International Midwives Day

Today is International Midwives Day (also variously called "International Day of the Midwife" or "International Midwifery Day"). Call or write you midwife and thank her!

It's a great day to host an event, such as a picnic, lecture, protest, etc. to help raise awareness of midwifery care. The International Confederation of Midwives has some more ideas (.pdf). So if you are part of a consumer, homebirth, or natural parenting group, you might want to start planning something for next year.

The Seattle Midwifery School has information on how you can help a library or bookstore create a display.

Wisconsin has reason to celebrate. Not only did the governor declare May 5th International Midwives' Day, but this week marked the first home delivery by a licenced midwife since that state's newly-enacted regulatory scheme went into effect. Congratulations to Wisconsin midwives and midwifery supporters for all their hard work.

Louisa at Mama (Mid)Wife Madness answers the question "Why does the world need midwives?".

Breastfeeding Legislative Update

Tanya Lieberman, host of The Motherwear Blog, has done an excellent job of summarizing recent breastfeeding-related legislation. So much so, that I don't feel like I need to do my own, which I was - sort-of - working on. I do have a couple additions to the list, below.

La Leche League maintains a Summary of Proposed Breastfeeding Legislation; however it is not as complete as one would like.

Texas - The September, 2006 issue of ParentWiseAustin covered the state's NIP statute thoroughly:

What’s the big deal about breastfeeding in public? The law, that’s what. Although it protects a woman’s right to breastfeed in Texas, few folks know about it and, even if they do, they don’t necessarily have to follow it. We explain why beginning on page 8.

Excellent reading. I even learned some things, such as the fact that a woman who feels that her right to breastfeed has been interfered with can file a complaint with the Texas Department of State Health Services , which "responds to complaints by sending a letter to the facility where the alleged violation occurred, explaining the law and encouraging the owner or manager to inform employees about it." They get about 2 or 3 complaints a month.

Also, the Texas DSHS has a number of brochures and other breastfeeding information which can be ordered or downloaded, including a "licence to breastfeed in public" card.

Wisconsin - Assembly Bill 104/Senate Bill 30 would guarantee the right to breastfeed in public and put in place a fine not to exceed $200 for interfering with a breastfeeding mother. Also, the city of Madison approved a breastfeeding ordinance in January.

Internationally, Chile passed a law this year giving mothers the right to breastfeed their child at work; and the city of Toronto is hoping to raise public awareness of the protected nature of nursing in public.

Breastfeeding Legislative Update - Wisconsin

The county board of Dane County, Wisconsin (i.e. Madison) has enacted an ordinance which "prohibits anyone from interfering with a breastfeeding mother in any public place in Dane County."

While the ordinance overwhelmingly passed the county board, there is a similar measure currently in committees of the Madison City Council as well as the state Legislature.

There are consequences for a violation of the ordinance. Anyone who violates the law could be subject to a fine ranging from $10 to $100, WISC-TV reported.

It is rare, though not unheard of, for a city or county to pass such an ordinance (see Chandler, AZ), and even rarer (this may be the first, outside of Scotland) for a fine to be imposed on those who interfere with a breastfeeding pair.

Midwifery Legal Update - Wisconsin

Midwife Helen Dentice of Milwaukee was sentenced this week to six months of jail time and three years' probation on charges of practicing medicine without a license and delivering a controlled substance (link).

Although one could argue (I am not making a case either way, as I was not there and do not know what happened) that Ms. Dentice was somehow culpable in the death of this baby - and certainly she did not meet the requirements for certification of midwives now in place in Wisconsin - the Mommy Blawger would like to point out that the acts for which she was convicted are perfectly legal and/or regulated in most of the 41 states which authorize direct-entry midwifery, including my home state of Texas.

Wisconsin Nurse Charged

Charge against Wisconsin nurse in death shocks fellow caregivers:

Prosecutors filed a felony charge against [Julie] Thao, igniting a debate over whether medical professionals who make unintentional yet deadly mistakes should face criminal charges, on top of civil punishment from victims and regulators.

Officials say the charge against Thao reflected a series of dangerous decisions she made that led to the July 5 death of 16-year-old Jasmine Gant, an expectant mother whose 8-pound baby boy survived.

Gant died after Thao mistakenly gave her a dose of epidural instead of penicillin to treat a strep infection during labor. The epidural, a potent pain reliever used during child birth, caused Gant to go into cardiac arrest and die within hours.

Thao told investigators she was in a rush to treat Gant and inadvertently scooped up the bag containing epidural instead of penicillin. Both medications were on the counter in the birthing suite at St. Mary's Medical Center in Madison.

The case has alarmed groups representing medical professionals who say punishment for unintentional errors should be left to regulators and the civil court system.

While calling the death tragic, they say the charge sends the wrong message at a time of nursing shortages and attempts to improve self-reporting of medical errors.

