midwife-USAID

USAID Gives Midwife Supplies to Needy Countries

– Midwife –

 

We came across this article from a couple of years back where USAID was sending clean delivery kits as they graduate from their training program in Liberia. The article shows how essential midwives are in countries all around the world. From a Marin midwife to a Liberian midwife, the safety of the mother and baby during the pregnancy and birthing process is the ultimate goal. The USAID program is helping facilitate this by working with women in Liberia to improve conditions for expectant mothers and infants. Read the beginning of the article below or click on the link to read the full article.

During the 14-year civil conflict in Liberia, the health system virtually collapsed. The health system’s fraglity coupled with the difficulty women face in getting to health facilities in emergencies due to no roads or means of transportation in largely rural Liberia, has led to one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world: 994 deaths per 100,000 live births.

From 2005 – 2009, USAID improved conditions for expectant mothers and infants in Liberia, by working with traditional midwives – the front lines of childbirth in rural areas. Home birth is a tradition in Liberia – 63% of women deliver outside of a health facility. Recognizing the culture of home birth and knowledge among traditional midwives, USAID worked with the American College of Nurse-Midwives and Liberian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to develop home-based life-saving skills training. The training utilizes traditional midwives’ respected roles in their communities and shifts the focus of their work to encouraging birth preparedness, recognizing and referring complications, and providing appropriate emergency care.   Read more…

 

Trained Traditional Midwives Save Lives

May 27, 2015 /  
safety of home birth

The Safety of Home Birth

– Safety of Home Birth –

 

This is a study published in the British Medical Journal in 2011 that focuses on the safety of home birth. It compared the safety of births planned in four settings: home, freestanding midwifery units (FMUs), alongside midwifery units (AMUs) and obstetric units (OUs). The main conclusions from this study relate to healthy women with straightforward pregnancies who meet the NICE intrapartum care guideline criteria for a ‘low risk’ birth. Some of the key findings are as follows:
Giving birth is generally very safe

– For ‘low risk’ women the incidence of adverse perinatal outcomes (intrapartum stillbirth, early neonatal death, neonatal encephalopathy, meconium aspiration syndrome, and specified birth related injuries including brachial plexus injury) was low (4.3 events per 1000 births).

Midwifery units appear to be safe for the baby and offer benefits for the mother

– For planned births in freestanding midwifery units and alongside midwifery there were no significant differences in adverse perinatal outcomes compared with planned birth in an obstetric unit.

– Women who planned birth in a midwifery unit (AMU or FMU) had significantly fewer interventions, including substantially fewer intrapartum caesarean sections, and more ‘normal births’ than women who planned birth in an obstetric unit.

For women having a second or subsequent baby, home births and midwifery unit births appear to be safe for the baby and offer benefits for the mother

– For multiparous women, there were no significant differences in adverse perinatal outcomes between planned home births or midwifery unit births and planned births in obstetric units.

– For multiparous women, birth in a non‐obstetric unit setting significantly and substantially reduced the odds of having an intrapartum caesarean section, instrumental delivery or episiotomy.

The study also concluded that for women having a first baby, a planned home birth increases the risk for the baby. For nulliparous women, there were 9.3 adverse perinatal outcome events per 1000 planned home births compared with 5.3 per 1000 births for births planned in obstetric units, and this finding was statistically significant. For women having a first baby, there is a fairly high probability of transferring to an obstetric unit during labour or immediately after the birth. For nulliparous women , the peri‐partum transfer rate was 45% for planned home births, 36% for planned FMU births and 40% for planned AMU births. For women having a second or subsequent baby, the transfer rate is around 10%. For women having a second or subsequent baby, the proportion of women transferred to an obstetric unit during labour or immediately after the birth was 12% for planned home births, 9% for planned FMU births and 13% for planned AMU births. We have linked to the full study below.

Perinatal and maternal outcomes by planned place of birth for healthy women with low risk pregnancies: the Birthplace in England national prospective cohort study

 

May 8, 2015 /  
Water Birth

Water Birth is the Way

– Water Birth –

 

Water birth is the process of giving birth in a tub of warm water. Some women choose to labor in the water and get out for delivery. Other women decide to stay in the water for the delivery as well. The theory behind water birth is that since the baby has already been in the amniotic fluid sac for 9 months, birthing into a similar environment is gentler for the baby and less stressful for the mother. Marin Midwifery offers birthing tub rentals for clients who would prefer a water birth.

