Category: Practice Issues – Safety & Cost

Repost ~ My July 29th, 2005 letter to MdBd & Testimony Opposing ACOG’s proposed Mfry Standards & document dump to make easier to find related materials

This re-post of my original testimony at the July 2005 MBC regulatory the letter includes additional supporting documents that are critically important to this issue. The combination of this key testimony and background documents provides a convenient “parking place” for one big file so a Ca LMs (including me!) can easily find politically useful “quotables”, excerpts from… Continue reading Repost ~ My July 29th, 2005 letter to MdBd & Testimony Opposing ACOG’s proposed Mfry Standards & document dump to make easier to find related materials

May 7th Medical Board Meeting ~ my request to extend postpartum scope of practice to 12 months

Public Comment ~ Virtual Medical Board Meeting, May 7th 2020 My name is Faith Gibson. I’m a Cal licensed midwife and was a member of the Midwifery Advisory Council from 2007 to 2013. I’m requesting support by the Medical Board for an amendment to the Licensed Midwifery Practice Act of 1993 to expand the postpartum scope of… Continue reading May 7th Medical Board Meeting ~ my request to extend postpartum scope of practice to 12 months

Oregon Public Health report on Planned OOH birth-related perinatal mortality

Link to HEALTH EVIDENCE REVIEW COMMISSION (HERC) COVERAGE GUIDANCE: PLANNED OUT-OF-HOSPITAL BIRTH Approved 11/12/15 http://www.oregon.gov/oha/herc/CoverageGuidances/Planned-out-of-hospital-birth-11-12-15.pdf Oregon-collected data on planned out-of-hospital birth –> pages 33 & 34 In 2011, the Oregon Legislature passed House Bill 2380, which required the Oregon Public Health Division to add two questions to the Oregon Birth Certificate to determine planned place of birth… Continue reading Oregon Public Health report on Planned OOH birth-related perinatal mortality

California 2012 Law for Critical Congenital Heart Defects — applies ONLY to hospitals

https://www.aap.org/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/state-advocacy/Documents/2013%20CCHD%20Newborn%20Screening%20Bills,%20Regulations,%20and%20Executive%20Orders%20-%20AAP%20Division%20of%20State%20Govt%20Affairs.pdf Assembly Bill No. 1731 CHAPTER 336 An act to add Article 6.6 (commencing with Section 124121) to Chapter 3 of Part 2 of Division 106 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to public health. [Approved by Governor September 15, 2012. Filed with Secretary of State September 15, 2012.] legislative counsel’s digest AB 1731,… Continue reading California 2012 Law for Critical Congenital Heart Defects — applies ONLY to hospitals

VBAC Concluding Statement (part 5) A Better Way ~ Opportunities to improve the situations

A Better Way ~ opportunities to improve the maternity care & the VBAC situation in California: What society needs is a rational system for providing ‘mother-baby-father-friendly’ maternity care, one that functions logically for childbearing families by meeting their practical as well as biological needs. The goal is nothing less than affordable, accessible, women-centered, mother-baby friendly… Continue reading VBAC Concluding Statement (part 5) A Better Way ~ Opportunities to improve the situations

VBAC Position Statement: Part 4 ~ The Post-Cesarean Problem for California Mothers & Midwives

Work-n-Progress ~ last edit Aug 18, 2015  The Magnitude of the Post-Cesarean Problem in California and its affect on childbearing women and their midwives Over 600,000 babies are born in California every year. With a 33% Cesarean section rate, around 200,000 women are added to the post-Cesarean/potential VBAC pool each year. Not all of them… Continue reading VBAC Position Statement: Part 4 ~ The Post-Cesarean Problem for California Mothers & Midwives

VBAC Positon Statement: Part 3 ~ Cost of high CS rate & low VBAC rate, hospital VBAC bans

Part 3: Ethical, Economic, and Personal Costs of a high-Cesarean/low-VBAC rate As fully described in Part 2, the multiple serious complications caused by placenta previa and/or and placenta accreta-precreta are not routine childbirth problems that are prevented by new obstetrical technologies or easily solved by modern obstetrical techniques. Instead they are extremely serious, often life-threatening… Continue reading VBAC Positon Statement: Part 3 ~ Cost of high CS rate & low VBAC rate, hospital VBAC bans

VBAC Position Statement: Part 2 ~ Cesarean rates & risks; availability of VBAC

Part 2: Risk of Primary and Repeat Cesareans and the Unintended Consequences of VBAC bans by hospitals and obstetrical groups As discussed in part 1, hospitals and obstetricians attribute policies banning VBAC to their concerns over possible lawsuits. Viewed from this perspective, there may be a legitimate economic reasons for hospitals and obstetrical practices to… Continue reading VBAC Position Statement: Part 2 ~ Cesarean rates & risks; availability of VBAC

VBAC Position Statement, part 1 ~ Ca LMs and Overview of VBAC Controversies

 The VBAC Controversy and Ca LMs Part 1 ~ VBAC in California ~ Access-to-Care & Denial-of-Service Issues Adapted and expanded upon from Jan Kemal’s VBAC article posted on the Science & Sensibility website http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?s=vbac Introduction: Cesarean section is the single most frequently performed major surgery in the world today. The CS rate in the US, which is… Continue reading VBAC Position Statement, part 1 ~ Ca LMs and Overview of VBAC Controversies