Fixing the Licenced Medwife Problem

This is an excellent press release from Claire Hall- addressing the problem of some licensed midwives. Midwives- or medwives as I call some of them- are under the control of the Medical Machine and the patriarchal godhead that removes all control of birthing from the mother, pushing women through the obstetrical cookie cutter as fast as they can process them.

Some Midwives in Canada and America have fallen prey to the notion that birth is a medical procedure to be managed and controlled. I will not argue that having a midwife attended birth is far better than being dominated and suppressed by omnipotent doctors with a tee off time, but we need to ask ourselves:  is "Better" good enough?  Shouldn't we be striving for "best"?  Many of our licensed midwives do the best they can working within the parameters that they are "allowed", but when those parameters are set up by  oppressive medical associations that both fear and loathe free thinking women and uncontrolled birth, how are they to truly empower women to take charge of their births?  I have met so many wonderful midwives and been horrified by their stories of how hospital administrators and staff undermine their autonomy at every turn, throwing continuous obstacles in their way and raising the hurdles with every passing year. "Jump through this hoop or else!"..... is it any wonder that there are so many medwives now practising in our two countries?

The time has come to break the cycle of control.  The time has come for midwives to take back their power and use it to empower the women they serve.

MEDIA RELEASE: The Licensed Midwife Problem

by Claire Hall on Wednesday, 24 November 2010 at 18:09

MEDIA RELEASE:
Claire Hall invites the Trust Birth Initiative and all those who trust birth to end our medicalised midwife problem. It has been insidious in its encroachment of a woman’s right of autonomy over her own body, birth and baby.  “The pervasive need for licensure creates a one dimensional view of birth – that of treating everything as a potential life threatening emergency – while at the same time creating a legal mine field for practitioners and trampling underfoot the basic human rights of women,” said Claire Hall, a midwife and protector of women’s knowledge.
For decades, women have been subjected to navigating the above ground medical system and myriads of tests and interventions, all the while taking it on faith that their care provider is skilled at attending births. Our current birth statistics indicate clearly that they do NOT possess such skills.  Recent statistics in Australia alone indicate that 67% of women undergo some form of chemical induction/augmentation or major abdominal surgery. Depression and Post Traumatic Shock Syndrome statistics are continuing to rise, and mother/baby dynamics lay shattered all over the industrialised world. This disaster is has lifelong negative implications for the baby, for the mother, for the family, and ultimately for society.   We need to address this issue before the deceptive mantra of “licensed equals’ safety” permanently permeates the public’s conscientiousness.

These statistics reflect a common misconception that birth is inherently dangerous, and that a licensed professional in attendance eliminates this danger. This belief leads women into the hands of a medicalised system that does not understand or respect the true nature of physiological birth without ever realising that the true power and safety lies within themselves.  The knowledge of pregnancy, birth and mothering is the right of ALL women, and it has been progressively hidden from women by the medical profession with protocols and technology.

It is abundantly clear that legislation needs to be introduced to protect women and babies from such assaults and trauma, and all birth attendants must undergo accreditation from lay midwifes in how to sit on hands, and treat birthing mothers with the respect and authority they deserve.  It is the goal of Claire Hall, The Trust Birth Initiative and other representative bodies of women’s rights to ensure women all around the world – not just the 50 states of America – have equal access to safe and affordable pregnancy and birth choices.

Ensuring all birth attendants have a trust and sound knowledge of true physiological birth is the only way we can address this medicalisation of midwifery. The licensed Midwife problem is a pressing issue that needs to be dealt with as a matter of urgency, as true autonomy for women disappears conversely as the amount of licensed Midwives rise.

“It is tantamount to the future of this country, and indeed the world, that the knowledge and authority over birth be returned to the individual woman so that she may choose the safest option for her and her family,”said Claire Hall.

But there is HOPE!!!!

