TEXAS: Presby Allen to offer hydrotherapy tub for labor pains

Yet more news from Texas, this time on the use of water for pain management during hospital labors. From the Allen Star:

For mothers-to-be, or mothers-to-be-again, the birth process can be a memorable experience, but also a painful one.

With that in mind, Presbyterian Hospital of Allen is looking to make the time leading up to the birth as comfortable as possible with a new option: a hydrotherapy tub.

In the next month, the hospital will complete its addition of a SaniJet hydrotherapy system, a large, pipeless tub that eliminates potential to produce infectious bacteria like in regular whirlpool tubs. Read more

March 31, 2008 | Filed Under Hospitals | Leave a Comment 

TEXAS: Midwives in the mainstream

The second story on obstetrics from the Dallas-Ft. Worth area today highlights midwives as hospital based practitioners. Be sure and read the whole thing for some interesting factoids at the end of the article (after the jump). From the Star-Telegram:

Some women want a Jacuzzi. Others prefer having a birth ball handy. And many simply want all of their relatives by their bedside.

More and more mothers-to-be are having babies their way, with the help of a midwife who is there to do as much or as little as the woman wants.

Although midwives have been delivering babies throughout history, their role has evolved over the years. Gone are the days when midwives worked only in homes, helping women have babies the natural way. Today the practice has expanded to include birthing centers and hospitals.

In Texas, only certified nurse-midwives — who represent the majority of practitioners — are allowed to deliver babies in a hospital. Certified nurse-midwives must have a bachelor’s degree and complete an accredited nurse-midwifery program. In 2006, there were 15,679 births attended by certified nurse-midwives in Texas. Read more

March 31, 2008 | Filed Under Hospitals, Midwives/Midwifery | Leave a Comment 

IDAHO: Midwives struggle to find acceptance of medical community

From the Times-News:

Despite obstacles, midwife-attended births stay steady

The number of Idaho births attended by midwives is keeping pace with the state birth rate, continuing to increase while a legislative debate over a state licensing system continues.

According to statistics compiled by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, physicians attended 94 percent of the 24,185 births in the state in 2006. But certified nurse midwives - who graduate from an accredited nurse-midwifery program and pass a national certification exam - were present at 806. And “lay” direct-entry midwives, who can be certified by a North American midwife registry, were at 489.

Both numbers are higher than the previous year. But while totals for nurse midwives have varied over the past few years, lay midwives have gradually followed the birth rate since 2000, when they attended 267 births.

It’s not just an Idaho trend. Michelle Bartlett, the Idaho Midwifery Council’s vice president and legislative chairwoman, said she’s seen nationwide growth for midwife-attended births, possibly due to rising costs for maternity care. On top of that, she said, it’s easier for future parents to find information on midwives. Read more

March 31, 2008 | Filed Under Midwives/Midwifery, Politics | Leave a Comment 

TEXAS: The BUSINESS of Being Born

From the Star-Telegram: Fort Worth gets new player in baby business

Baylor All Saints facility hopes to draw doctors and pregnant women away from Harris Methodist Fort Worth

A dramatic shake-up in the local baby business begins today.

With the opening of a four-story women’s hospital, Baylor All Saints Medical Center at Fort Worth expects to become the favored site for expectant moms to deliver their newborns.

The $95 million Paul and Judy Andrews Women’s Hospital features dozens of labor-and-delivery rooms, state-of-the-art operating rooms and a neonatal intensive care unit for the sickest preemies.

It’s all aimed at luring women and their doctors away from downtown rival Harris Methodist Fort Worth Hospital, which has dominated local obstetric services for years. Read more

March 31, 2008 | Filed Under Hospitals, In the News | Leave a Comment 

Review of Data: Vaginal Birth Still Best

This article appeared in the African newspaper Cape Argus as breaking news (why isn’t it breaking news in America?):

Dr. Brian M. Mercer, of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and colleagues studied the impact of prior vaginal birth after cesarean on outcomes of attempted vaginal births in subsequent pregnancies in 13 532 women.

For 9 012 women (67 percent), this was their first vaginal birth after cesarean - what doctors call “VBAC.” Twenty-nine hundred women (21 percent) had a history of one prior VBAC, 1 058 (7,8 percent) had a history of two, 371 (2,7 percent) had a history of three, and 191 (1,4 percent) had a history of four or more VBACs.

Results showed that the frequency of VBAC success rose with increasing number of prior VBACs, from 63 percent with no prior VBACs to 88 percent for women with one and 91 percent for those with two or more prior VBACs.

The corresponding incidence of uterine rupture, a serious complication of labour, declined from 0,87 percent to 0,45 percent and 0,43 percent. The rates of other complications followed similar patterns with increasing number of prior VBACs.

In contrast, the investigators note, repeated cesarean deliveries are associated with higher risks of complications like placenta accreta (when the placenta implants too far into the uterus) and trauma to internal organs in the mother, as well as more frequent hysterectomies and blood transfusions.

“Women planning large families… should be reassured by the increasing success rates and decreasing risks associated with VBAC attempts in successive pregnancies,” Mercer and his associates conclude.

March 31, 2008 | Filed Under Cesarean Birth, VBAC | Leave a Comment 

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