Here are ten benefits to having a water birth:

  1. Greater comfort and mobility. Warm water is soothing, comforting, relaxing.The mother has much greater ease and freedom to move spontaneously and to change position to assist the descent of the baby as well.
  2. Reduction of pressure on the abdomen. Buoyancy promotes more efficient uterine contractions and better blood circulation, resulting in better oxygenation of the uterine muscles, less pain for the mother, and more oxygen for the baby.
  3. Water relaxes the pelvic floor muscles and makes it easier to breathe and can be helpful to women with asthma.
  4. Promotes deeper relaxation. As a woman relaxes deeply in water, her hormones kick in and she starts progressing faster and with more rhythm; labor becomes more efficient.
  5. Change of consciousness. Immersion helps relieve anxiety and promotes relaxation. Water helps a woman to let go and focus inward as labor strengthens.
  6. Lowering of blood pressure. When anxiety is causing high blood pressure, immersion in water often helps lower it.
  7. Water can reduce the need for drugs to artificially stimulate labor. Often, simply getting into the tub will result in dramatic and rapid progress to full dilation within an hour or two.
  8. Water minimizes pain so effectively that for most women other pain control methods are no longer needed. water also stimulates the touch and temperature nerve fibers in the skin. It blocks impulses from the pain fibers, known as the Gate Theory of Pain.
  9. Facilitates the second stage of labor. Many mothers are less inhibited in the water. The warm water softens the vagina, vulva, and perineum, leading to fewer injuries to these tissues.
  10. Empowerment of the mother. When a woman delivers her baby while remaining awake, aware and in control, it greatly enhances the birth experience for her and becomes a source of great personal strength and power that enriches her life forever.

 

 

March 21, 2015 /  
Home Birth

Home Birth is Amazing!

– Home Birth –

 

In 2014 the peer-reviewed Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health (JMWH) published a study that confirms that among low-risk women, planned home births result in low rates of interventions without an increase in adverse outcomes for mothers and babies. This study is the largest analysis of planned home birth in the U.S. ever published. It examines nearly 17,000 courses of midwife-led care around America. It also confirms the safety and positive health benefits for low-risk mothers and babies who choose to birth at home with a midwife.

One thing to note is a cesarean rate of 5.2%, a remarkably low rate when compared to the U.S. national average of 31% for full-term pregnancies. When we consider the well-known health consequences of a cesarean, this study brings a fresh reminder of the benefits of midwife-led care outside of our institutionalized hospital system. Home birth mothers also had much lower rates of interventions in labor. While some interventions are necessary, many are overused and even carry their own risks. Women who planned a home birth had fewer epidurals, pitocin for labor augmentation, and episiotomies.

The most important point was that their babies were born healthy and safe. 97% of babies were carried to full-term, they weighed an average of eight pounds at birth, and nearly 98% were being breastfed at the six-week postpartum visit with their midwife. Only 1% of babies required transfer to the hospital after birth, most for non-urgent conditions. Babies born to low-risk mothers had no higher risk of death in labor or the first few weeks of life than those in comparable studies of similarly low-risk pregnancies.

This study is important at a time when many misleading and deeply-flawed studies about home birth have been receiving corporate media attention. This study provides a much-needed look at the outcomes of women who intended to give birth at home, even if they ultimately transferred to hospital care). The MANA Stats data reflects not only the outcomes of mothers and babies who birthed at home, but also includes those who transferred to the hospital during a planned home birth, resolving a common concern about home birth data. This study adds to the growing body of research that has established that planned home birth with a midwife is not only safe for babies and mothers with low-risk pregnancies, but results in health and cost benefits. The studies are linked below.

 

Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health study

Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health companion article

March 21, 2015 /  

State Of Creative Design

State Of Creative Design

Marin Midwifery and Child Birth Services has a new website! Our stylish new site was built by State Of Creative Design. The concept behind the new site was to be able to present much better quality photographs, videos, and more information than the old site was able to provide. The new website is now scrollable for mobile devices and tablets, and is responsive so the site automatically sizes to the different sized screens. These features make the website much easier to view with modern devices. The full page layout adds a classy, sophisticated look to the site. The new site is WordPress based making it easy to update and user friendly. This blog style format helps with Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Frequent updates and blog posts with strategic key words greatly help the site with its search ability. State Of Creative Design does all of the updates for Marin Midwifery so we can focus on what’s important… Midwife and child birth services! All we do is send over pictures, videos and other information to State Of Creative and they do the rest. Please click the link below to visit State Of Creative Design.

So we hope you enjoy our new website and feel free to contact us for a complimentary interview, current fees, and availability. Hope to hear from you soon!

State Of Creative
March 20, 2015 /