Midwife Lightbulb Joke

While doing a search for this morning's post, I found this midwife joke from LA Mom:

Q: How many midwives does it take to change a light bulb?

A: Two. One to sit there and wait for the old bulb to fall out of the socket naturally with no intervention, and one to give emotional support.

Attorney-Client Sexual Relations

**Update 10/03/2006 - I have changed the title of this post, since upon further reflection I felt it could be misleading. **

It has been reported (actually, he announced it on Larry King Live) that the father of Anna Nicole Smith's baby is none other than her lawyer, Howard K. Stern. Which, if nothing else, explains why he was spending the night in the Nassau hospital room with Smith and was there when her son passed away. I mean, I spend lots of postpartum time with my lawyer, but I happen to be married to him. Otherwise, that's a little freaky, don't you think?

I know that the first thought all you lawyers had was "Sex with a client? What jurisdiction is he licensed in?". Yah, admit it, you're a law geek too. Stern is licensed in California, which frowns upon attorney-client relationships but does not prohibit them.

And (because it's hard for me to blog about anything that can't be related to childbirth, breastfeeding, or midwifery) I will point out that Dr. Cyril Wecht, the infamous coroner who performed a second, private autopsy on Daniel Smith, was also in charge of the investigation into the childbirth death of Issac Daley and subsequent prosecution of Judy Wilson. Small world, I know. In that case, Dr. Wecht has opined (outside his area of expertise, something he seems to do often) that "laboring women are unable to think rationally and thereby make decisions about their own care."

Mother Sentenced For Using Cocaine Before Breastfeeding

In Tarrant County (that's Ft. Worth, Texas, y'all), Corrina Richardson was sentenced to four years in prison pursuant to a plea agreement. Ms. Richardson was accused of using cocaine and then breastfeeding her then-14-month-old daughter, which caused her to have a seizure.

(link)

Homeschooling (or not) in Europe

Did you know that homeschooling is illegal in Germany?

Last Thursday the German police arrested Katharina Plett, a homeschooling mother of twelve. Yesterday her husband fled to Austria with the children. Homeschooling is illegal in Germany since Hitler banned it in 1938. The Plett family belongs to a homeschooling group of seven Baptist families in Paderborn.

(link: Germany Imprisons Mum. Dad and Kids Flee to Austria)

And homeschoolers in Belgium are experiencing a similar crackdown, thanks to the UN Convention on Children's Rights.

Links courtesty of Spunky, my new go-to gal for homeschooling legal stuff. She comments here and here.

Back in Black

I have been waiting for this* for a long, long, time.

(* the return of the skinny black pant)

ACLU Goes After Toys "R" Us

This week a New York woman breastfeeding in a Toys"R"Us was asked to go elsewhere (because there were "children around"). It seems like I hear a report of this nature almost every week, but this time the ACLU has gotten involved:

In a letter to the company sent today, the NYCLU sought a meeting with Toys "R" Us officials; an apology; appropriate compensation for Meyerson; and a written guarantee that Toys "R" Us would permit breastfeeding in its stores and would train its staff about the policy.

Galen Sherwin, Staff Attorney for the NYCLU Reproductive Rights Project, added: "This is about public health, not public morality."

Twelve years ago the NYCLU lobbied for and secured the passage of a law that specifically establishes the right of all New York mothers to breastfeed in public. That statute, a section of New York State's Civil Rights Law, provides that "a mother may breastfeed her baby in any location, public or private, where the mother is otherwise authorized to be."

"Prohibiting public breastfeeding is bad public health policy -- and it's also against the law," said Elisabeth Benjamin, NYCLU Reproductive Rights Project Director. "Health care providers and the law agree that families who choose to breastfeed their children should be able to do so whenever and wherever necessary."

Although I'm not usually a big fan of the ACLU, I'm glad to see that this is being viewed as a civil/human rights issue. As I have said before, I do see it more as the infant's right to recieve appropriate nutrition rather than the mother's right to breastfeed.

But if I were Ms. Meyerson, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for any "appropriate compensation".

