Florida Hospital to ban photos during childbirth (!)

I added the exclamation point… The full uncut story is at the Orlando Sentinel but I could not help myself from making comments. I look forward to yours!

One of the region’s largest hospital groups will soon forbid photography or videotaping during childbirth, joining a national trend spurred by what some say is concern over medical liability.

I am trying to be professional, but… ya think?

Beginning next month, Florida Hospital plans to bar cameras during labor and delivery at its Orlando-area facilities with delivery rooms: the main campus near downtown Orlando, and in Winter Park, Altamonte Springs and Celebration.

“You don’t go into the operating room and take pictures of surgical procedures,” said Pat DuRant, Florida Hospital’s assistant vice president of women’s and medical-surgical services.

Finally someone cuts through the semantics of c-sections being “just another way to give birth” and reveals that Cesareans are surgical procedures. But the comment is lame because most Cesareans are planned so there is not the crash component of emergency surgery, say from a cerebrovascular event. Of course you wouldn’t be taking pictures of that and of course families understand that during a true emergent Cesarean, pictures might not be possible to obtain.

Florida Hospital had been allowing cameras, though with doctor approval and “as long as it does not interfere with the care of the patient,” DuRant said. But under the new policy, parents will be able to film only after birth and once a doctor says mother and baby are fine.

Admittedly I have not attended thousands of births, let alone thousands of hospital births but I have to believe that people can be shown how to avoid sterile and clean areas as much as possible.

Florida Hospital is falling in line with a number of hospitals across the country, including Orlando Regional Healthcare and Central Florida Regional, that say the birth of a child is not a time to be snapping photographs. Orlando Regional, which operates the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies in downtown Orlando and a maternity unit at its South Seminole Hospital in Longwood, decided to restrict photography about five years ago.

Thank goodness for hospital administrators to decide for us that birth is not a life event worthy of documenting on film.

However, the policies at the other Central Florida hospitals are less stringent than those at Florida Hospital. If the doctor agrees, Orlando Regional and Central Florida Regional allow videos and photos during much of a woman’s labor, just not during delivery.

“When the mom goes into active delivery, the doctor’s here getting ready for the catch and that type of stuff — that’s the component they don’t want folks videoing,” Central Florida Regional spokesman Craig Bair said.

The doctors I have seen getting ready are usually putting on gloves and sitting on a stool near the mother. I’m not sure what part of this preparation is sensitive to documenting on film.

Officials of Orlando Regional and Florida Hospital’s Orlando-area maternity units said they are being strict because they are worried about safety. A person moving around, trying to get the right camera angle, can distract the staff, they said. They couldn’t cite any examples of someone with a camera causing problems.

My guess is they couldn’t provide citations because they don’t exist.

Though many women might consider childbirth too graphic to film, some say recording it allows them to remember one of life’s most special events.

“When you’re in labor, you have all those hormones and adrenaline — you don’t remember it, not really,” Baca said. “When I look at the pictures, I can really recall everything — moments between my husband and I, when I was having a contraction and he was holding my hand or looking into my eyes and helping me breathe, that were just priceless.”

I have to agree. When I had my first baby, I asked for pain relief but didn’t want an epidural (a personal thing about people with sharp things poking me in the back). I was given nubain which made me very loopy and I don’t remember much from that point except what was caught on video tape. I’m sad to think that other women for whom the drugs are quite strong won’t remember much about the births of their babies either and won’t have photos or a video to help them with the memory.

I wonder if there is some other way to make the births more warm and friendly in place of this rule?

September 27, 2006 | Filed Under Hospitals, In the News | 14 Comments 

Home birth story in Provo

A beam of sunlight found Laura Lund as she sat in the middle of a makeshift room submerged in a plastic bathtub. A cold, blue washcloth hung around her neck. Her eyes were closed and her hands draped over her expectant belly.

“You are in control of your birth,” whispered a female voice. It seemed as though the mother and child painted onto the canvas in the corner may have spoken those soft words. But, instead, it came from a boom box in the corner hidden behind blue bath towels and medical supplies.

