The Other Side of the Glass

Embedded Video

Here is a new movie coming out. It is about families, and the rights
they have to protect themselves. The honor and duty they have to
protect their babies. Joining such movies as Birth as We Know it, What Babies Want, Business of Being Born, Orgasmic Birth.  Also coming in December 2008 is Pregnant in America   The more put out there, the more chances people will begin to truly think about gentle birthing.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

The Midwife on a Mission

This woman is such a hero to me. I hope so many people see her story, see the number of families she has impacted. I want ACOG, the AMA and people like Dr. Amy to acknowledge what this woman has proven for 8 years now. The safety of midwifery care, the safety of out of hospital birth. I want her mission to be carried on by growing numbers of midwives around the country, and for people to see how this alternative to medical care can truly be the best thing for many woman, obviously not all, but many....


(CBS) Every time Ruth Lubic fusses over a healthy baby, the joy in her voice comes from eight long years of beating the odds. In Washington, D.C., where the infant mortality rate is almost double the national average, CBS News correspondent Wyatt Andrews reports. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of infant deaths per 1,000 births in the United States is 6.8 - but in Washington, it's 12.2. Lubic and her team of midwives run a birthing clinic in one of the city's poorest areas. After 800 babies in eight years, they have never lost a child in childbirth, and has cut the rate of premature births - the biggest risk factor for infant mortality - in half. "You are saving a lot of lives here," Andrews said. Lubic replied: "Saving lives and increasing the quality of life." Ruth built her clinic in Washington, D.C., on purpose. She figured if her ideas worked there, if she could tackle infant mortality in Washington, she'd set an example everywhere. Her approach is simple. She believes low-income women, many on Medicaid, need the prenatal education that midwives provide. Everything from posture, to nutrition, to how the baby grows. Anike Oliver, who just had a baby boy, Ukama, said she got more time with the midwives than she had with a doctor. "They wanted to make sure I had as much information as they did," Oliver said. "Do you think it boils down to just the time you spend with them," Andrews asked Lubic. "I think so," she replied. "I'm convinced that's what it is. It's time, respect, its treating people with dignity." And what's most remarkable is that Lubic still does it at 81 years old. She's runs the clinic during the week, then runs homeon the weekends to her husband in New York. "You could be retired!" Andrews said. "I'm not tired the first time! Much less retired," Lubic said. Lubic's biggest fan is D.C. city councilman David Catania. He says because she keeps hundreds of babies out of prenatal care, she saves the city around a $1 million a year. That's why he supports her when Ruth hounds the city council for funding. "While I tease her a lot about being a pit bull with a smile, I look at her sometimes with complete envy about how you can have such a burning drive at 81," Catania said. "And it's a great inspiration." "I think I'm insufferable because of my … belief that what I'm doing is the right thing to do," Lubic said. Lubic says infant mortality is a national disgrace - but a disgrace that midwives can help solve. And this pit bull with a smile won't let go of that idea until it sinks in nationwide.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/08/eveningnews/main4428250.shtml

ACOG is at it again

I am fairly outraged...
I know some people think it is not something to worry about, but honestly I do feel people need to speak out and defend their right to make their own choices regarding their births. I do feel that both ACOG and the AMA could push through legislation that would hinder these rights...

I am currently seeing the state of Oregon (which has the most liberal rules regarding midwifery licensure) go through a fight to keep their system status quo regarding licensure. Their are those in the Health Licensing Agency that want to make changes, and while not pushing for mandatory licensure yet, they are wanting mandatory registration and changes to the practice of licensed midwives here. I am sorry I see this as the first step toward removing voluntary licensure in Oregon. It really is a big picture thing that is being seen individually all over the country.

CPM's are for some reason a grave threat and ACOG and the AMA fear them. Why? Well that is the million dollar question...

Push News from The Big Push for Midwives Campaign
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, September 1, 2008

Number Two With a Bullet: Critical Women’s Health Issues Neglected as Physician Group
Yet Again Sets its Sites on Midwives

WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 1, 2008)In the newest phase of its ongoing effort to deny women the right to choose their maternity care providers and birth settings, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has announced that eliminating access to midwives who specialize in out-of-hospital birth is now the second most important issue on its state legislative agenda. This move puts restricting access to trained midwives ahead of such critical issues as contraceptive equity, ensuring access to emergency contraception, and the prevention and treatment of perinatal HIV/AIDS.

