Good news came this week for Oregon moms who wish to use their placentas for postpartum recovery. The Oregon Senate approved a bill allowing mothers to take their baby’s placentas home, despite the state law labeling placentas as medical waste. “The state Senate unanimously approved the bill Monday, as the House did in March. The […]
Hospital Issues
Birth Centers: As safe as hospitals for low-risk mothers
The birth world was abuzz this week with the release of a recent review of birth center outcomes by the Journal of Midwifery and Women’s Health. The study followed more than 15,000 moms-to-be who were planning to give birth within a midwife-run birth center. The conclusion of the review showed birth centers to be […]
Placenta Implicated In Autism Risk
The placenta, the organ responsible for for nourishing your baby and regulating maternal-fetal interactions, may be a contributing factor in a child’s autism diagnosis. “There is increasing evidence implicating the placenta in autism risk. For example, abnormal inclusions of trophoblasts, the cells that comprise the placenta, are found more frequently in placentas from mothers of […]
Midwives Come Together, Make Joint Statement
The three U.S. midwifery organizations, MANA, ACNM, and NACPM, recently came together to make a joint statement regarding the support of normal, physiological childbirth. In 1996, The WHO called for the elimination of all unnecessary interventions in childbirth, yet as you know, some of these interventions are being overused in our maternity health system, often […]
Debate Over Placenta Release Policy in Ohio
A new policy at Miami Valley Hospital’s Berry Birthing Center in Ohio is requiring new mothers to wait 72 hours before their baby’s placenta will be released. The new policy was established by request of the pathology department as a precaution in case the placenta needs to be studied in response to illness of the […]
Don’t Bathe That Baby!
Babies are born covered in a thick, white, cheese-like substance called vernix caseosa. In the hospital it is typical for babies to be bathed immediately to remove the vernix. However, an immediate postnatal bath may not be the best option for a baby and should be reconsidered. Vernix Caseosa has many benefits. Produced during […]
