If U would like to add links to this page, please send URL address and Summary information to jlh for consideration! http://www.wel.org.au/issues/birth/9908brel.htm WEL calls for less intervention in childbirth http://www.stile.lut.ac.uk/~gyedb/STILE/Email0002057/m13.html Nicaragua: New Sandinista Utopia (Insight Features) http://www.mayohealth.org/mayo/9709/htm/midwives.htm Midwifery in the '90s September 22 1997 When you hear the term "midwife," do you picture a matronly looking woman coaching a woman in labor from the foot of a bed and calling for someone to boil water and bring clean sheets? Or perhaps you envision a woman having an underwater birth, while a midwife plays new-age music in the background? http://wospace.cnation.com/Health/Hlth_Epidural.html The Epidural Express: Real Reasons Not to Jump On Board by Nancy Griffin, M.A., AAHCC http://www.cordblood.com/ Welcome to www.cordblood.com http://www.aspects.net/~pre-eclampsia/ This site is about pre-eclampsia and related subjects and the charity APEC (Action on Pre-eclampsia) http://www.nejm.org/content/1999/0340/0001/0054.asp The Risks of Lowering the Cesarean-Delivery Rate In 1995, the rate of cesarean delivery in the United States was 21 percent. (1) The goal of Healthy People 2000, a project of the Department of Health and Human Services, is to reduce this rate to 15 percent by the year 2000. (2) The advantages of a safe vaginal delivery over a cesarean delivery are clear: a vaginal delivery is associated with lower maternal and neonatal morbidity, and it costs less. We contend that these advantages apply only to safe vaginal deliveries and that reducing the rate of cesarean delivery may lead to higher costs and more complications for mothers and their babies. The reason is that two of the strategies proposed to reduce the cesarean-delivery rate, increasing the number of vaginal deliveries among women who have had cesarean deliveries and increasing the number of operative vaginal deliveries, are associated with uterine ruptures and neonatal trauma, respectively. (3,4) http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/cytotec.html Pharmaceutical Induction - Cytotec http://WWW.fda.gov/cdrh/fetal598.html FDA Public Health Advisory: Need for CAUTION When Using Vacuum Assisted Delivery Devices http://WWW.fda.gov/cdrh/safety.html Safety Alerts, Public Health Advisories, and Notices From CDRH http://members.aol.com/Birthroot1/wwnews.html With Woman News, Feb 1998, Volume Two, Issue Two http://faculty.washington.edu/gcd/ Why are Doctors Opposing Circumcision? http://www.best.com/~falcao/format/woolley.html Benefits and risks of episiotomy: A review of the English-language literature since 1980 This is the manuscript which was later published as: Woolley RJ. Benefits and risks of episiotomy: A review of the English-language literature since 1980. Part I. Obstet Gynecol Survey 1995; 50:806-820 and Woolley RJ. Benefits and risks of episiotomy: A review of the English-language literature since 1980. Part II. Obstet Gynecol Survey 1995; 50:821-835. Because some changes in wording and formatting were made in the editorial process, the final print version should be consulted for any quotations to be cited elsewhere. http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/index.html Midwife Archives The Midwife Archives is a collection of information about all aspects of pregnancy, birth and well-woman care from a midwifery perspective. Compiled and maintained by Ronnie Falcao. The Midwife Archives originated as a summary of discussions on the various email lists hosted at fensende.com, where the first incarnations of the archives lived, courtesy of Sabrina Cuddy and Fen's Ende. It has grown to include links to lots of other relevant sites. The first mirror site was installed at gentlebirth.org, which has now become the primary site. http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/breech.html Prenatal Breech Issues http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/gestdiab.html Gestational Diabetes http://pregnancy.miningco.com/ About.com - Pregnancy/Birth - Home Page http://www.pei.sympatico.ca/healthyway/HEALTHYWAY/feature_mid1.html Couples are Turning to Midwives: To play a key labour role When Deborah Freedman and Alex Gillis got pregnant, they had to make what might seem like some very simple decisions: where would they turn for primary health care during pregnancy and childbirth? For most, the answer is obvious -- the traditional doctor-and-hospital arrangement is considered the safest and is also by far the most common option. But with increasing popularity, many Canadian couples are opting for a midwife as their more natural and preferred alternative. http://www.swmed.edu/home_pages/parkland/midwifery/txt/mdwfhistorytxt.html Parkland School of Nurse Midwifery The History of Midwifery The Birth of Midwifery As women gave birth, they sought and received care from supportive others. At an unknown point in the cultural evolution, some experienced women became designated as the wise women to be in attendance at birth. Thus, the profession of midwifery began. Indeed, as historians have noted, midwifery has been characterized as a social role throughout recorded history, regardless of culture or time. http://www.childbirth.org/bobhill.html Group sees a need for lay midwives Michelle Breen had all her factual ammunition on hand, and living proof of her joy in midwifery running around her living room: a healthy, happy, nursing child with little reverence for journalistic procedures. Breen, of Louisville, is president of the Kentucky Alliance for the Advancement of Midwifery. That's a somewhat labored title for a non-profit group designed to educate the public about midwives -- women who assist pregnant women with prenatal care, childbirth and care of the newborn, often in special "birthing centers" or at home. http://www.staff.uiuc.edu/~daver/rbp.html THE RUSSIAN BIRTH PROJECT - U.S.A. THE RUSSIAN MEDICAL PROJECT - ST. PETERSBURG THE RUSSIAN BIRTH PROJECT (RBP) is an American organization whose goals are educational, medical and charitable. Founded in 1992 by American midwife Molly Caliger (Lasser), the RBP offers American midwifery students an intensive 12-week internship in a maternity hospital (roddom) in St. Petersburg, Russia. Such an opportunity affords inquisitive, far-sighted interns a learning experience unavailable in most parts of the world. Living as Russians do, interns are immersed in a multi-level birth experience: assisting Russian women to have safer, more satisfying deliveries; partaking in the transformation of the Russian people; and glimpsing the emergence of unseen parts of themselves in the process of becoming a midwife. Russia is unique as a testing ground for personal transformation, because Russia herself is in the midst of transformation. http://www.goodnewsnet.org/utah97de.htm Derogatory statements about Midwives by the Medical Establishment 1881-1925 http://www.efn.org/~djz/birth/add695/indianaappeal.html Appeal for Indiana midwives http://www.parenthoodweb.com/ MIDWIVES MAY HALT C-SECTIONS