David Meets Goliath-Ricki Lake and The Business of Being Born vs ACOG/AMA

I've returned from a long, delicious family vacation in Kauai revived and recharged and excited to discover that outside of my Pacific wonderland a media buzz was swirling around the contentious issue of women's right to choose to birth their babies at home.
It is still a remarkable fact that in 2008, it is still illegal for midwives to provide home birth services to women in 28 states. Unbelievable! This is primarily due to the lobbying powers of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and their hand-wringing fear that the 1% of births that take place in the home might become a whopping 2%! The buzz centers around the American Medical Association's announcement regarding 3 resolutions that affect home birth and the practice of direct-entry midwives. Their proclamation names Ricki Lake and warns of the dangers of celebrities touting their home births to the ignorant public. One of the resolutions wants to make it illegal for CPMs (Certified Professional Midwives) to attend births. They claim that we are not formally trained and that we learn our trade in a non-regulated apprenticeship.It is their desire that only CNM's (Certified Nurse Midwives) attend births in a hospital setting.
It is a demeaning debate, something akin to school desegregation or granting women the right to vote.Thankfully there are many rational voices out there rallying in midwives' defense. Read an excellent summation of what we CPM's are trained to do and why the AMA/ACOG giants are likely to be fighting a losing battle...http://womenshealthnews.wordpress.com/2008/06/19/thoughts-on-the-ama-homebirth-ban-ricki-lake-and-midwifery/#comment-21549
Fortunately, ABC and Good Morning America chose to focus primarily on Ricki Lake's home birth story and commentary by an obstetrician who advocates birthing at home for low-risk women.

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The comments section of the Good Morning America web page, featuring a largely positive portrayal of home birth and Ricki Lake's activism ,is overwhelmingly in support of out-of-hospital births. The videotape of the show and ensuing comments can be found at http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story?id=5220399&page=1

I urge you to write your stories. Let the world know what home birth has meant to you. Help expose the lies presented by the ubiquitous Amy TuteurMD who unfailingly sounds like a dummy in the hands of an ACOG ventriloquist. This "doctor" is a pop-up on any discussion that is pro-home birth...everywhere on the web.Her forte is numeric prestidigitation regarding birth statistics and she is absolutely soulless.
If there was ever a time to tell the world what birthing your amazing children at home has meant to you and your family...it is now.
There is so much that we are losing in this modern world of ours, so much that our culture is forgetting as time whizzes by in a technological blur. Business drives the economies of all nations, let's remove birth from that realm.Let's not forget to stay connected to what makes us human. Let's not lose our connection with the earth and the sky and let's not forget that we are sentient beings who deserve to be born into a welcoming home where the heart and hands of those who deliver and "catch" us are filled with love, joy and reverence.

What Babies Know

In my daily perusal of books and articles relating to women, babies and childbirth, I read a quote by David Chamberlain, PhD about some of the gifts babies give to us. Dr. Chamberlain is one of my heroes and a pioneer in the field of pre and perinatal psychology (birthpsychology .com ). The following is a quote of his taken from his 2006 commencement speech to the graduating class of the Santa Barbara Graduate Institute..."Babies are powerful beings with a huge mission. On arrival, they turn women into mothers, men into fathers, and couples into families. They humanize us, teach us
tenderness, and inspire attachment. If we let them, they lead us toward a true civilization.
And for all this, they get no particular credit for a magnificent effort!"

Wow! Yesterday while in a 5:00pm traffic jam news on the radio put a huge smile on my face. To hear word that in the midst of abject tragedy in China, an on-duty policewoman had the compassion and love to nurse several babies who were found in the wreckage...these are the stories that make me proud to be a part of the human race. When continuously barraged with headline after headline of examples of humanity's capacity for evil, a story like this is a reminder that there is SO much good going on all over the planet every day.

Think of the beautiful babies that inspired the policewoman in China to breastfeed them. She opened her heart( and her uniform blouse) to nurse them back to life with her breastmilk. What a beautiful image of Madonna providing succor to the innocent babes left motherless by the destruction of the earthquake. How babies do inspire us...just like Dr. Chamberlain said.

