ISRAEL: Gave birth at home? Somebody lost NIS 8,000
From Haaretz Daily Newspaper Israel:
Why are hospitals opposed to women giving birth at home?
Each year, about 150,000 babies are born in Israel. Hospitals vie over the mothers, tempting the women with posh delivery rooms, private midwives and even hotel suites. But the big money is not coming from the expectant mothers, it is coming from the state.
“The condition that makes the most money for hospitals is birth,” said Shlomi Friedman, who is promoting an amendment of the Birth Allowance law and fighting injustice in the National Insurance Institute’s treatment of mothers based on where they give birth. “They make NIS 8,000 per birth, which generally doesn’t involve complications.” And that is one reason the hospitals do not want Israeli women to give birth at home.
Obstetrician Avner Shiftan points out that encouraging home births would save the state heavy costs on hospitalizing birth mothers, but hospitals hate the idea. “Hospitals have rigid costs, such as construction, buying equipment and salaries. The fewer mothers come, the more income they lose,” he explained.
One way the state discriminates against home births is through birth allowances. The allowance ranges from NIS 470 to NIS 1,489, depending on how many children the mother has. But she only gets it if she gives birth in hospital. No hospital, no money - unless she shows up within 24 hours of the birth and stays for at least 12 hours.
The reason the state discourages home births, incidentally, is because to support them properly, as The Netherlands does, for instance, it would have to invest massively in support systems. Read more
IDAHO: Women Using Midwives Increases at Madison Memorial Hospital
From KIDK.com:
REXBURG - The number of babies being born at Madison Memorial Hospital in Rexburg continues to grow.
In June, 165 infants were delivered at the hospital and as that number rises, more women are choosing to use midwives.
Madison is one of the only hospitals in Idaho that has certified nurse midwives with years of extensive training.
Helene Reusser, Certified Nurse Midwife: “One of the nice things of delivering here at the hospital with the nurse midwifery services is we can offer a lot of what women are looking for when they have a home birth expect they’re having the baby here with the backup of medical care if it’s needed.”
Rob Meredith, OBGYN: “In a market, especially around here, that is certainly dominated by male OBGYN’s, you get a personalized female touch to your care that, frankly, we as male physicians can’t provide.”
Madison has used midwives for the past ten years.
They will be instrumental in helping with Madison’s new neonatal intensive care unit which is currently under construction.
CALIFORNIA: Fewer OC Hospitals Are Allowing Midwife-Assisted Births
I Want my Midwife!
The list of OC hospitals that allow midwife-assisted births just got shorter—but moms-to-be and midwives aren’t taking it lying down
About a month from now—possibly during some still-black predawn hour, as it was with her first two children—Robin Parker’s water will break. Parker, her belly taut and engorged, will grab her bags, pack her two young sons into the car, and depart Mission Viejo with her husband to begin the hour-long ride north. Before she leaves, she will phone the person who’s been with her since the beginning of her pregnancy.
During her 50-mile trek, she’ll cross the Los Angeles County line; she’ll end at a birth center in Whittier.
When Parker arrives, B.J. Snell will likely be waiting for her. Snell is Parker’s primary prenatal-care provider and a certified nurse midwife. She will spend as many hours as it takes with Parker until the baby is born.
This wasn’t the Parker family’s original plan. They were going to drive about 10 miles west to Laguna Beach’s South Coast Medical Center, where Parker would give birth under Snell’s care. But since the June closure of that hospital’s maternity ward, the only facility in South County that granted midwives the privilege of delivering their patients’ babies, Parker and dozens of other women have had to either give up their midwives, change doctors or find places, like the birth center in Whittier, where midwives can deliver their babies.
While midwives have long been a topic of debate and controversy among medical professionals in the United States—especially when it comes to home births—midwife-assisted deliveries are increasingly seen as a mainstream choice for healthy women with low-risk pregnancies. Midwives have been proven, in research study after study, to have as good or better outcomes (for example, lower C-section rates, lower infant-mortality rates) than physicians working with the same patient population. Midwife-assisted hospital births are widely available in both Los Angeles and San Diego counties.
