Birth Matters Virginia

Prior C-Section Now "Pre-Existing Condition" in Subsequent Pregnancies

If attaining a VBAC might be a challenge, now VBAC hopefuls have another obstacle to overcome.  A prior cesarean birth now labels some women with a "pre-existing condition" that may increase her insurance premiums, or in some cases, her insurance company will now refuse to offer her coverage.

"Many insurers consider a Caesarean-section pregnancy a pre-existing condition and refuse to cover women who have had the procedure. From a 2008 New York Times story about a Colorado woman who had Golden Rule Insurance:

'She was turned down because she had given birth by Caesarean section. Having the operation once increases the odds that it will be performed again, and if she became pregnant and needed another Caesarean, Golden Rule did not want to pay for it. A letter from the company explained that if she had been sterilized after the Caesarean, or if she were over 40 and had given birth two or more years before applying, she might have qualified.'"

Read the full story here.

Cord Clamping Information

If you've ever wondered why doctor's clamp your baby's umbilical cord, or when is the best time to do it, this page has a lot of great information.  There is even information about cord blood collection if you've been considering banking your baby's cord blood.

Check it out here.

At the end of the article, you will also find other resources if you'd like even more information!

Animated Birth Video

This is a great, one minute animation of what your baby goes through during birth.  You can clearly see the uterus and maternal bone structure.  Pretty neat!

Birth Centers will save $47 MILLION!!!

A note from the American Association of Birth Centers:

We have Good News for Healthcare Reform.  The Congressional Budget Office has evaluated the Birth Center Medicaid Reimbursement Act (HR 2358 and S 1423) and says:

 

It will SAVE at least $47 million over the next 10 Years!

 

If your Representatives and Senators are not co-sponsors of the Bill, you need to ACT NOW. 

 

1) Meet or call the staff at your legislators' district offices.  Invite them to your birth center.

 

2) Call their Washington, DC offies and ask to speak with their Health Legislative Assistant.

 

3) Tell them about our bill to add the birth center to Medicaid services.  Let them know if they will co-sponsor and help pass this bill, that it will Save Healthcare Dollars!!

 

4) Make sure that the staff will commit to calling you back with an answer. If they will not co-sponsor-find out why. 

This is a nonpartisan issue about the health of mothers and babies, access to care, and saving federal dollars.  Let's add as many co-sponsors as we can this month!

 

We are asking you to make your calls today!!

Learn more about how you can make a difference at www.birthcenters.org.

Journey to VBAC Webinars

A note from ICAN:

Presented by Gretchen Humphries and Rose St. John, Journey to VBAC: What You Need to Know is a must for women planning a VBAC and their partners. You will learn about the basic issues surrounding VBAC plus answers to common questions such as, "Am I a good candidate for a VBAC?" and "How can I maximize my chances of having a vaginal birth next time around?"  We will also discuss one of the most important but often overlooked issues while planning a VBAC: the father’s role in preventing a cesarean.

This webinar is FREE to ICAN subscribers (and only $30 for non-subscribers) and has been approved for 1.5 contact hours* from ICEA.  There is no additional charge for ICEA contact hours.

To become an ICAN subscriber and attend this webinar for free, join ICAN at the Supporting (Basic) Subscriber level or higher:

United States
Canada
International: please contact Lily Beck at [email protected]ican-online.org for rates by country.

Part 1: Planning Your VBAC with Gretchen Humphries
Sunday, September 27 - 9:00 pm EDT (6:00 pm PDT)
90 minutes

• VBAC basics: history, risks, and success rates by birth setting
• Are you a good candidate for a VBAC?
• Cephalopelvic disproportion
• Vaginal birth after multiple cesareans
• How long should you wait between pregnancies?
• Single vs. double-layer sutures
• How to increase your chances of having a VBAC

Part 2: The Father’s Role in Preventing Cesareans with Rose St. John
Sunday, October 4 - 9:00 EDT (6 pm PDT)
90 minutes

• What the father provides to the laboring mother
• The quantifiable impact of a well-prepared father
• Intangible benefits of a well-prepared father
• Giving fathers the preparation they need
• The impact of the father’s adrenaline levels during labor
• Best practices for the laboring father

*To receive ICEA contact hours, participants must at least attend Part 2: The Father’s Role in Preventing Cesareans.