“ACOG claims to be an advocate of women’s health and choice, but when it comes to the right to choose to deliver your baby in the privacy of your own home with a Certified
Professional Midwife (CPM) who is specifically trained to provide the safest care possible, ACOG’s paternalistic colors bleed through,” said Susan M. Jenkins, Legal Counsel for the Big
Push for Midwives Campaign. “It is astonishing that an organization that purports to be a champion of women’s healthcare would put a petty turf battle that affects less than one percent of the nation’s childbearing women ahead of pressing issues that have an impact on nearly every woman in this country. If this is not dereliction of duty, I can’t imagine what is.”

In recent years, ACOG has led a well-financed campaign to fight legislative reforms that would license and regulate CPMs and has now teamed up with the American Medical Association (AMA) to promote legislaton that would prevent families from choosing to give birth at home. Despite these joint efforts, the groups have not been successful in defeating the groundswell of grassroots activism in support of full access to a comprehensive range of maternity care options that meet the needs of all families.

“Wisconsin is a good example of what ACOG and the AMA are up against,” said Jane Crawford Peterson, CPM, Advocacy Trainer for The Big Push. “Our bipartisan grassroots coalition of
everyday people from across the state managed to defeat the most powerful and well-financed special interest groups in Wisconsin, all on an expenses-only budget of $3000 during a legislative session in which $47 million was spent on lobbying. When you try to deny women the fundamental and very personal right to choose where and how to give birth, they will get organized and they will let their elected officials know that restrictions on those rights cannot stand.”

Noting these successes, ACOG has recently launched its own grassroots organizing effort, calling on member physicians to recruit their patients to participate in its “Who Will Deliver My Baby?” medical liability reform campaign.

“ACOG itself admits that we’re facing a critical shortage of maternity care providers,” said Steff Hedenkamp, Communications Coordinator for the Big Push. “They certainly realize that medical liability reform is nothing more than a band aid and that increasing access to midwives and birth settings is critical to fixing our maternity care system and ensuring that rural, low-income and uninsured women don’t fall through the cracks. Midwives represent an essential growth segment of the U.S. pool of maternity care providers, but instead of putting the healthcare needs of women first, ACOG would rather devote its considerable lobbying budget to a last-ditch attempt to protect its own bottom line. This is not a happy Labor Day for our nation’s mothers and babies.”

The Big Push for Midwives (www.thebigpushformidwives.org) is a nationally
coordinated campaign organized to advocate for regulation and licensure of Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and to push back against the attempts of the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to deny American families access to safe and legal midwifery care. The campaign plays a critical role in building a new model of U.S. maternity care delivery at the local and regional levels, at the heart of which is the Midwives Model of Care, based on the fact that pregnancy and birth are normal life processes. Media inquiries: Steff Hedenkamp (816) 506-4630, mail to: steff@thebigpushformidwives.org

Visit the Big Push for Midwives Campaign on the Web at
www.TheBigPushforMidwives.org
Sustainable Markets Foundation | 80 Broad Street, Suite 1600 | New York, NY 10004-2248
The Big Push for Midwives Campaign | 2300 M Street, N.W., Suite 800 | Washington, D.C. 20037-1434

GUERILLA MOTHERING: Mama’s baby drama doesn’t have to cause trauma

My wish would be that health care professionals could read this and really think, let themselves wonder at the care they are giving. I know that Doctors and Nurses do not have the desire to inflict harm on mothers and babies, they see all that they do as altruistic, yet they are not seeing very clearly the whole picture. They have so completely turned into machines that encourage fear of pregnancy and birth. They are "Fixers" of a problem, and so proud to be that, of course sadly they all to often create problems just to be able to fix them. I hope this article by Leslea Harmon opens just one persons eyes to the traumas they could be creating....