Law Related Education Resources

The State Bar of Texas' Law Focused Education page has a lot of good resources for educators & parents.

No Kidding

Some college football stadiums - like the University of Kansas - are requiring parents to purchase a ticket for their infants (link).

Now I feel differently about this gesture.

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

Pregnant Moms & Drugs

The Maryland Court of Appeals held this week that the state's reckless endangerment law cannot be used to prosecute women who use illegal drugs while pregant.

link: Charges Rejected for Moms Who Bear Babies Exposed to Illegal Drugs

Breastfeeding at Work

This is, apparently, National Breast Feeding at Work Week.

The New York Times ran a not-to-be-missed article, On the Job, Nursing Mothers Find a 2-Class System, which describes the obstacles some women face when pumping at work:

But as pressure to breast-feed increases, a two-class system is emerging for working mothers. For those with autonomy in their jobs — generally, well-paid professionals — breast-feeding, and the pumping it requires, is a matter of choice. It is usually an inconvenience, and it may be an embarrassing comedy of manners, involving leaky bottles tucked into briefcases and brown paper bags in the office refrigerator. But for lower-income mothers — including many who work in restaurants, factories, call centers and the military — pumping at work is close to impossible, causing many women to decline to breast-feed at all, and others to quit after a short time.

It is a particularly literal case of how well-being tends to beget further well-being, and disadvantage tends to create disadvantage — passed down in a mother’s milk, or lack thereof.

The article goes on to mention the current legislative situation:

Nearly half of new mothers return to work within the first year of their child’s life. But federal law offers no protection to mothers who express milk on the job — despite the efforts of Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, Democrat of New York, who has introduced such legislation. “I can’t understand why this doesn’t move,” she said. “This is pro-family, pro-health, pro-economy.”

Meanwhile, states are stepping in. Twelve states have passed laws protecting pumping mothers — Oklahoma’s law, the newest, will take effect in November. But like Oklahoma’s, which merely states that an employer “may provide reasonable break time” and “may make a reasonable effort” to provide privacy, most are merely symbolic.

Public health authorities, alarmed at the gap between the breast-feeding haves and have-nots, are now trying to convince businesses that supporting the practice is a sound investment. “The Business Case for Breastfeeding,” an upcoming campaign by the Department of Health and Human Services, will emphasize recent findings that breast-feeding reduces absenteeism and pediatrician bills.

What needs to change? Is legislation the answer?

Hurricane Katrina - One Year Later

Last year, I posted a list of childbirth-related hurricane relief programs. Obviously some of the efforts are no longer needed, but La Leche League has a good list that seems to be current. In particular, money is being raised to help lactation professionals replace books and materials which may have been damaged or destroyed in the disaster, and to maintain a fund for future such events.

Group Urges Disaster Planning for Pregnant Women, Babies

Hurricane Katrina
More Katrina
Missing New Orleans

Hurricane Rita was disappointing for those of us in drought-ridden North Texas who were hoping for rain, and got none.

Breastfeeding Legal Update - Nurse-Ins in New York, Texas

Lots of activity on this topic lately.

In New York, a Nurse-In was planned this week after a woman at the Longwood Public Library was asked to "cover up":

New York State law on breast-feeding established in 1992 "guarantees a mother the right to breast feed her baby in any location, public or private, where the mother is otherwise authorized to be, irrespective of whether or not the nipple of the mother's breast is covered during or incidental to breast feeding."

"I explained to her I wouldn't cover up and that she was being unlawful," Ms. Neary-Wood said. "I told her that now when people complain [about women breast-feeding in the library], she'll have something to tell them and no other woman will be harassed or asked to leave a program."

Library director David Clemens told The Sun Thursday "the library follows the law."

But Ms. Neary-Wood and friend Kristen Ferrara of Rocky Point, who was also breast-feeding at the class, say that's not what Mr. Clemens told them June 30.

The two allege Mr. Clemens told them "we don't have to follow the law" and that the public library is "not a public place." His explanation of this statement, they say, is that the library is governed by a board of directors.

