feeling awful
My heart and stomach are heavy and twisted in a way that only grave injustice can cause them to be, especially when the injustice effects me and mine personally.
A few weeks ago the local midwifery practice announced that its docs had decided to close it. While horribly tragic, not terribly surprising as they have had a rocky relationship for many years.
The community is energized by this outrage and we are planning a community action meeting for Monday night. I'm hoping for a bit of venting, a bit of information and a lot of time spent on action plans for the future.
My one solace was that there is still a free standing birth center & hospital midwifery practice in MD. It has been an anchor for the community for the last 30 years. It is where my daughter was born. I was there last week for a birth that was beautiful in a way no hospital birth can ever be.
They are closing their doors. They will no longer be a birth center as of the end of May. It MAY be possible for them to continue to catch babies at the hospital, but it is not a 100% certainty.
For those who may not be aware, midwifery care is not just as good as OB care for a healthy low risk woman (which is MOST women), it is actually BETTER care, in quality and medical outcomes. Midwives spend more time with their patients, they have a much wider definition of what is "okay" and "normal" for pregnancy & birth, they have better outcomes, fewer cesareans, happier patients with better memories of their birth experiences, less postpartum depression and an increase success with breastfeeding, which leads to less childhood asthma & allergies, obesity, sickness and loss of productivity of baby's parents.
So why are midwives not rampant in our society, in a word, because of the AMA. American doctors have a historical beef with midwifery and they have been systematic and organized in their oppression of this option for women. Every victory for midwifery options for women has been won against the opposition of the organized efforts of physician organizations. Individual doctors may love & advocate for midwifery care, but their unions hate it.
I usually try not to be personal & vicious about this but I genuinely believe that the american medical establishment is misogynist & self serving on this issue. For a little while, I'm going to need to be very VERY mad about this.
A few weeks ago the local midwifery practice announced that its docs had decided to close it. While horribly tragic, not terribly surprising as they have had a rocky relationship for many years.
The community is energized by this outrage and we are planning a community action meeting for Monday night. I'm hoping for a bit of venting, a bit of information and a lot of time spent on action plans for the future.
My one solace was that there is still a free standing birth center & hospital midwifery practice in MD. It has been an anchor for the community for the last 30 years. It is where my daughter was born. I was there last week for a birth that was beautiful in a way no hospital birth can ever be.
They are closing their doors. They will no longer be a birth center as of the end of May. It MAY be possible for them to continue to catch babies at the hospital, but it is not a 100% certainty.
For those who may not be aware, midwifery care is not just as good as OB care for a healthy low risk woman (which is MOST women), it is actually BETTER care, in quality and medical outcomes. Midwives spend more time with their patients, they have a much wider definition of what is "okay" and "normal" for pregnancy & birth, they have better outcomes, fewer cesareans, happier patients with better memories of their birth experiences, less postpartum depression and an increase success with breastfeeding, which leads to less childhood asthma & allergies, obesity, sickness and loss of productivity of baby's parents.
So why are midwives not rampant in our society, in a word, because of the AMA. American doctors have a historical beef with midwifery and they have been systematic and organized in their oppression of this option for women. Every victory for midwifery options for women has been won against the opposition of the organized efforts of physician organizations. Individual doctors may love & advocate for midwifery care, but their unions hate it.
I usually try not to be personal & vicious about this but I genuinely believe that the american medical establishment is misogynist & self serving on this issue. For a little while, I'm going to need to be very VERY mad about this.