Midwifery Legal Update - Wisconsin

Midwife convicted in troubled home birth in Waukesha County

**Updated 9/12/06 to add link**
Midwife in stillbirth pleads guilty

Midwifery Legal Update - Wisconsin

Helen Dentice entered a not guilty plea on Friday to practicing medicine without a license.

She is not charged with practicing midwifery without a license? How odd, since she was clearly holding herself out to be a midwife, not a doctor. Although prosecutors may believe her actions meet the legal definition of "practicing medicine", I would think that the "practicing midwifery" charge would be easier to prove. My guess (without looking it up) is that one is a misdemeanor and the other a felony. But why not charge both? Even though Wisconsin recently legalized CPMs, Ms. Dentice, if I understand correctly, is not one.

Midwifery Legal Update - Wisconsin

A Waukesha County judge has banned midwife Helen Dentice from performing any duties as a midwife. She is accused of practicing medicine without a license. (link)

Hot hot hot

It's mid-April and we hit 100 degrees in the DFW area today. That's 5 degrees higher than the record high, and 25 degrees above average.

The high in Green Bay, Wisconsin was 62, which is a little bit above average. For instance.

Midwifery Legislative Update - Wisconsin

The Governor of Wisconsin signed SB 477 (PDF) into law on Monday. The bill provides for licensure and regulation of Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs), effectively legalizing direct-entry midwifery in that state. The effort was almost derailed - or perhaps bolstered, depending on your perspective - after the homebirth death of an infant attended by midwife without credentials:

"Because there is no regulatory law now, if someone is saying they are a midwife when they don't have all the training, the only thing the state can do is go into court," [Katie Prown of the Wisconsin Guild of Midwives] said.

"You have to wait for something bad to happen. Investigating health care practices through the court system is expensive. It makes much more sense to bring things under a regulatory structure," Prown said.

With regulation, you also get peer review, administrative hearings, and civil litigation. When a baby dies in a hospital, is the doctor ever arrested? Of course not. It would make no sense. If the doctor is incompetent or acted with negligence or worse (and sometimes when she hasn't) she gets sued, investigated by the state licensing board, and so forth. The criminal justice system is just no place to deal with a birth gone awry.

Although the legislation was introduced in the Assembly before the baby's birth and death during delivery, it gained momentum after the death. The prosecution, meanwhile, is something seldom seen anywhere in the country.

Helen E. Dentice, 51, of Milwaukee has been charged in a criminal complaint with second-degree reckless endangerment, unauthorized delivery of a prescription drug and practicing medicine without a license.

The charges were filed in Waukesha County Circuit Court last month after a lengthy review of the circumstances of the Nov. 28 stillbirth at the rural Vernon home of Brian and Bridget Stoiber.

I wanted to point out that midwives in illegal or "alegal" states have a real dillema when it comes to carying pitocin, oxygen, and other drugs and medical equipment. On the one hand, these supplies can save lives in an emergency. However, they open the midwife up to more charges such as "unauthorized delivery of a prescription drug." A midwife could go to jail for saving the life of her client.

Quotes above are from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal article; and also see the Kaiser Network article.

Shackling of Female Inmates During Childbirth

After the Appleton Post-Crescent ran a series of articles which focused on the shackling of female inmates during labor and immediately after childbirth, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections changed it's policy. Thank God for the free press! Amnesty International USA just released a report, "Abuse of Women in Custody: Sexual Misconduct and Shackling of Pregnant Women" criticizing the practice and mentioning the Wisconsin decision.

Amnesty considers the routine use of restraints on pregnant and inmates in labor "a cruel, inhumane and degrading practice that seldom has any justification in terms of security concerns.

"Amnesty International believes that there is no sound reason for authorities to routinely shackle women in labor or who have just given birth, particularly as most are already under armed guard," the report reads.

Amnesty urges state legislatures to pass laws that ban the use of restraints on pregnant and laboring inmates. Only Illinois and California have passed such legislation.

Wisconsin now joins the five state departments of corrections that have policies banning the use of restraints on pregnant and laboring inmates.

(link)

Seething Midwest Explodes Over Lombardi Cartoons

Seeing as how I am married to a cheese-head Iowan who is currently reading this book, can't pass up linking to this news item from Iowahawk via Wisconsonian RedStateMoron (who titled his post "A Fatwa from the Wisconsin Lutherans" ha!).

Breastfeeding Legislative Update - Wisconsin

A proposed bill in Wisconsin (hey, dairy country!) would impose a fine of $200 on anyone who harasses a breastfeeding mother. To my knowledge, the bill, if passed (doubtful) would make Wisconsin the first state to put teeth into legislation guaranteeing the right to breastfeed in public. Scotland passed such a law earlier this year, and efforts are being made to do the same in Britain.