Waterbirth Wonders

Twin waterbirth...if you've ever questioned the ingenuity, the sheer perfection in design that is human birth, the miracle of it all...take a peek at this short video.

Mother's Day...A Dedication to Birthing Women Around the Planet

I started writing this post yesterday after a wonderful day spent celebrating my "baby's" 13th birthday and reveling in all the love coming my way from family (I got flowers from my own mama!) and from my 3 beloved boys, Holland, Enzo and Brit. Only then, after checking out the day's news did I become aware of the incredible devastation wreaked by Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar. Over a million people are homeless and the death toll is currently thought to be greater that 100,000.
Being a mother and a midwife, when I hear of these disasters, my thoughts immediately turn to families and more specifically to the mothers that are enduring the horror and the fear that such acts of God engender. What would I do if it were me? How would I feel if I were pregnant, laboring or worse, had just delivered my sweet, fresh baby? I can't imagine how terrifying it would be.
Instead of writing what I had intended to write, I'm going to ask you readers to consider making a donation to all those vulnerable, scared, hungry and thirsty families in Myanmar. Here's a link to the organization I donated to, Feed the Children,
but feel free to donate to the Red Cross or other relief organizations that are trying to help.

Postpartum Blues

Yesterday was Jacquie and Natalee's (pictured above) 6-week postpartum visit. It is always a bittersweet appointment; sweet in that mom, baby and family have settled into a semblance of pre-baby normalcy and balance is once again palpable in the household...nursing established, nipples healed, sleep improved, hormones tempered. The bitter part is the goodbye, so aptly put in a thoughtful thank you note from Kate Pettey..."How do you explain the beauty of the aching vacuum she leaves behind after that stinking 6-week postpartum appointment, when your umbilical midwife cord is finally severed?..." It is not easy for me either. Fortunately, each and every one of you is so deeply embedded in my heart that you are never very far away.

Abby Cayton's Birthday Celebration

It's been a little over 3 years since sweet Abby's birth...a languorous labor kicked into gear by a warm bath for Cathy and Sean's trip to Starbucks. The beautiful Spring day sticks in this midwife's mind; I remember sitting outside on the deck for part of Cathy's labor feeling the deliciousness of the warm sun,loving the work that I do.Three years later I'm back at the Cayton household and it is filled with Abby, her playmates and their assorted siblings. Seven of the eight children present were babies that I had watched grow from the time they were fava bean-sized until their births. What a privilege...how lucky am I? It's hard to express how much admiration I have for the parents of these precious little spirits and how much space Kenzie, Maeve,Abby,Gemma,Lilah,Maria,and Harper occupy in my heart.

May 5, 2008 International Midwives Day

Today is the celebration of International Midwives Day. I'm reflecting on the midwives who have influenced me in my career... and there is one name that rises to the very top, my preceptor of many years, Jeanie Rosburg.

We worked together from 1997 until 2002 when she moved to Kauai for retirement. She was not only the midwife for the birth of my 4th child, she was also the midwife for the birth of my dream of becoming a midwife myself. I have so much gratitude for all that she taught me, especially the pioneer spirit that she brought to her work with pregnant women. She had a fearless way of approaching the human body, especially during pregnancy and labor...and I learned from her to bring both intellect and intuition to the table when faced with some of the more difficult issues that come up in our work. Thank you Jeanie!

Homebirth montage

The breathtaking miracle of human birth when allowed to occur as it is meant to. If only obstetricians were required to attend births like these in medical school. Thanks to Pamela Hines-Powell for creating such a powerful testament to normal birth.

Woman Sings While In Labor

Yesterday I birthed the website for my new business, Baby's Breath Midwifery Services http://babysbreathmidwifery.com/. My midwife was my sister, Erika Luckett, (check out her own inspiring web site at http://erika@erikaluckett.com I'm pleased to report that it was not a typical primip venture. Her talent, support and encouragement at 3:00 AM resulted in a relatively quick and easy birth. I can't thank her enough.
Now I've got to figure out where to go from here on this new blog. I've got so many topics that I'd like to delve into; deciding where to dive in first will be the first item on tomorrow's agenda