Inequality in Birth Outcomes

Tuesday’s Perinatal Health Conference featured keynote speakers Dr. Michael Lu & Dr. James Collins, who presented us with evidence for the root causes of the huge disparity between birth outcomes in black and white American women. As you can see here, there is a huge percentage point differential between pre-term birth rates of black women [...]

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Trauma

(As always birth stories are told with time mysterious delays and details changed). The birth looked lovely. We were in a mother friendly hospital with very nurturing midwives. The mother labored well. Her husband held her hand. Her sister pulled her hair off her neck and teared up. I was busy with cool cloths, juice [...]

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reporting in on Henci Goer & the Illusion of choice in Childbirth

If you have heard of Henci Goer, it is probably because you have reading A Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth. Her other major work is Obstetric Myths Versus Research Realities, which is quite dense book, not exactly light fare pregnancy reading. I read this work as part of my childbirth educator certification. What [...]

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Birth Choices and The NICU

The baby was just 34 weeks. Her water had been broken for several days. He was a hearty little soul, quite fiesty – but tiny at just over 4lbs. To the NICU he went to be watched and cared for. Yesterday mom was discharged, and baby stayed, because we have no rooming in at the [...]

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Birth Choices and The NICU

The baby was just 34 weeks. Her water had been broken for several days. He was a hearty little soul, quite fiesty – but tiny at just over 4lbs. To the NICU he went to be watched and cared for. Yesterday mom was discharged, and baby stayed, because we have no rooming in at the [...]

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Other People Exist

The more births I go to, the more I realize that other people exist. They really do exist, just as they are, and what’s more they are very often other. Which is to say, I find them not at all like me. This is most interesting when I am at a birth in the role [...]

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Battle Wounds from Birth

This was not the blog post I was writing in my head about my home birth clients. I know I have been extraordinarily lucky to be witness to and participant in so many wonderful, supported births. They have each looked different, but I have felt the mother supported in her choices, in her laboring, in [...]

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the making of a mother

The year Thinker was born was, May 8th fell on a Saturday. My labor had begun early, slow and light on Friday afternoon. I spent the afternoon in our townhouse style apartment. When Matt got home from work I was excited. This was in fact our first pregnancy, our first baby. The previous summer I [...]

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the non-teaching hospital

Tonight, quite possibly, or tomorrow, I’ll be attending a birth for the first time at a non-teaching hospital. I have attended births at 4 teaching hospitals in my state and at zero smaller community hospitals. Two weeks ago I did not attend a client who was expected to deliver her baby at one of the [...]

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You’re all invited! (except you Bill)

to see me in a play about birth! This is a play, sponsored by BOLD, with the purpose of making maternity care mother-friendly – because although dogs can birth – and indeed all mammals can, often they are treated with more respect as they birth their young than women are. That was not at all [...]

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