Gloria Lemay is holding midwifery classes- classes that will no doubt teach the true empowerment of women and the real necessary training and skills needed to be a MIDwife!!!  Her courses start in December and will cover these topics:

Dec 2 Female Pelvis-anatomy and physiology
Dec 9 Medical Terminology
Dec 16 Prenatal Clinic visit
2011
Jan 6 Palpation, Blood pressure
Jan 13 Rh negative blood type
Jan 20 Fetal circulation
Jan 27 Pregnancy Induced Hypertension
Feb 3 Cervix—effacement, dilation
Feb 10 Confident nutrition counseling
Feb 17 Gestational diabetes prevention, screening
Feb 24 Anemia and blood work
March 3 Water birth
March 10 Genetics for midwives
March 17 Perineum, preventing tears
March 24 Newborn exam
March 31 Placenta (cut and clamp cord, examining)
April 7 Twins and breech presentations
April 14 Teaching childbirth education

And are you ready for this?  The cost of taking these courses is $7.99 per 60 min session. You can choose individual classes or the entire curriculum of 19 classes ($110)!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For more information about Gloria's amazing midwifery course, please go HERE

For more of Claire Hall's excellent writing, please go HERE

For more information about the wondrous phenomena called BIRTH please visit The Trust Birth Initiative

Will You Keep Your Son Intact?"

 This is a brilliant video of Gloria Lemay discussing the question that many midwives and child birth educators and doulas sometimes find difficult to ask "Are you Keeping your Son Intact?" .  Gloria talks about the way to phrase the question, the need for parents to be fully educated about genital cutting,  and about the need for mothers to stand up and protect their sons rights to having intact genitals.  This is a video every person in the childbirth industry NEEDS to watch, with note pad in hand.

Glora is a mover and shaker in the world of Intactivism and has written many great articles on all aspects of the subject of male genital cutting.  Click HERE for a list of her many articles on Intactivism.

"You're NOT in Labour"

I just finished reading Gloria Lemay's blog article "You're not in Labour" and I had to smile.

“YOU’RE NOT IN LABOUR”
These are difficult words for birth attendants to say; I would say they are right up there with “I’m sorry, I’ve made a mistake.” They are, also, difficult for the birthing woman to hear. I’ve been on the receiving and giving ends of those words.
RECEIVING END
During my first home birth (second baby, 12 years after my first birth), I “laboured” all day (5 minute apart sensations that I thought “really hurt”) and at 8 p.m., my mw did a pelvic and said “you’re only 3 cms., you’re not in labour. I suggest you send all these people home, stop entertaining, go to bed, get some rest and I have to go help some other midwives at another birth.” I remember a) wanting to kill her 2) knowing somewhere inside that she was right but not liking it and 3) going into the bathroom and crying my heart out. I did as she told me, went to bed and about midnight it swung into a whole different level of intensity. I could see what she meant that I hadn’t been actively having a baby during the day. I gave birth to my baby at 2 a.m. after about 4 hours of very high gear birth sensations.
What did my midwife do for me by “giving it to me straight”?
1. She gave me the benefit of her experience which was what I paid for.
2. She respected me enough to know that I could deal with the truth and she didn’t have to candy coat it for me.
3. She opened up the possibility that, yes, things could get harder but I could manage it.
4. She provided a model for me to give to other women.

 HERE to read the entire article on Gloria's blog

I smiled as I read this because her experience was soooooo my last birth!! Contractions in the middle of the night, getting close together, yet still 6-8 minutes apart.  Feeling like "This is IT!" and walking and groaning through contractions....calling the midwives and hearing them say "Well, why do you want us to check you? Are you feeling pushy?  If the contractions are still 6-8 ,minutes apart, then...." and being SOooo angry!  Then insisting that we head to the hospital (there were other reasons besides contractions- and we were 45 minutes away, something that was a panic button for me). Arriving at the L&D ward and the midwife saying "You're 3cm..... I think you should go walk for a while and see if we can't get labour started"  .,...... Labour STARTED?!?!?!!?  Oh my Freakin' Gods!!!!!  It was devastating to me to hear those words and ultimately lead to me almost capitulating to another Caesarean section.  Truth is truth, and i'm so glad that my midwives didn't try to lie to me or hide it.... but..... can we not come up with a better sentence than "You're not in labour"?  There must be a more positive way of stating this fact?  A group of words that gives a more positive light and empowers the mother more?  What do you think?  Suggestions?