GUERILLA MOTHERING: Mama’s baby drama doesn’t have to cause trauma By LESLEA HARMON

The Wall Street Journal recently ran an article about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in new mothers. Evidently, traumatic hospital births with a lot of medical interventions are leaving moms severely emotionally scarred. Imagine that! Someone comes into your hospital room, you’re already half-naked, scared, and in pain, and tells you that the baby you’ve carried and dreamed of for so long might die if they don’t do a certain procedure right away-and even then, no guarantees you’re going home with your little one. Yeah, I’d call that a little traumatic.

I’ve not written much about it in this column, but I am one fortunate woman when it comes to birth experience. My first child was one of your stock “high intervention” births, with most of the trimmings. Thank God for Dr. Kegel and his famous pelvic floor exercises, or my son would have been delivered by C-section, I’m quite sure.

As it happened, he was born out of my numbed-to-the-point-of-paralysis body after a long night of drugs, having my water broken, and lying around practically tied to a hospital bed, as nervous as though a firing squad was waiting for me on the other side of labor. The very moment he was born, I held my arms out for him, desperate to hold him — but the Dr. took him away immediately to be examined on the other side of the room. I still tear up, just thinking about it, seven years and two additional births later. Is that a sign of trauma? I don’t know.

Of all the people to espouse opinions on birth trauma, it’s funny that I don’t feel more confident to speak on this one. In my mid-20s, I was diagnosed with PTSD, myself, following a series of incidents that were outside my control. I received treatment and eventually found healing after years of work and devotion. It was a long time before I forgot I’d ever had PTSD, but eventually that day came, and I realized I’d made it through the woods. Thank God.

Sometimes, though, I’m reminded of what it was like — mostly, when I hear about someone else’s suffering.

There was that sweet soldier, Joseph Dwyer, whose photo so famously ran in media across the world as the very face of American compassion in Iraq — following his suicide, stories of his PTSD were ubiquitous. Prior to that, a student in my journaling class spoke up to mention he counsels soldiers returning from combat, often suicidal and suffering from PTSD. Stuff like that reminds me I once had PTSD. I remember, but move on.

When it comes to birth, I don’t think I was traumatized-not severely. Sure, it was once heartbreaking, and true to the checklist of PSTD characteristics, I felt an overwhelming desire to avoid going back to the hospital (or the doctor’s office), but, really — I’ve had it much worse. Like so many moms, I was just glad to go home with a reasonably healthy baby! He gave me plenty to focus on, and I was way too in love with him to give much thought to my own mental health.

While pregnant the second time, I stumbled into some books on birth, including “Birthing From Within,” by Pam England. That book dealt with traumatized mothers, and if you or someone you know might be in need of some help dealing with lingering birth trauma, I highly recommend it. What it did for me, as a disappointed (but eager to try again) birther was empower me to make decisions about my birth. I chose to go natural the second time. I hired a doula. I limply attempted to do breathing training.

I succeeded in having a natural birth in the hospital-but my second son was born “sunny side up,” which meant his face was pointing up instead of down when he bulldozed his way into the world. It hurt. A lot. Still, with my loving doula Kim at my side, I came through it in victory. I did hold my baby on my chest, he was completely healthy, and even though having him that way was the hardest thing I have ever done physically, I really did it my way. Looking back on that, the worst I can ascribe to the hospital or its staff was a petty series of annoyances. No trauma, no drama, just get out of the way of this mama!

Considering the confusion of my first birth, and the pain of my second, I chose to try homebirth the third time. I spent the entire nine months (seriously), planning for it, and my training paid off. I journaled about the upcoming birth nearly every day. I lined up my supportive friends. I had a caring midwife, as well as an OB/GYN (not as caring, but he was around), and my doula was back. My husband and I went to Bradley classes, and we invested in a library of resources on homebirth. Little by little, I accepted that we human beings really have been giving birth at home, naturally, for thousands of years.

Lo and behold, my body managed a very easy birth with the support of loving friends and attendants. It hurt, but not for long, and I never even had to push. Contractions just carried my third child out of me, like a wave crashing into the beach. There he was. Healthy, serene, perfect. There is a photo of me, smiling, holding him in my arms, immediately after he was born. I had finally outrun those birth demons, and what a prize.

It was the most beautiful thing I have ever done, and it truly changed my life. I went on to change careers, write a book, visit a monastery for a week, play roller derby — all kinds of things that I still think are not as cool as having a homebirth, but I would perhaps not have had the confidence to do, had I not named and claimed the birth of my third miracle child. That is the total opposite of trauma, without a doubt.

