious and fearful.”

Way to go, all you brave, resourceful, smart mommies!

…and you can too.  Join the Army of Women and help fight breast cancer.

http://www.armyofwomen.org

I’ll be starting a new Birthing From Within class starting in a few weeks.  There is still space left in the class – please contact me if you are in your second or third trimester and interested in joining in!  Here’s the class information:

Dates: Mondays, November 3rd, 10th, 17th and 24th
Hours: 6pm-9pm
Location: Wild Rose Midwifery (Fran Wilson, CNM) offices – corner of Fruitland and Kennewick Avenue in downtown Kennewick
Cost: $200 per family (feel free to bring your partner and/or one other person attending your birth)

I love a wide variety of people in my classes.  No matter if you are planning a homebirth or hospital birth, or if drugs and intervention are or are not a planned part of your birth, my goal is that you will accepted for your choices and benefit from the class.  We’ll cover lots of comfort measures, draw pictures, learn about pain of birth and much, much more.

I do teach within the Birthing From Within framework/philosophy, and throw a bunch of other things in I’ve learned from Lamaze training (but no pattered breathing) and also my doula training.  You can learn more about Birthing From Within by reading the book by Pam England (that’s the Amazon.com listing and it’s also fairly available commercially) and checking out the website at www.birthingfromwithin.com (make sure to read their philosophy here).

Generally, Birthing From Within classes might differ than a generic birth class in a couple of profound ways; they aren’t outcome-focused and want to teach a woman how to get through birth an any way she needs to get through it; they have some ancient techniques borrowed from Eastern philosophies such as Taoism, Zen and Bhuddism (but aren’t overtly religious), and they try and connect parents with their primal, creative brain rather than their cognitive, frontal-lobe brain as it’s that primal brain that’s activated in labor and the cognitive brain is harder to connect with.  However I also throw in a lot of practical information as well.

I’d love to have you join our class!

Great article here. I especially loved this quote by Valarie King, Family Doctor from Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU):

“If a doula could be put in an IV drip, everyone would get it.”

After a long hiatus, La Leche League is back in the Tri-Cities!  I’m pleased as punch that there will be a support group again for breastfeeding mothers in the area.  PJ Jacobsen, a La Leche League leader, board-certified lactation consultant and owner of the breastfeeding megastore Birth and Baby will be leading.  Meetings will be held the first Wednesday of every month at 6pm at Jessica Burden’s home, as part of her postpartum support group, which meets the first and third Wednesdays of each month at 6pm and the second and fourth Fridays at 10am.  If you are interested, contact PJ Jacobsen or Jessica Burden to find out more.