Being the change you wish to see in the world

I talk here on Informed Parenting about change and about women (and men) standing up and fighting for their Rights- their Rights to Birth their children in peace and without violence or emotional trauma. Their Right to birth at home. Their Rights to Nurse their babies, in public and at home, without guilt and without worry, and to be supported in their journey of nursing their children for as long as they wish.  Their Rights to take their WHOLE baby home, intact and unmolested.  Their RIGHTS. For without taking a stand our Rights will be trodden on and trampled by the galloping hoards of faceless bureaucrats and the cold medical machine that suffers a god complex. If we don't speak out, who will? If we don't speak out, who will encourage others to raise their voices with us? It all starts with one voice.

There are people that stand out as activists of the first order.  People who were not afraid to stand up and be heard, who saw injustice and inequality and said "This is WRONG!" And they stood tall and proud regardless of the ridicule and persecution. Dr. Martin Luther King comes to mind when we think of this kind of activist. Dr. King was arrested 30 times for taking a stand and speaking out against racism in the 50's and 60's, yet now he is revered as hero and the changes he stood up for are accepted as the norm in society. It didn't happen over night and it wasn't easy but nothing worth fighting for ever is. 

Within the circles of Childbirth and Childrens Rights activists there are a few names that stand out. Gloria Lemay is one of our greatest activists and heros, who has suffered over and over, including going to prison for what she believed in, but has never given up or bowed to the pressure that was put upon her.  In "Jan's Corner" of Midwifery Today Magazine Jan Tritten writes about "Midwifery under Fire".  Jan writes:

"We’ve had a period of relative calm in the North American midwifery community since 2002. In an issue of Midwifery Today E-News from July 2001 (http://www.midwiferytoday.com/enews/enews0329.asp), Sandra Stine, CNM, wrote about the history of midwives under fire:
“I am thinking about Yvonne Cryns, Nan Koehler, Abby Odam, the granny midwives and every other traditional birth attendant in this country who has been crucified by the AMA or another source,” Stine stated. “Wonderful, loving, competent midwives have been jailed, lost their homes, spent thousands of dollars defending themselves, or were placed under house arrest while serving families competently. The AMA (American Medical Association) has a track record of prosecuting midwives in almost every state!”
In July of 2002, Gloria Lemay was imprisoned for contempt of court in Canada. A few months later, Mennonite midwife Freida Miller was arrested and imprisoned for contempt of court in Ohio. Thanks to easy Internet access in 2002, the stories of these imprisonments—and of the events that built up to them—were relayed around the globe. Both women were mature adults and both went to prison knowing they had widespread support in the international community. They went to prison with their heads held high and their supporters worked behind the scenes, fundraising and researching to free them. Money and well wishes flowed in from all over the world. North American midwives had entered a new era.
While in prison, Lemay learned that she would be given an award for being “the woman in Canada who had made the biggest contribution to midwifery care in the year 2002.” (Women’s Voice Award).

 ""We’ve had a period of relative calm in the North American midwifery community since 2002" Jan says.... yet it would seem that this period of relative calm is coming to an end, and not just in the field of Midwifery.  Recently there have been negative articles in the media about the safety of home births, negative articles in the media about Breastfeeding, and now articles about male circumcision that hint that the CDC and the American Paediatric Society might be about to do a flip flop and change their official recommendations that there is no medical reason to support Male Circumcision. (which is absolutely false BTW).

All around us we see the Medical Machine, Big Pharma and other professional associations, with their assumed godhead, trying to chip away if not yank right out from under us our Human Rights. But worse is that there are the innocent sheeple out there that are going to listen and are going to assume that this is how it must be.  They will tow the official party line and maybe not discover until much too late that their Rights have been burned at the stake on the altar of the big green buck. That they have lost something precious that can never be reclaimed because they blindly followed the recommendations of those who serve themselves while pretending to be working for the people. Some people might sneer that it's their own damn fault for not researching and educating themselves about their choices, but we cannot blame the sheeple for their blind devotion- children grow up only knowing what they've been taught by their elders and if their elders knew no better than how can they teach the younger generation to think for themselves?  The sheeple will never learn about their Rights and the real information and choices unless those of us who DO know better stand up and tell them.

It isn't easy being the lone voice.  It isn't easy being that person standing above the bellowing crowds on a soap box trying to make yourself heard.  But if you don't do it who will?  There are voices of reason out there that are fighting for YOUR Rights, and the Rights of your children, every day.  People like Gloria Lemay who even in prison kept educating women. People like Danelle Frisbie  of  "Peaceful Parenting" who Fights for the Rights of infant boys everywhere to keep all of their body parts and not suffer mutilation at the hands of those who deem it "OK".  People like Dr. Jack Newman and Edith Kernerman of the Newman Breastfeeding Clinic & Institute who continually challenge the government to provide more Breastfeeding support and better education for medical personnel.  THESE people are your champions and deserve to hear OUR voices!!!