I know I was fortunate. I had a healthy child, I was a healthy mom, and there were no complications. I had great (double) pre-natal care, and all was well. But, honestly, I can’t help but wonder-what if all births were approached this way? What if all births were prepared for as if they would be healthy and natural, not riddled with fear and pain? What if television shows involving the “birth in the taxi cab” plotline didn’t climax for once with a panting woman screeching through perfect makeup about how much pain she was in? What if all the reality shows based out of hospital rooms were outlawed, outright?

What if we just looked at birth, as a culture and as a society, for the true joy it is and not just for the addition of a new baby, but for the accomplishment that a woman’s body is able to do? That might just be outright empowering for moms, instead of traumatizing. Imagine.

I’m grateful for health care professionals and the training they complete in order to save lives and prevent tragedies-but if the intervention is causing PTSD in moms, perhaps it’s time to back off a little, and take a different tact. There’s more to birth than fear, blood and guts. Let’s stop scaring moms, and start giving them the tools they need to go into birth with confidence-no matter where they choose to birth. There has to be a better way.

To learn more about PTSD, visit the National Center for PostTraumatic Stress Disorder online at ncptsd.va.gov/ncmain/index.jsp (geared toward veterans), or talk to your health care provider.

Leslea M. Harmon is a freelance writer, wife, and mother, in New Albany, IN. She can be reached at Leslea.Harmon@gmail.com, or online at lmharmon.com

Laila Ali's reasons for choosing home birth

I am so excited to see Laila Ali speaking out about her choice of having a Home birth. People can see that this is a plan of care that is thought out and has merit as opposed to being a selfish choice made by an uninformed person, as home birth moms are often accused of.

In discussing her decision to plan a home birth with her little boy, Laila again credits The Business of Being Born with opening her mind, saying, "I think all women kind of like to be in control, but I want to really experience [the birth]."

"Society tells you, 'You get pregnant, you go to the hospital,' and that was just naturally what I was going to do, but once I saw that there was another option, it just fit me," she explains. "I want to be fully present. I don't want any medications. I just want to be in control of the situation -- as much as I can be anyway."

Laila admits, "It's not for everybody. So you have to do your research and at least be informed. Even if you don't decide to do a home birth or work with a midwife, you can at least be aware of the fact that you have a voice at the hospital. And pick a good doctor."

Thank you Laila for sharing yourself in this way, for educating women that they can be empowered to make choices for themselves, that making such choices are actually responsible and not selfish. You are truly giving your baby boy a beautiful gift.

Hathor's latest post.... So incredibly true... be careful what you are buying in you bid for supposed safety

Trusting the Process

So I am in post recovery from a birth yesterday as a Doula. This entire last weekend I have been pondering the birthing process and the journey it is. How we treat it in our world. So here is a the story of the birth....

I had a client begin laboring on Feb 11th and on the 12th was 3cm 60% effaced... She lost her mucous plug and so we all thought soon... I told her to rest, hydrate and eat. She took walks with her mate and looked forward to the day... Well time passed and she would have periods of regular contractions that by bedtime when she was tired would just slide away... By the 22nd after losing two mucous plugs and having bloody show off and on for a week. she began contracting at 1am (Friday) 5 min apart, she rested, ate drank and just hung through them.... This continued through the weekend... intensity building... Monday the 25th 5:30 am I get a phone call that they are pretty intense 2 min. apart... so it's time to go to her home.... We labor at home till I see the dilated pupils and wild look in her eyes, her water had broken 30 minutes before... time to go Transition has arrived... At the hospital she is 7 cm and goes to 10 within 30 minutes... Beautiful chubby baby born 90 min. later... With a thick healthy placenta... Oh and her caregivers honored her plans (push in whatever position, late cord clamping, mother/baby/daddy bare skin contact without time limits, no Vacc or interventions etc...) This in a 90% epidural rate hospital....

OK so my client knows that without me to sound her out and reassure her she would have gone to her caregiver and would have been in the hospital many days before this one... She was being seen by two CNM's and a OB in practice together. She knows she most likely would have ended up on Pitocin and much more had they known about her pattern of labor...