Laura Lund had her fourth child — her fourth girl — in her parents’ house in Provo under the watch of midwife Suzanne Smith. There were no bright lights. There were no drugs. There were no doctors roaming in and out. What she did have were candles, a warm bathtub and her three daughters asleep in the next room.

Link:  Daily Herald.  There are some comments listed on the story site and I find it immediately interesting how one person took the story personally and almost a criticism to her own choices, but ends her paragraph with an obligatory, “to each his own…”.  Are you drawn to compare your birth to Laura Lund’s or anyone else’s for that matter?  Another blogger refers to this as Competitive Mothering.  Do you agree?

September 25, 2006 | Filed Under Home Birth, Midwives/Midwifery | 6 Comments 

Midwives aren’t just for births!

One of the best parts of being a midwife is talking with people about their plans to have a home birth, even if I don’t end up being the “one” for them. I enjoy hearing their pros and cons, helping them sort it out from stories they heard from neighbors, the grocer, their well-meaning HMO office (”Oh dear, I hope you’ll still get prenatal care…”), or on a website that may not be the best source of information. I had one such meeting today and though I’d be thrilled to help this family, I’m just as happy midwifing her through the decision process. I know many great midwives in this community and if my meeting with a woman inspires her to meet other midwives, it’s a win-win situation for all of us.

On a technical note, we’re working on another video Podcast, but due to imminent births I’m not able to play with my sterile packs and show you all my gadgets. Stay tuned, as they say…

September 21, 2006 | Filed Under Information, Midwives/Midwifery | 5 Comments 

Ponderable

I am re-taking Anatomy and Physiology as a follow-up for a rather one dimensional class I took in the past, this time with cadavers! My teacher opens each class with a ponderable to give us a brain exercise to see if we know what we’re learning. I’m not going to test you– wait, yes I am! Let’s see if you’ve watched my video!

What purpose do the straws in your birth kit fulfill?

  1. cheap scuba gear for the midwife in a water birth
  2. suction device for a baby who is “wet”
  3. to use for drinking

Back to the ponderable. I was reading another blog’s comments and someone asked the following:

Why do homebirthers care if I don’t choose homebirth?

Do I care if a woman doesn’t choose a home birth? I am confident I don’t. After all, why would I? I am sure if this woman and I were having a conversation we’d agree that it is important for us to make our own decisions based on the available information and do what is best for ourselves and our families. I didn’t always think this way.

Back before I’d attended a birth of a baby not my own, I was pretty sure I knew everything, including what was best for everyone. I was bothered by anyone choosing something different than what I knew was best. Breast is best. Home birth is the bomb. If not, then a drug-free birth in the hospital was the next best if you didn’t have a birth center near. Can you imagine the arrogance? Of course you can, especially if you’re a mother. You’ve experienced it first hand in the form of knowing glances. Unwanted advice. The cure to my arrogance was to be a part of the decision-making process of a new family. They made every choice I wouldn’t have and in the end it was right for her AND everyone survived the experience. I’ve grown even softer over the years as I have been able to walk alongside hundreds of women, none of whom have ever made the same decision as the one before her, some at home, some in the hospital.

But back to the question. As a midwife, it’s assumed that because I am a midwife I must care what you choose. I do– to an extent. I don’t want you choosing home birth because it’s cheap. Or because you would succumb to an epidural if you were in the hospital. Or because your neighbor did. I care that you choose a home birth for the right reasons for your family after you consider the benefits and risks, the pros and cons, and if it works out that it’s affordable, you want an unmedicated birth, and your neighbor referred you to me, then let’s talk.

Ps: the quiz answer is C :)

September 18, 2006 | Filed Under Home Birth | 2 Comments 

Ancient profession alive in Libby

Joyce Vogel knows all about delivering babies.

She’s had 11 of her own and is now helping others deliver theirs.

Vogel, 44, recently opened a birthing center at 516 Louisiana Ave., one block from St. John’s Lutheran Hospital. She’s believed to be Lincoln County’s first certified midwife.

Wonderful news for the women in and around Libby, Montana! Previous to Joyce’s arrival, the closest midwives attending home births were in Kalispell, nearly two hours away!

Link: The Western News

September 14, 2006 | Filed Under Birth Centers, Home Birth, In the News, Midwives/Midwifery | 3 Comments 

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