Click here to register

For more information, click here.


Warmly,

Desirre

Desirre Andrews, President
www.ican-online.org
Be THE change.  Ask me how!  

Another new monitor for labor?

TrigMedical has unveiled a new way to monitor labor "progress."  Introducing the LaborPro System.  TrigMedical says of this product,

"LaborPro is a novel labor monitoring system that using ultrasound imaging measures continuously and objectively fetal position, presentation and station along with cervical dilatation. LaborPro quantitatively assesses and records vital labor parameters in real-time to enable obstetricians to make informed and accurate decisions throughout the labor process to improve both the quality and cost of obstetric care."

Among its touted benefits are:

Non-invasive, precise measurement of station & position.

Improves assessment of non-progressive labor.

Supports decision-making before operative delivery.

User friendly, on-screen display of all labor parameters.

Enhances patient comfort and sense of security.

The technology behind this new fangled machine?

Station & position determination by ultrasound imaging.

Radiation-free pelvimetry & birth canal modeling.

One-step computerized trans-vaginal digital examination.

Accurate measurement of cervical dilatation.

Comprehensive labor data recording.

If you were leery of multiple ultrasounds, how about the possibility of hours of ultrasound?  How about a "certainty" that you're not progressing?  Is this really a step forward, or is it another step away from the mother who could use more one-on-one contact during her labor?

More Contest News!

OBG Management recently published an article highlighting the Birth Matters Virginia Video Contest winner!  You can watch the video from the original article, as well as get some more tips about ways to avoid a cesarean.  You can read the full article by Janelle Yates here.

Annual Awards Dinner COMING UP!!!

We are just 2 months from our 9th Annual Awards & Fundraiser Event! Please mark your calendars for Sunday, November 8, 2009 from 1-5pm. Once again this year’s event will be at the beautiful Renaissance Center in downtown Richmond. We are excited that Robbie Davis-Floyd , cultural anthropologist and author of Birth as an American Rite of Passage and Birth Models That Work will be our guest speaker for the afternoon. Robbie is internationally known for her perspective on birth and how it is defined in our culture. She has been featured most recently in the movies, The Business of Being Born and Orgasmic Birth. I would like to encourage you to purchase tickets early. They are now available via Paypal on our website, www.birthmattersva.org

An important part of our event is to honor and celebrate 2 people who are helping in their way to change the culture of birth in Virginia. It is the members of Birth Matters VA that nominate and ultimately vote to choose our awardees; we are now accepting nominations for this award. (You must be a member to nominate and/or vote Birth Matters Virginia though the person nominated need not be a member)

This person can be female or male, a titled professional working in birth or an educator, advocate, activist in your community.

We will begin accepting nominations as of today until September 30, 2009. Once the nomination deadline has been reached, a list will be posted and then all BMV members will be able to vote until October 11, 2009. The winners will be announced by no later than October 17th.

If you are interested in nominating someone for this award, please send the following via email to [email protected] :

Your name

Your nominee’s name

Your nominee’s location in Virginia

A brief background about this person; what they do and for how long

And finally,

Why you feel that they deserve to win the award this year



You may tell the person that they have been nominated and let them know that if they should win; they will need to travel to Richmond on November 8th, 2009 where they will receive their award and be given the opportunity to speak for a brief time. They will receive complementary tickets for themselves and a number of guests.

If you have any further questions about this or anything else please feel free to contact me or your local chapter director

I want to again thank you all for being apart of the community that supports evidence-based maternity and family care. We as individuals and as a whole are helping to make changes in the life of each baby that enters into the arms of parents that have been fully informed of their options and choices based in not only intuition and instinctual knowledge but that is also supported by research. These babies and their parents will be transformed and will become more active participants in their lives and the lives of others; this is how the world evolves into a better place for all of us.

Thank you

Thérèse Hak-Kuhn

Executive Director

Birth Matters Virginia

[email protected]