None of the books really talk about labor and birth looking like this... So how are mothers to know that what their body is doing is perfectly normal. This woman happened to be highly attuned to her body and baby. More so than most woman, I truly believe that is part of what let her slowly labor her baby out. She labored for hours and hours over the weekend and would sleep when she needed it, her body and adapting to those needs...

She did so much of the work of labor calmly, relaxed, smiling... The intense part was very intense, but also very short in comparison to the whole process... In all this woman and her mate had an experience full of respect and beauty without fear and manipulation.

This is a pattern we need our caregivers to honor, that we need to write about and teach... I believe even midwives need to really look at this, and learn to trust and honor the birth process. I see many who fear the process that is not "normal". So what is normal? That is not a simple answer, normal is as different as each individual person is.

This journey I shared in was natural and very normal, not maladaptive... Instead of seeing the normal pattern, most see problems and look for reasons why the baby isn't popping out in the 14 hr medical time plan...Of course back in the 60's normal labor was thought to last as long as 36-38 hrs... In the 80's it was knocked down to 24hrs, we now expect it to last 14 hrs... Have our bodies changed so much?

Trust Birth Conference

Only 2 more weeks and I will be flying to Redondo Beach California to the 2008 Trust Birth Conference...

There is still time and space for registrations for anyone wanting to go. Believe me this is an event I do not think anyone would regret attending.

There are over 40
speakers scheduled to present a diverse selection of educational topics....Breastfeeding, Immunizations, Herbs, Prenatal
Testing, Loss and Grief, Gestational Diabetes, Preventing Pre Term Birth, Birth Around the World and so much more.

PLUS pre-conference Neonatal Resuscitation Certification, Herb Workshop..... And Friday Night Trust Birth Awards Dinner honoring Michel Odent, Dr. John Stevenson, and Ricki
Lake!

$100 off for nursing students.

They have been granted some ACNM CEUs, but all sessions, Including Trust Birth Awards Dinner keynote by Dr. Michel Odent have all
been approved by BRN and CAM.

Carla has even created a special Mommy track for mothers to attend that is for less than the full conference price.

I would ask that even for those who cannot attend think of donating to sponsor the conference sponsors for the Awards dinner where such Birth activists as Michel Odent, Dr. John Stevenson, Sarah J Buckley, Ricki Lake and more will be acknowledged for their extensive efforts in bringing birth back to woman and babies where it belongs.

Even if you cannot attend visit the web site and buy a few raffle tickets... there are incredible items that have been donated for the raffle.

http://trustbirthconference.com/
Call Carla 918-720-2717 or 310-316-8542
Look for us at Youtube.com (Search directoraami)

Celebrities Speak out about Homebirth...Please

I applaud Ricki Lake in all that she is doing for the movement of birthing with choices... Here is a list of celebrities who have birthed their babies at HOME, most with Midwives...some Unassisted...many Waterbirths...and most giving their child the gift of extended breastfeeding as well.

I think it is time we heard from more of these people publicly. Whether it is right or not the general public likes to follow what celebrities do and mimic them. So how about celebrities support the public following this movement, as opposed to the diet and drug one that seems so prevalent

CINDY CRAWFORD (x2)

PAMELA ANDERSON (x2 home waterbirths)

DEMI MOORE (all 3 at home)

NELLIE FURTADO

LAURA DERN & BEN HARPER

WOODY HARRELLSON'S WIFE

JOANNE WHALEY & VAL KILMER

KELLY PRESTON & JOHN TRAVOLTA

PATRICIA ARQUETTE

JOHNNY COLT'S WIFE ROSIE HAS HAD 2 HOMEBIRTHS (of the Black Crowes) thank you Rosie for the info :)

LISA BONET & LENNY KRAVITZ

MICHAEL LANDON'S WIFE

JADE JAGGER (MICK'S DAUGHTER)

ASIA CARRERA (unassisted - 6 weeks after husband died) http://www.asiacarrera.com/babydon/

SHERILYN FENN

MARE WINNINGHAM

CAROLE KING

RICKI LAKE (waterbirth)

TABITHA & STEPHEN KING

"Xena" - LUCY LAWLESS (waterbirth)