I mean, of all the places one would expect to be able to brestfeed without being harrassed, it would be Storytime. That's almost like being asked to cover up at a La Leche League meeting. Sheesh. (Link)

In Buda, Texas, Breastfeeding fans still want apology:

During the citizen comment period, Michelle and Jason Hickey and many others spoke about the breastfeeding incident at Kyle Pool.

"All my wife was doing was breastfeeding her child," Jason Hickey said. "The people that were involved basically looked for a reason to tell my wife, 'Oh, you were in the wrong,' when she was never in the wrong."

At least five other citizens said they felt Hickey was treated unfairly and deserved an apology.

I didn't see any articles about the original incident, but you get the general idea.

And close to home, a Dallas mother was kicked out of Gutmann's Home Furnishings on Inwood Road for breastfeeding. Worse, when she called the police, the officer sided with the furniture store owner. The Dallas Police Department is reviewing the case. A Nurse-In took place on Saturday, and you can watch the Fox News Broadcast online. Double kudos to Fox4 News for not only showing the mom discreetly breastfeeding, but also for quoting the Texas statute in their coverage.

Related post: Lactivism, Nurse-ins, and Victoria's Secret

Group Urges Disaster Planning for Pregnant Women, Babies

Link: Group Urges Disaster Planning for Pregnant Women, Babies (The Washington Post)

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the lack of emergency preparedness guidelines for pregnant women, infants and new mothers in the United States became apparent.

"Pregnant women face greater risks -- like premature births, low-birth-weight babies and infant deaths -- during the stressful conditions of a disaster. This can make delivering a child difficult and potentially life-threatening," said Theresa Shaver, executive director of the District-based White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood.

The article goes on to note:

The alliance believes that disaster situations call for a shift in the thinking of American women, who generally expect to give birth in a hospital or clinical setting. In the early phase of a disaster, officials said, births will often take place outside a health facility and without the assistance of trained health personnel.

"We will be in situations where there are no health-care facilities. In fact, if there is a pandemic flu, a hospital is not where you take a pregnant woman or an infant to," said Robbie Prepas, a certified midwife who heads disaster preparedness at the American College of Nurse-Midwives. During Katrina, Prepas helped many pregnant women with deliveries in airports and ambulances.

"We will have to retrain care providers to be comfortable with assisting deliveries outside hospitals," she said.

Commercial Discharge Bags, Healthcare Laws, Regulations, Guidelines, and Compliance

BanTheBags.org has an interesting post on "Commercial Discharge Bags" (you know, those free diaper bags with a can of formula in them that they give you when you have a baby in the hospital) in relation to Healthcare Laws, Regulations, Guidelines, and Compliance. Included is a discussion on the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute, Federal Antitrust Laws, the PhRMA Code, and HIPPA.

Midwifery Legal Update - Indiana

Indiana resident Doris White was permanently enjoined this week from practicing midwifery. White was indicted in November 2005 by a grand jury on a felony charge of practicing midwifery without a license.

Links:
Judge tells midwife to stop practice (Reporter-Times)
Midwife ordered to stop delivering babies (Indy Star)

EMTALA, Nurse-Midwives, and "False" Labor

The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) regulations have been modified to define labor as follows:

"a woman experiencing contractions is in true labor unless a physician, certified nurse-midwife, or other qualified medical person acting within his or her scope of practice as defined in hospital medical staff bylaws and State law, certifies that, after a reasonable time of observation, the woman is in false labor."

Previously, a physician's certification was necessary to determine that a woman was not in "true" labor. The new regulation acknowleges the role of midwives in hospital-based maternity care.

Link: U.S. Newswire

Abraham Cherrix Case

The Family Law Prof Blog reports that the Battle over Teenager's Choice of Medical Treatment is Settled.

The Bioethics Blog weighs in.

And Spunky Homeschool says there ought to be a law.

But We Do Have Laws in Texas

Mother uses breastfeeding incident to educate city

Why Michigan Needs a Law

Pool Area Not For Breastfeeding, Ann Arbor Woman Told

Midwifery Legislative Update

Birth and Breastfeeding News reports that efforts are underway in Alabama, North Carolina, Idaho, South Dakota, Illinois, Kentucky, Georgia, Missouri, and Indiana to legalize/regulate the practice of direct-entry midwifery:

Legalization and licensure of CPM practices in all these states would represent a massive legislative victory for advocates of traditional home birth.