Visit the OC WEEKLY website for the full five page story by Daffodil J. Altan!
Of course I will offer the obvious reminder that several midwifery practices offer home birth services throughout Orange County. I am one of them!
TEXAS: Austin Hospital to Allow Midwives in Delivery Room
From KEYEtv.com:
Midwives are coming back to Austin after six years of being absent from any hospital.
Back in 2002, Brackenridge Hospital and Seton Medical Center cut their midwife services saying they were losing money.
But starting Aug. 1, St. David’s North Austin Medical Center will welcome midwives.
Christina Sustaeta gave birth to her fourth child, Cecilia, this month.
She loved her doctor but also wanted a midwife in the delivery room with her.
She hoped for a better experience than with her first three pregnancies.
“The moment I arrived at the hospital, they treated me like I was sick,” Sustaeta said. “It was very sterile. Just basically laid me down and said ‘OK just wait for us to tell you what to do.”
Midwives are known for family-centered care that focuses on the patient’s physical, emotional and spiritual needs.
In Austin, midwives help with all pre-natal care but were not allowed in hospitals.
“I couldn’t tell you how many patients said ‘why can’t you be at the hospital with me?’” midwife Lisa Carlile said. “It just wasn’t a part of our care.”
Dr. Christina Sebestyn spearheaded the midwifery program at St. David’s.
“The midwives will work collaboratively with me so they will be able to do births on their own within the hospital setting. But they will always have a physician as their immediate back up,” Sebestyn said.
The program will employ three midwives and two doctors.
IDAHO: Only Southeastern Birthing Center Opens in Rigby
From LocalNews8.com (video story posted on their website):
The very first birthing center in Southeastern Idaho will open its doors this Saturday in Rigby. Already women from as far away as Jackson Hole are booking the facility. Midwives at the center allow parents complete control over what kind of birth they want to have.
As soon as you walk into the Rigby Center you realize this isn’t just a facility where medical procedures take place, this is where miracles happen.
“They said we don’t shake hands we always hug in this room,” said Amy Hanson, recalling her first visit at the center. “They gave me a big hug. When we were driving away I literally got tears in my eyes, because I knew they were going to remember me.”
Four days ago Amy gave birth to a bouncing baby boy named Samuel, at the new center.
“It was a lot more peaceful,” said Amy’s husband, Daven. “Amy was much more at peace and I felt like she was supported in every way that she wasn’t the first time.”
Amy and Daven’s first son, Gabe, was born in a hospital but the couple found their desire to have a completely natural birth did not line up with protocol.
“Doctor’s are great at intervention and what to do when something goes wrong. They’re not great at having a totally natural birth,” said Amy. “That’s just not what happens in a hospital.”
To midwives non-intervention is what giving birth is all about. “We don’t have things that pop out of walls. We just don’t interfere in the natural process,” said the Hanson’s midwife, Michelle Bartlet.
To top it off the Hanson family saved thousands of dollars just because Samuel was born at the center. “The hospital was going to be around $11, 000,” said Amy. “The birthing center was $300, so the difference was huge.”
That is only facility fees. Amy and Daven estimate a total saving of approximately $9,000 or $10,000. “We are in no medical debt, we paid everything off,” said Amy.
After going through such a beautiful experience the couple said the money they saved was just an added bonus.
The Agape Center is the only birthing facility in Southeastern Idaho that meets the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative. The initiative was put together by National Birth Network whose mission is to promote a model for maternity care that will improve birth outcomes and drastically reduce costs.
The Birthing Center’s grand opening will be this Saturday…to find out more about the opening and the facility. Contact Michelle Bartlet at 208-681-6114.
Podcasts
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Podcast 1: Midwives
Podcast 2: Birth Places
Podcast 3: Thinking About Home Birth
Podcast 4: The Birth Kit
Podcast 5: Interview with Ricki Lake