LIBERTY PHOENIX (RIVER PHOENIX' SISTER)

KENNY LOGGINS' WIFE

JOHN LEGUIZIAMO'S WIFE

THANDIE NEWTON

ERYKAH BADU

JULIANNE MOORE

MERYL STREEP

KENNY ROGER'S WIFE

RICHARD THOMAS' PARTNER

BOBBY MCFERRIN'S PARTNER

ENRICO COLONTINI'S WIFE ("JUST SHOOT ME")

TYNE DALEY'S DAUGHTER

TANIA JOY GIBSON (Miss Illinois)

KATHLEEN KENNEDY TOWNSEND

LINDSEY WAGNER (The Bionic Woman)

CYNTHIA GEARY (Northern Exposure)

AJ LANGER (My So Called Life)

DAVID SOUL'S WIFE

ELLIE & JOHN SCHNIEDER (DUKES of HAZARD)

TRACY REINER (Rob Reiner & Penny Marshall's Daughter)

FELICITY HUFFMAN and WILLIAM H MACY

DAVINA MCCALL (Big Brother) and MATHEW ROBERTSON

CHARLOTTE CHURCH (Singer) and GAVIN HENSON

JEMMA REDGRAVE

STELLA TENNANT (Model) and DAVID LASNET

CARRIE ANN MOSS (The Matrix)

MORGAN SPURLOCK (Super Size Me) and wife ALEXANDRA JAMISON

MIHAI BAGIU (US Olympic Gymnast)

LYNN JOHNSTON (For Better or Worse Creator - and main character Elly as well)

DAVID FOLEY'S (Days of our Lives) wife CRISSY GUERRERO

JOHN C MCGINLEY (Scrubs) AND WIFE NICOLE (Birth Doula and Yoga instructor)

GIL BELLOW'S WIFE (Ally McBeal)

ANI DIFRANCO

DAVE MATTHEWS WIFE ASHLEY

JOSIE MARAN (Model)

JOELY FISHER

AARON LEWIS"S WIFE VANESSA (singer from Staind)

MELORA HARDIN (The Office)

MARIA BELLO

MAIKE BOERDAM-STROBEL AND HUSBAND MICHAEL STROBEL (Belgium singer)

STEPHEN NICHOLS (Days of our Lives) and wife LISA

Please help Barbara Harper keep waterbirth alive

Please help Barbara Harper keep waterbirth alive

Waterbirth International may close doors. they need everyones help.

Everyone who believes in Gentle birth, please help. Barbara has been helping the birthing commuity internationally for 25+ years. She has educated and guided many of us to see how beautiful and natural birthing is...

Here is a note from Barbara Harper of Waterbirth International

Barbara Harper wrote:.

I cannot yet imagine a world without the voice and work of Waterbirth
International - we get calls and emails every day from women who need help
convincing one hospital or another to let them labor or birth in water. If
we die - a big part of the movement dies. Waterbirth has shown us all that
women know how to give birth and babies know how to be born. Waterbirth
gave us "hands-off", sit back and let the baby out. I see waterbirth
mentioned on Blogs every single day, not to mention Baby Story on the TV. I
took Waterbirth International to ACOG two years in a row - and was the ONLY
booth showing birth films to obstetricians and especially to student
physicians. There were tears, laughter and outrage - just the thing to stir
up those young crop of doctors. I am finally realizing a life's dream.

But now I am faced with letting this dream go. Perhaps I have done enough.
Perhaps it is time to quit.

About 18 years ago, maybe it was longer, when Mothering Magazine was facing
bankruptcy Peggy did a heartfelt plea asking their readers to consider
ordering a Life-time subscription. I think the subscriptions were $1000 or
$1200, I can't remember now. I do remember that I couldn't imagine not
reading my Mothering. So, I bought two and gave one to my obstetrician's
office.

How can you help us stay open to take the next phone call? - to convince the
next obstetrician to incorporate waterbirth into his/her practice - to work
with the nurse midwives to install pools in their facilities? To educate an
entire hospital on the benefits of allowing women freedom of movement in the
water. How much is it worth to see waterbirth become the norm in the US,
like it is in the UK? I think we only need a few more years to make that
happen. Do women really want waterbirth to be an available choice in every
hospital? I think so.