One of the worlds greatest activists Mahatma Gandhi once said "You must be the change that you want to see in the world". 

If you think the world is wrong, that the need for change is great, then lend your voices to the few so that they may soon become the many. A whisper can become a roar if enough voices are heard at once and NOW is the time to raise your voice!

"When Birthing Becomes a "Fetish""

I read this article and wanted to cry and rage.  Cry, because it's so true.  Rage, because it's so true. When will women stand up and realize that this is all just another way that women are subjugated, manipulated and repressed?
In North America women like to think of ourselves as "Feminists" (although many of us hate that particular term due to the mass misuse of it), as women who fight for equality, who stand up for ourselves and our Rights. If someone decided that women had to stand on the bus and let all the menfolk have the seats, you can bet there'd be a mass uprising across our continent that would make WWII look like a dinner party.  Yet these same women who would stomp on anyone who tried to take away their Equal Rights cower and prostrate themselves before the almighty Medical machine that tells them to shut up and birth their babies like good little girls, drugged to the nines, feet up in the stirrups, push on command and then lay quietly while their babies are manhandled, slapped, poked, prodded, stuck with needles, blinded by bright lights and eye drops, weighed & measured, & washed, and finally delivered into their mothers care bundled up like a neat package delivered by the post man.
And then when women stand up for themselves and try to take back their births, try to normalize natural birth as it was intended to be, Idiots like this write letters to the editor of the NY Times saying:

"Under new medical guidelines “natural birth” fetishists can more easily choose vaginal birth after a Caesarean, which results in what your article describes as “quite low” rates of uterine rupture (.7 to .9 percent).
Low? How many severely injured women and brain-damaged babies with multimillion-dollar medical and education bills do those “low” rates yield? And for what benefit?
How many physician hours and medical malpractice insurance dollars are to be expended on the inevitable lawsuits brought by the angry parents who regret their choice?"

HERE to read the original comments 


But Guggie Daly's article  "When Birthing Becomes a Fetish" says it all:

"If mamas who want a VBAC are called natural birth fetishists, then men who exercise, change their diet and take medications after heart surgery must be artery fetishists. And people who do physical therapy after spinal surgery are spine fetishists. People commend and praise those who are recovering from non-birth surgery. Someone who wants his body to work normally is applauded and encouraged. But for women who want normal birth? Clearly, nothing but surgery is good for those pregnant women. Hack it open, pull it out and pay those surgeons! Your body is evil and useless! Or so society tells them.

Why is normal birth attacked in our society? The lustful sexualisation of a woman's body influences the way our culture handles this situation. Just as nursing a child draws criticism and restrictions, so does pushing a child through our birth canal. For in a lustful culture, women are merely objectified, non-person beings present for the satisfaction of males. Therefore, their duality cannot be tolerated. Female breasts are for sexual foreplay only and a female vagina is for sexual intercourse only. A woman who wants to wear provocative clothing is praised. A woman who wants to nurse her child in public is condemned. A woman who goes in for surgery to remove her child is making the "safe choice" while a woman who tries to birth vaginally is a "fetishist." Notice the projection?

Because of this inequality, each person within the family unit is turned in violence towards the other, with both the mother and father turned against the child. The child, once seen as a symbol of the couple's unity and love, is instead looked upon as a thief, one who steals the woman's body from the man and one who ruins the woman's body so that she cannot appease the man to his standard."

 HERE to read the original article



Yep, tears of sorrow and anger.

And the saddest part of this is that so many many women will actually buy into this.  They'll point their fingers at the VBAC'ing, Homebirthing, Midwife Using women and call us "Abnormal"  because WE are standing up for our Rights and the Rights of our babies. Because WE are taking back the births that were taken away from us by the medical machine and the Good Ol' Boys Club.

We Fight because we HAVE to. We speak out because we HAVE to.

