How true! Glad to hear the mom and baby are fine.

Several ideas for improving maternity services come to mind.

We need more "normal" models of birth in the hospital. Women need to know
what is within the spectrum of normal and what are the risks of
interventions with the normal process of labor and delivery and how it
impacts
the postpartum period and the potential for bonding, good breastfeeding
initiation and emotional closeness of the family. Childbirth education is a
good place to start in preparing clients. Do classes show birth without
intervention? Is breastfeeding woven in as the norm? Do births in videos
take place at home and in birthing centers? Are the facts clearly presented?
Do classes reinforce normal and remind women that we can birth our babies,
breastfeed them and meet their needs without a lot of bells and whistles?
Does a breastfeeding speaker (LLL,, IBCLC) spend an entire class on
breastfeeding? Are the clients grouned in normal? Are clients encouraged to
form a community and support each other ie. exchange of telephone numbers
after first class?

Practitioner education is also important.
Practitioners need to be reminded that birth is a normal process rather than
a medical illness. Remember  nuurse, medical doctors and hospitals are for
treating/doing something to fix, unwell people. Birth is not an illness and
in most cases does not require the practice of medicine. So what is one to
do who is trained to "do something?" Talks and events with visual images of
normal and how to non medically support birthing and breastfeeding women for
medical students is a good place to provide this information and provide the
reminder that most women need support, trust and confidence most of all in
labor.

Go for the Baby Friendly Childbirth Initiative.

The Mother Friendly Childbirth Initiative of the Coalition for Improving
Maternity Services has "Ten steps of Mother Friendly" care.  See
Http://www.healthy.net.cims for more.

Citizens for Midwifery is the most dynamic birth activist group that comes
to mind.
See  http://www.CFMidwifery.org or telephone 1.888.cfm.4880 for more
information.


Lisa Boisvert-Mackenzie, Mom, Midwife, CCE, Breastfeeding Enthusiast
Pohnpei, East Caroline Islands, Micronesia

[log in to unmask]
Libomac @aol.com



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It must be very hard to be a compassionate, educated (about BF), and
rational
nurse in the irrational world of hospital birth.  Pat in SNJ was right in
calling for a new childbirth revolution.  I would love private email on this
(if we are straying too far from the purpose of Lactnet).  Who ready to sign
up?  Who is ready to lead?  IMO midwife attended homebirth with
compassionate,
intelligent hospital backup is the goal but we are very far away from that
right now.  What can these moms and nurses do in the meantime to tackle the
issues of hospital birth?

Elaine Ziska, who has recovered from hospital experience of my friend  - she
and baby are fine fine fine :-)