First Belly Cast
Mon, 31st August 2009
Saturday night I attempted my first belly cast. I think it went fairly well. We are still waiting for the cast to fully dry and then I’ll be fixing it up and painting it. I’ll post more about the process and all that when I get pictures of the finished cast!
Newsworthy
The Lie of the EDD: Why Your Due Date Isn’t when You Think
The above article has two pages.
This article covers one of the hottest topics in the doula world. Your Due Date. There is so much pressure on women today to have their babies by their due dates. One day past their EDD and they are “Overdue”.
A pregnancy is considered “term” from anywhere between 38 weeks to 42 weeks, but for some reason, doctors only stress the 38 week part and then lead mom’s to believe that anything past 40 weeks is no longer term, but overdue. The fact is, if left alone, almost all women will have their babies by week 42.
It’s this misleading information, and the fact that not all women ovulate on cycle day 14 (which is the general assumption when you are given a due date based on LMP, or Last Menstrual Period), that can lead to a preterm baby when an induction or early scheduled c-section is performed.
In the article it mentions the inacuracies of ultrasound. Here is a short explanation of the chart:
First trimester: 7 days
14 – 20 weeks: 10 days
21 – 30 weeks: 14 days
31 – 42 weeks: 21 days
If you have an ultrasound in the first trimester, the gestational age can be off by 7 days, in either direction. In an ultrasound at 14-20 days, the gestational age can be off by 10 days. If you get an ultrasound in weeks 31-42, it’s possible that the gestational age given by the technician may be off by as many as 21 days. That means that the ultrasound may date your pregnancy at 40 weeks, when you are actually 37 weeks.
What can you do about this? Learn about your cycles and how your body works. With an accurate date of ovulation you can achieve a more accurate due date, though this wont pinpoint the exact date of birth.
How does it help? It allows your Dr. to accurately base your due date on YOU and not the cookie-cutter formula that is usually used on every woman regardless of their cycles.
Newsworthy
The Big Push for Midwives had a very successful week in Washington DC. They had many meetings with key legislators and have an opportunity to be added to an extended list of Medicaid providers in the draft health care bill in the Senate. But they need your support!
Below is a template letter to Senator John Kerry along with suggestions about what to say. Senator Kerry’s staff need to hear from their constituents (anyone from MA). Brielle Epstein will be putting a packet together so please send letters directly to her copied into an email.
Thursday, June 4th is the deadline for sending her your letters. Letters should be sent to: brielle@moonstonebirth.com
Brielle Epstein,
Director of Federal Advocacy
The Big Push for Midwives Campaign
Please insert the date, your name and address here followed by:
The Honorable John Kerry
United States Senate
218 Russell Bldg.
Second Floor
Washington D.C. 20510
Dear Senator Kerry:
First Step:
I am writing to discuss the importance of including Certified Professional Midwives, who are specially trained as experts in out-of-hospital maternity care and deliver babies in private homes and in freestanding birth centers, in health care reform.
Next Step:
Pick one or two points to include in your own words:
Research consistently shows that low-risk women planning to deliver their babies at home under the care of Certified Professional Midwives experience outcomes equal to low-risk women who deliver in the hospital, but with far fewer costly and preventable interventions, including a five-fold decrease in cesarean section.
Babies delivered under the care of Certified Professional Midwives have significantly reduced rates of prematurity and low-birth weight, two of the leading contributing factors to racial and ethnic disparities in birth outcomes and to the costs associated with long-term care.
The state of Washington reports a savings of $3.1 million dollars over a period of two years to the state Medicaid system when women experiencing healthy, low-risk pregnancies give birth with licensed midwives instead of in the hospital.
The recent Milbank Report conservatively estimates savings of $2.5 billion dollars a year if the cesarean surgery rate is brought down to 15% in the U.S.
David Anderson, Professor of Economics at Center College with a specialization in the costs of out-of-hospital maternity care calculates that including CPMs and of out-of-hospital birthing services in Medicaid and other plans would result in savings of $9.1 billion annually, while actually improving outcomes.
Certified Professional Midwives s are the only providers specially trained in out-of-hospital birth in the event that hospitals become unsafe for healthy pregnant women during a disaster.
Briefly talk about your own experience with a midwife if you are a consumer
Final Step:
Ask Senator Kerry to support the addition of “Certified Professional Midwives” to the expanded list of Medicaid providers listed in Section IV, page 24 of The Senate Finance Committee’s policy document entitled, “Description of Policy Options, Expanding Health Care Coverage: Proposals to Provide Affordable Coverage to All Americans” and thank him for his time and consideration. Please use the exact language in bold so that it is very clear where we are asking to be added.
<And please sign your letter!>
Thank you to everyone who is reaching out—it only takes a few minutes but it is so very helpful. We are making amazing progress in DC and now is not the time to let up! So please forward this to family and friends who can help, and thank you for doing your part to get CPMs and OOH maternity care included in health care reform.
Newsworthy
The U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services put up a website for people to comment on the state of breastfeeding in the U.S. and how to get more moms to bf.
http://www.blsmeetings.net/owh_call_to_action_on_breastfeeding
From the website: We are seeking comments from individuals and organizations about breastfeeding in the United States. We welcome your suggestions about policies, activities, or other initiatives to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding that need to be considered for inclusion in our national action plan for the next decade. We are especially interested in new ideas that will increase equity in breastfeeding rates among all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups. Ideas should build on programs and policies that are recognized to be effective or evidence-based. In addition, we welcome suggestions to adopt, expand, implement, research, or improve existing strategies.
Reviews
Wow. I never would have picked this book up on my own, but it was on the required reading list for CBI’s doula program.
I picked it up and couldn’t stop reading. This is such a touching story. It made me cry, it made me laugh, and it made me all the more sure of the Devine (God etc) working in our lives.
Martha recounts her horrible pregnancy (sounds like she had hyperemesis, combined with an autoimmune disorder) and her hopes being dashed as her and her husband find out that their baby isn’t “normal”. She talks about some supernatural things that happen to her and her husband throughout the pregnancy, and even once the child is born, though it doesn’t happen as often. Just after their son is born they realize that Adam wasn’t the one who needed “fixing”, it was them, and because of Adam and the magic he brought into their lives, they found that they weren’t broken anymore. And that was their miracle.
This book probably goes through every emotion a woman, and couple, go through when they find out they are expecting a child with a disability.
This is a MUST read.