The wonderful Gloria Lemay posted this on her blog and I think it is extremely relevant to this conversation:

When Good Women Remain Silent

“First they came for the breech birthers, and I did not speak out–because I was not a breech birther;
Then they came for the twins, and I did not speak out–because I was not carrying twins;
Then they came for the high risk women, and I did not speak out-because I was not a high risk woman;
Then they came for the VBACs, and I did not speak out– because I was not a VBAC;
Then they came for me– and there was no one left to speak out for me.”

Taken from a talk by Laureen Hudson of California at the Trust Birth Conference (March 2010). 

"Do babies feel pain?" My response.

Warning, this picture will make you cry.

Gloria Lemay, long L O N G  time intactivist posts a blog about the pain of circumcision (below).  One of the comments below the article struck a cord in me:

"Advocacy & guilt - I was wondering, I am staunchly against circumcision in both boys and girls, but standing up and advocating against male circumcision has the potential to seriously offend not only my close girlfriends who have circ’ed their babies, but men who are circ’ed and are offended that I take such a strong view against it. How do you handle these two situations when you advocate against circumcision? I am not interested in guilting mothers who have already had this procedure performed on their children, but desperate to raise awareness and stop the assumptions and misinformation surrounding male circumcision. Your thoughts are welcome!"

As I've said on many previous blogs about MGM, I suffer the guilt of knowing that I allowed my beautiful perfect eldest son to have his foreskin cut off. I will live with that guilt till then end of time. But I would not be the staunch intactivist that I am today if it wasn't for two friends who explained to me many years ago about the horrific torture that is male circumcision and showed me the information that said that it was an unnecessary surgery. Was I instantly enlightened?  Did I immediately see the errors of my ways?  No.  At first I refused to believe them, but the question had been planted.  That question nagged at me. Nag Nag Nag.  So in an effort to alleviate my own building sense of guilt and to hopefully find  something that would prove that I did the right thing, I started to research. And the more I researched, the more horrified I became.  The guilt came crashing down.

But here's the thing.  I had a choice.  Now that I had this information, I could either:

A- Completely deny the truth and pretend that I was right by convincing  myself that I DID make the right decision to circumcise my son.

B- Completely accept the truth of what I had done and use my newly acquired enlightenment to reach out to others.

I could of chosen to rail against my friends, taking my hidden guilt out on them, refusing to admit that I had made a mistake, but instead I choose to accept my mistake, to own it and learn from it. I choose to tell others about the horrible thing that I did to my 3 day old son, so that THEY will know that THEY do not have to make the same mistake, that THEY also can change their stand on circumcision, that THEY do not have to continue to perpetuate this atrocity on other sons that they might have in the future. I am more than happy to share my story and my guilt to insure that other parents and their innocent babies do not have to suffer the way that my son and I have. My guilt has given me the passion to speak out and share my knowledge where ever possible.

It's not easy taking the difficult road and being the one that speaks out against so many things that society accepts as "normal".  When I post on public forums about the risks of medical interventions in childbirth, about the horrors of circumcision, about the evil marketing ploys of infant formula companies, I am ridiculed and ostracised by many many mothers/parents. It's not fun.  But in the end, I know that my posts have helped many many families onto the road to education and to making  truly informed decisions for themselves and their children.  If I can help even one person with my words, then I'll continue telling my story and spreading the correct information far and wide whenever I can. And I will tell you something: Hearing just one person say "Thank you so much for helping me" can make all the negativity that that has been dumped by those not willing to hear the truth or to admit that they were wrong completely disappear. 

So don't be afraid to speak out.  Don't be afraid to share your knowledge.  If your friends and family can not accept your decisions and your passion, then they have the choice of not reading your words and igoring your message.  Its'a free world and we can't change everyone.  But you never know when your words might be the seed to greater learning later on.!!

Do Babies Feel Pain? This one does

Circumcision (Khatna) of my son, originally uploaded by K.A.Y (Kamran.Ayub.Yousafzai).

This photo says more than any doctor, nurse, or parent could about the human rights violation that male genital mutilation entails.
Prior to this awful device crushing the foreskin, the other clamp that is hanging off to the side was used to ream around inside the foreskin to separate the skin from the glans. The newborn foreskin is adhered to the glans like your fingernail is adhered to the finger. That procedure is pure torture, too. 