It would also be a startling rebuke to the many physicians who have long maintained that such practices are unsafe, despite growing statistical evidence that suggests CPM-supervised home births are as safe – sometimes safer – than hospital births.

Well-organized opposition within medical lobbying groups makes such a one-sided result unlikely within the next two years, Ms. [Ida] Darragh says. But, when asked if the flurry of activity in the nation’s statehouses is indicative of a national trend in support traditional childbirth methods, she adds: "We certainly hope so."

As with many health issues, the debate about CPMs may seem arcane to non-experts. The debate is a minefield of acronyms, and home births account for just 1 to 3 percent of all births in an average year, with similar percentages in each state.

Yet the debate casts in sharp relief a philosophical tug-of-war over the nature of childbirth that powerfully affects how expectant mothers approach the ordeal of birth.

ACOG, a "well-funded proponent of childbirth in the hospital setting, opposed the Wisconsin reform, publishing a position paper stating that CPM-supervised home birth 'cannot be considered safe'", despite numerous studies to the contrary. However,

Asked to provide any statistical evidence contradicting such studies, for the sake of this story, ACOG sent none but e-mailed two policy statements further explaining the organization's position on the certification of midwives.

Midwifery Legislative Update - Nebraska

The Nebraska Board of Health is refusing to allow CNMs to attend home births (link - KHAS-TV).

**Update 8/04/2006**
Home birth advocates continue to fight

Lawyer, Wife Livid Over Breastfeeding Incident

Oooh, I love it! Lawyers and breastfeeding!:

A Deerfield Beach lawyer is on a letter-writing campaign after, he says, a restaurant employee asked his breastfeeding wife to "take it outside."

Geil Bilu said that he and his wife and children, ages 19 months and nine weeks, were at Westside Bagels in Coral Springs Saturday morning when his infant daughter began to fuss. Bilu said his wife began to discretely nurse the baby, when a man, who Bilu said he believes was a restaurant manager, came over and asked her to leave.

Bilu said when his wife told the man that she was nearly done feeding the baby and would leave as soon as she was done, the man stood by the table and stared until the family packed up and left.

(link)

And of course:

Since there is no criminal offense involved, Geil Bilu said he may pursue a civil case against the restaurant in order to raise public awareness of mother's rights to nurse.

Alabama Midwives: Going Natural

The Huntsville Times has a really good article, Alabama Midwives: Going natural which proclaims "area women willing to travel to Tennessee to have natural childbirth.":

A 1976 rule change effectively ended planned home births in Alabama by limiting the practice of midwifery to certified nurse midwives - registered nurses with extensive childbirth training. They can deliver babies only at a hospital and must be supervised by a doctor.
...
Because Alabama does not sanction CPMs, they can be charged with practicing certified nurse midwifery without a license if they are caught delivering babies here. That has happened at least twice since 1995.

"For many people, midwifery is a calling, and here's the state saying, 'Oh no, you can't do this,' " said [Chloe] Raum, who is apprenticing at the Ardmore birth house. "They can't recognize that birth can be managed in a dramatically different way (than hospitals) and have just as good or better outcomes.

"We try to be very respectful and nice and quietly educate people."

While state health officials say a hospital is the safest place to have a baby and the vast majority of parents are happy to go that route, midwife births are slowly gaining in popularity. According to government statistics, midwives delivered 328,153 babies in 2003 - about 8 percent of children born in the United States that year. That's up from 7.4 percent of all births in 1998.

The trend is being fueled in part by a study published last year in the British Medical Journal that concluded planned home births are as safe as hospital births for healthy women, with less chance that the labor will end in a Caesarean-section surgical delivery.

No discussion in the article of legislative efforts, however.

My First Nurse-In

Jen is planning to attend her first Nurse-In.

(Related post: Lactivism, Nurse-ins, and Victoria's Secret)