Resources
Childbirth Information
While we make no warranty as to value or content, for your convenience a list of childbirth related sites is provided below:
American Association of Birth Centers (AABC) http://www.birthcenters.org/
Great site! Comprehensive information on midwifery and Birth Centers.
Commission for the Accreditation of Birth Centers. In Texas, accreditation for birth centers is voluntary. The process is rigorous, ensuring high standards and quality of service.
https://www.birthcenteraccreditation.org/
Severe Nausea and Vomiting in Pregnancy (NVP) occurs in an estimated 80% of pregnancies, yet many are unaware of the full impact and effect NVP can have on a woman’s daily life.
http://www.morningsicknessusa.com
La Leche League http://www.lalecheleague.org/
Valuable resource for breastfeeding women.
Pregnancy Today
http://www.pregnancytoday.com/
PubMed
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed
Resource for searching medical journals and databases.
HealthGate http://www.healthgate.com/
Valuable medical research tool for both consumers and physicians.
Mommie Enduring Neonatal Death
http://www.mend.org/support/home.asp
A non-profit Christian group that reaches out to families who have lost a child to miscarriage, stillbirth or infant death.
National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health
American College of Nurse-Midwives
http://www.midwife.org/
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists http://www.acog.org/
American Academy of Family Physicians http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home.html
Stuart C. Marmorstein, D.C. http://www.drstuart.net/
("Head to Foot" Chiropractic Health Care)
Study: Elective Inducement, Early Inducement, Early Admission Boost Caesarean Rates
http://www.upi.com
Excellent YouTube video on contraception -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYZ6ao7jir8&feature=youtu.be
Certain vaccines are harvested in tissues of monkeys infused with calf's blood, then are extracted and mixed with solutions containing extremely high levels of metals such as aluminum, etc. Make educated choices for your child AFTER reading The Vaccine Book by Dr. Bob Sears
http://www.askdrsears.com/thevaccinebook/12_childhood_vaccines.asp
Other References
Study: Elective Inducement, Early Admission Boost Caesarean Rates
A study of 41,000 births at 20 hospitals over three years concludes that Caesarean birth rates soar when first time mothers with "normal" pregnancies were either electively induced or admitted too soon to the hospital at the start of labor. "This study is the first of its considerable size to clearly show how two very common hospital practices are important contributors to Caesarean birth risk," one obstetrics expert said.
Dateline Story Highlights Safety Concerns for Birthing Women in Hospitals
On June 4, the Dateline NBC television news program aired a segment on the death of a birthing woman at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, DC. The story has made national news because it has brought to light the problem of infections contracted by hospital patients - and by otherwise healthy birthing women, in particular. The piece shared the fact that infections contracted in hospitals are the fourth biggest killer in the US, causing as many deaths as auto accidents, breast cancer and AIDS combined. Two million Americans get infections in hospitals each year and an estimated 103,000 of them die. Since most American babies are currently born in hospitals, this problem is getting the attention of expectant parents, as well as professionals and advocates in maternal-child health. It has also drawn renewed attention to birthing options for healthy, low-risk women, such as freestanding birth centers and midwife-attended home births. For the transcript of the Dateline NBC story, go to www.msnbc.msn.com. To find out where your state stands on mandatory reporting of healthcare-associated infections, go to www.apic.org. For the CDC's recommendations on protecting patients from contracting infections, go to www.cdc.gov.
Breastmilk Donation
MilkShare was formed in 2004 by Kelley Faulkner, a mom who is unable to produce enough breastmilk due to a congenital breast abnormality. Knowing the significant benefits that only breastmilk can offer, she sought to provide the best possible nutrition for her children using donated breast milk. Thanks to more than 30 generous and loving nursing mothers, she has received tons of donated breastmilk for her children. Her second son has been exclusively fed with donor milk and will continue to be through his first 2 years of life. Read our story.
Kelley's passion for empowering families, includes educating families about the many benefits and the various options and considerations for sharing human breastmilk for the benefit of babies that might otherwise go without. She believes that breastfeeding is important for all infants and is dedicated to community awareness about the benefits of breast milk, options beyond milk banks, and the value of milk donation. Her vision is to improve the quality of human life through increased breastfeeding across the world...click here to read more
Why Does the National U.S. Cesarean Section Rate Keep Going Up?
Recent studies reaffirm earlier World Health Organization recommendations about optimal cesarean section rates. The best outcomes for mothers and babies appear to occur with cesarean section rates of 5% to 10%. Rates above 15% seem to do more harm than good (Althabe and Belizan 2006). The national U.S. cesarean section rate was 4.5% and near this optimal range in 1965 when it was first measured (Taffel et al. 1987). In more recent years, large groups of healthy, low-risk American women who have received care that enhanced their bodies' innate capacity for giving birth have achieved 4% cesarean section rates and good overall birth outcomes (Johnson and Daviss 2005, Rooks et al. 1989). However, the national cesarean section rate is much higher and has been increasing steadily for more than a decade. With the 2007 rate at 31.8%, about one mother in three now gives birth by cesarean section, a record level for the United States....click to read more
A version of this article appears in the second edition of The New York Guide to a Healthy Birth (New York: Choices in Childbirth, 2007).