HERE to go to the original blog post by Gloria Lemay

A glorious HBAC birth story from Gloria Lemay

I read this post on Gloria's blog this morning while drinking my coffee in the peace of a sleeping house...and it brought tears to my eyes.  Gloria's article is written by a mother who had two terrible Caesarean Section birth with her first two children- both born prematurely due to doctors being convinced by ultra sounds that they were full term when they were NOT.  This woman's story is a powerful victory over fear and the medical machine. One that should enlighten, empower and encourage women every where to take back their births.

Third births: finally getting it right

This came in as a comment on my blog post “What’s a Poor Midwife to Do?” but I think it should have it’s own blog space. Gloria
Gloria, this jumped off the page for me: “Something to notice is that for many women, it takes two screwed up births to get the third birth somewhat acceptable.”
This is me. I had two coerced c/s without labour and thereby two premature babies, the first of which was so premature that his skull would mold to my hands while I breastfed him and from sleeping so that I spent weeks gently re-forming his skull manually. He had breathing problems until 6 months pp, and his skin was so soft that I couldn’t even feel it under my fingertips.
I look at pictures of him now and see how obviously premature he was. He was my first and a c/s because otherwise, “if I [went] into labour, he could [have] die[d]” from his frank breech position. His brother was also a no-labour c/s for the very same positioning ‘reason.’
For my third baby, I saw an OB in my 1st trimester (midwives wouldn’t even talk to me seriously- I’d had ’shared care’ for the first two pregnancies after breech was indicated in the 3rd trimester) but left his office and never returned.
I freebirthed the next baby with my first labour- at 46+3, a 9 hour painless birth. It was GLORIOUS! He was 10lbs 3oz, strong and beautiful.
I then freebirthed another boy at 42+3 at the tail end of a flu that my whole family had. It was a precipitous labour- 3 minutes long, and he was 10lbs 8oz. Also beautifully formed and strong.
Now I am 45 weeks tomorrow with our fifth baby....

HERE to read the entire Blog on Gloria Lemay's site

"Independent Women Will be Cut"

Have I mentioned that I love the Feminist Breeder Blog?!  Gina has a brilliant way to capturing your attention with her words and getting her point across with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Unfortunately, when you talk to people about the dangers of medical interventions during child birth and the risks involved in C/Sections, many times a sledgehammer IS needed to wake them up from their zombie like adoration of the medical machine and all the "wonders" that it has to offer to a birthing incubator... I mean, Woman.

The Feminist Breeder laments the so called feminist ideology that suffering through birth is anti-feminist, a misguided notion that has to be held accountable for at least some of the percentage of the almost 40% of surgical births that happen in North America.

"So many young women today think that drugged-up births and cesareans are the “feminist” choice, and that labor pains are oppressive or patriarchal in nature.  I understand… I really do.  I once was that girl.  I thought anything that could disconnect me from my biology meant freedom, and even joked about wanting a hysterectomy before I ever had kids.*  I didn’t necessarily want a cesarean (I’m scared of surgery) but when I became pregnant, I had blind faith that the obstetrician I hired could easily and painlessly remove the parasite I was growing in my womb with a nice epidural cocktail and some forceps.  Simple, right?
Of course I had no education whatsoever about epidurals or forceps or cesareans, and how much damage they could do to a woman’s body.  I just assumed that if the technology existed, then they must have perfected it, and if it could keep me from feeling a contraction then by golly, I had to get me some of that."

So, what if you decide to take control over your birth?  Ah, well, The Establishment doesn’t like that.  In this brilliant 2008 expose, Born in the USA: How a Broken Maternity System Must Be Fixed to Put Women and Children First, Dr. Marsden Wagner pulls back the curtain and shows us exactly how The Establishment feels about a woman who attempts to humanize, personalize, or retain autonomy over her own birth experience.

In his book, Dr. Wagner (an obstetrician and former Director of Women and Children’s Health for the World Health Organization) explains,

“This table heaps contempt on women whose ideas and preferences for giving birth inconvenience the doctor.  Many obstetricians find the table hilariously funny.  Isn’t it frightening that the ultimate weapon obstetricians use to punish overly “independent” women is to cut into their bodies, using a surgical procedure (cesarean section) only obstetricians can perform, which completely deprives the women of control over their own bodies?”