Can you help us by getting the word out on blogs and lists? I had to let go
of all of the staff except one person to process orders. Miraculously, we
made payroll today, but we can't hang on much longer. We need a miracle.

If I need to call every single waterbirth parent personally, I will. I
don't want 25 years of work to end over a measly $200,000.

The work that we have done the last few years has been phenomenal. How God
arranged for me to teach in hospitals and medical schools around the planet
- Taiwan, Venezuela, Turkey, Mexico, Canada, Holland, Portugal, China,
Trinidad, Croatia - I'll never figure that out. I laugh out loud sometimes
when I get up in front of an audience of physicians in a medical school
overseas - who all want to hear about waterbirth and the incorporation of
Gentle Birth practices and principles into their routines.

Think about what you can do and call me if you want to chat or if you have
some great ideas on how we can quickly move into the black and keep
waterbirth alive and thriving.

We need your help. Barbara Harper needs your help. The waterbirth/gentle
birth movement needs your help.

Blessings,
Barbara
Barbara Harper, RN, CLD, CCE
Founder/Director
Waterbirth International
www.waterbirth.org
503-673-0026 -office (out of US or in Portland)
800-641-2229 - toll free
503-710-7975 - cell phone

We LOVE helping women get into Hot Water!!
And have been doing it for 24 years!!

Well it finally happened, I am incensed and becoming more and more political. I am solidly taking up my role as a birth activist.

This morning upon awaking I was presented with this
http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/TurningPoints/Story?id=4098198&page=1

Good Morning America showed their much awaited Unassisted Birth segment. I am sad to say it truly was not positive. They left out so many parts of the Mom's story, as quoted by Christina Schafer:
"They didn't mention WHY I decided to do this - being forced out of my midwifery clinic because of a new hospital policy against VBACs, no homebirthing midwives in our area, etc - nor did they mention that I had already had 2 VBACs; gotta wonder how many people are thinking I had 3 c-sections and then chose to UC"

The final recommendation by the shows Parenting expert to please have your babies at a hospital with a Nurse Midwife at your side, does not address the issue. It was just a nice way to sound alternative and PC without truly seeing that there is really no difference with that suggestion that any other hospital care scenario...

Later to find that "The View" had this topic in their Hot Topic session, and not covering it very positively. Instead focusing on Elizabeth Hasselbacks views in the positive intervention laden births that she has had. Calling these woman and their choices as irresponsible.

So here is my letter to the View asking them to please show the other side of birth:

I am a student Midwife and Birth Doula. I am very glad you have had Ricki Lake on promoting her movie "The Business of Being Born". I would like though to see you really do a comprehensive show regarding natural birthing, homebirth, unassisted birth.

Most of what ends up being heard on your show is Elizabeth screeching about her epidurals, nurses and IV's.

There is so much history showing that birth has become dangerous due to the increase in interventions that we put upon it. Don't get me wrong, we are blessed to have Dr.'s for the true emergencies that arise. The problem is most births never fall into that area. Birth is not an illness but is treated as such in our country, and most of the industrialized world.

People believe that by taking birth into the hospitals that the mortality rate decreased. But history shows it did not decrease until many years later with the advent of antibiotics, proper sterilization and handwashing techniques and better nutrition. It was not Dr.'s and hospitals. In our country we currently have one of the highest mortality rates surrounding childbirth for industrialized countries, and it is rising.

I would ask that your show look into this as a topic. Look at the Netherlands and their model of Birth care. Look at the recent medical reports from Britian surrounding the safety of homebirth.
Talk to Laura Shanley on the safety of Unassisted birth. Talk to Carla Hartley who has been selflessly training woman to become Midwives for 25 year and about Trusting Birth. Talk to Dr. Marsden Wagner the former World Health Organization leader for maternal care about Birth safety, Or Dr. Sarah J Buckley about ecstatic birth. Midwife Ina May Gaskin from "The Farm" who has been successfully delivering and training woman to deliver babies at home since the 70's...

Please, many of us out here want to see this issue treated fairly. Woman need to know there are choices about how to birth their baby that are not based on myths, fear and guilt.

Tia Rich
www.inner-serenity.org
student midwife
certified birth doula