Yes, Dr. Wagner – it IS frightening.  Even more frightening is the fact that so many young women frivolously joke about electing a procedure that you describe as nothing short of violence against women.  All the while, women and babies are dying at a higher rate in the U.S. than in most other developed countries.

HERE to read the entire article on The Feminist Breeder

 And the Maternal and Infant mortality rates in our countries (US and Canada) continue to rise, and WILL continue to rise until women take back their births and stand up- not just for themselves but for their sisters too.

The Brilliant Gloria Lemay posted this on her blog and it is ohhhhhhh so true:

When Good Women Remain Silent

“First they came for the breech birthers, and I did not speak out–because I was not a breech birther;
Then they came for the twins, and I did not speak out–because I was not carrying twins;
Then they came for the high risk women, and I did not speak out-because I was not a high risk woman;
Then they came for the VBACs, and I did not speak out– because I was not a VBAC;
Then they came for me– and there was no one left to speak out for me.”
Taken from a talk by Laureen Hudson of California at the Trust Birth Conference (March 2010).

My new favourite Quote (for this week anyways):

“’If one went to the extreme of giving the patient the full details of mortality and morbidity related to cesarean section, most of them would get
up and go out and have their baby under a tree,’ [Dr. McDonald] said.”
[Neel J. Medicolegal pressure, MDs’ lack of patience cited in cesarean
‘epidemic.’ Ob.Gyn. News Vol 22 No 10]

Don't' let the medical machine fool you into installing a zipper.  Once it's there, it's awfully hard to get rid of. Once it's there, the machine will insist on using it.

Unnecessareans {365/34}, originally uploaded by Trader Photography.

"Cruelty in Maternity Wards"

Gloria Lemay writes about the original story published in the 1958 Ladies Home Journal blowing the whistle on the cruel and sadistic treatment that women were receiving in the Labour & Delivery hospital wards of the 1950's. The original article told horror stories of women being bound hand and foot, drugged and abandoned during labour for hours on end. Cruel and appalling treatment that women received from the doctors and nurses during birth that would rival many of today's scariest horror films.

Obstetrical professionals may be ashamed of the deplorable and heinous past of their profession, but will quickly point out that it's ancient history. But is it? Oh, no argument, the leather straps used to bind women's arms and legs to the labour bed have been removed and the "twilight" drugs used to silence and further immobilize them are no longer used, but the hard truth is that they have just been replaced with more insidious and underhanded methods of subduing and subjugating women.

The leather straps have been replaced with the elastic bands of the Electronic Foetal Monitoring system and IV lines. The "Twilight" drugs have been replaced with induction drugs and the epidural. The harsh cruel voices of Doctors and Nurses have been coated in silky words and velvet tones, yet still serve to undermine and control labouring mothers. Instead of dominating with force, they dominate with hospital policies, and the guise of concern and convenience.

"Now we'll get you an IV and the Pitocin drip to start your labour, and hook you up to the Foetal Monitor so that we can make sure your baby is reacting well to your labour. Once that is going, we'll get you an epidural so that you don't have to suffer through the pain of labour and can relax and rest...."

" We HAVE to do (insert a plethora of medical interventions here)- you want your baby to be safe and healthy right?"

.... Bonds of a different sort, yet just as controlling. The end result is the same. Women are still leaving the maternity ward feeling victimized and traumatized. Birth Rape is alive and well in the 21st Century.

March 10, 2010

Cruelty in Maternity Wards

From Sheila Stubbs, author of “Birthing the Easy Way”:

I bought a copy of a 1958 Ladies Home Journal on eBay last week. This magazine contains an article called Cruelty in Maternity Wards that had an enormous impact on women and began the movement to allow husbands into maternity wards.

A bit of history: An anonymous letter from someone who signed herself ‘Registered Nurse’ was published in which she begged the editor to ‘investigate the tortures that go on in modern delivery rooms.’ ‘You of the JOURNAL have long been a champion of women’s rights.’ she wrote, ‘[Exposing] this type of medical practice would go a long way to aid child-bearing women.’ What resulted from that letter was such a flood of letters from angry women that the JOURNAL did a full article revealing the reality of what women had experienced in hospitals. This was peppered with comments from an obstetrician who AGREED that the treatment had been cruel, and also comments from frustrated nurses who hated what they saw happening but would lose their jobs if they spoke up.

Here are some of the things women complained about in May 1958: ‘They give you drugs, whether you want them or not, and strap you down like an animal”. ‘’I've seen patients with no skin on their wrists from fighting the straps'’. “My baby arrived after I had lain on the table in delivery position nearly four hours.” When I asked why I couldn’t be put into a bed the nurse told me to quit bothering her so much. ‘’with leather cuffs strapped around my wrists and legs, I was left alone for nearly eight hours, until the actual delivery'’ My doctor had not arrived and the nurses held my legs together. She was born while he was washing his hands. I do not believe the treatment I received was intentionally cruel - just hospital routine’.

From a nurse: So often a delivery seems to be ‘job-centered’ - that is, get the job done the easiest, quickest way possible with no thought to the patient’s feelings. In too many cases doctors and nurses lose sight of their primary concern - the patient. ‘’I remember screaming… [the nurse] ignored me. … the doctor said at one point, ‘Stop your crying at me. I’m not the one who made you pregnant!’ My third baby will be born at home, despite the sterile advantages of a hospital confinement; for I feel the accompanying emotional disadvantages are just not worth it.”

From a nurse: ‘I have heard such unthinking remarks as ‘You had your fun, now you can suffer’ made by a nurse to a mother in great distress, damaging the spiritual nature of the childbirth experience and showing the nurse’s ignorance of the sacramental nature of sex in marriage.'’ “I reached the point where I wouldn’t have been surprised if the man who was washing the windows had suddenly laid down his sponge and come over to ‘take a peek.’ It seemed that everyone else connected with the hospital was doing it!” “I know of many instances of cruelty, stupidity and harm done to mothers by obstetricians who are callous or completely indifferent to the welfare of their patients. …Obstetricians today are businessmen who run baby factories. Modern painkillers and methods are used for the convenience of the doctor, not to spare the mother. There is so much that can be done to make childbirth the easy natural thing it should be, but most of the time the mother is terrified, unhappy, and foiled in every attempt to follow her own wishes about having the baby or breast feeding…”

Doesn’t that sound like it could have been written TODAY instead of FIFTY TWO YEARS AGO!! What do you say they get a flood of letters TODAY, marking the 52nd anniversary of this article! Let’s tell them that we still see Cruelty in Maternity Wards, it’s just taken a different form!

their website: http://www.lhj.com/

Sheila Stubbs www.birthingtheeasyway.com

HERE to read Gloria's entire article and her letter to The Ladies Home Journal

Seven Tips for Creating a Calm, Joyous Homebirth

by Gloria Lemay

© 2008 Midwifery Today, Inc. All rights reserved.

[Editor's note: This article first appeared in Midwifery Today Issue 88, Winter 2008.]

As cesarean and induction rates in hospital climb to astronomical levels many women are turning to homebirth. When interventions become excessively high, the risk/benefit ratio of being in a hospital swings more dramatically into the “riskier” zone, and even physicians and nurses begin choosing homebirth. Just removing your birth from a hospital setting doesn’t guarantee that it will proceed in a natural, flowing manner. Too many women learn the hard way that a midwife can bring a hospital mentality and interventions right into the home and negatively affect the course of the birth. How can you assess the type of midwifery practice that you are purchasing? Here are some tips to help you assess the care that will be provided by midwives:

1. Ask to see a video of some births your midwife has attended. This is the modern age. Many people videotape their births and an experienced midwife will have been given many copies of videos with permission to share them with other families. Videos tell you a lot more than photo albums. Be wary of the midwife who won’t give or show you videos. Watch the videos for things like: Is the father playing an active role in the birth? Are the attendants quiet when things are normal and healthy? Is the cord left to pulse until the placenta is born? Does the baby breathe spontaneously without routine suctioning? Are the baby and mother locked in eye contact with no disturbance? Is a water tub part of the birth?
   
   Watch the time clock on the video to see whether the birth of the placenta occurs in a leisurely way or whether the midwife wants it out in less than 30 minutes.
   

HERE to read the entire article

Gloria Lemay is a lecturer, midwifery educator and traditional birth attendant in Vancouver, BC, Canada. She specializes in VBAC and waterbirth. She has served birthing women for 29 years and was honored with a nomination for the 1996 Woman of Distinction Award by the YWCA in her community. She is a contributing editor of Midwifery Today and an Advisory Board Member of ICAN.