Older News and Archived Info:

Not to rub in the fact that I told everyone so, but...I only wish that I was wrong when I warned about this.

Open any search engine and type in “West Coast newborns hit with thyroid problems after Fukushima nuclear disaster” and you will get thousands of links to articles. Apparently now that the results are becoming obvious to everyone, the bizarre and unscientific denial phase about the effects of the radiation exposure is about to end. Unfortunately, that official denial phase allowed hundreds of thousands of parents to bask in a false sense of security thinking that nothing was wrong, when they could have taken steps to prevent or at least mitigate the potential harm to their unborn.

I have always recommended kelp and other sea vegetables as dietary supplements to provide critical trace elements during pregnancy, and have really pushed the kelp since Fukushima first melted down. Now I can point to an outside source to show you why I made that common-sense recommendation, and still do.

A new analysis (click HERE for the report) published March 2013 in the Open Journal of Pediatrics shows that the radiation (up to 211 times normal) has resulted in a 28% increase in the incidence of congenital hypothyroidism in west coast newborns. For this reason, I am now strongly advising parents to get their newborns screened for metabolic disorders, and not decline this test. I can do them for free for Washington newborns, and Oregon parents can ask for the test from their pediatric provider (I may get signed up to do the test in Oregon soon, too).

There is little we can do to stop the radiation, which is still being emitted in ever-increasing quantities, but we can maximize our body's defenses with nutrition. Click here for more information about trace mineral sources.

"Caesarean sections without medical indication as well as emergency caesarean sections were associated with higher risks for maternal and infant morbidity."

Page excerpt displayed for educational purposes; can be enlarged (right click to view image). Please click HERE to read from the source.

In the Committee Opinion dated April 2013, already published online, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists states:

“Morbidity and mortality rates are greater among neonates and infants delivered during the early-term period compared with those delivered between 39 weeks and 40 weeks of gestation. Nevertheless, the rate of nonmedically indicated early-term deliveries continues to increase in the United States.”

Say again? Read more HERE, including a well-written common-sense message from the president of ACOG.

The National Academy of Sciences has posted a new infographic about recent trends in location of births in the US, and the relative costs for uncomplicated deliveries in hospitals vs birth centers. Check out "Birth Settings in the US".

Ooops, wait; what a surprise, it turns out that there is no such evidence! Read HERE about the latest zombie-attack on home birthing, and a brilliant response by Wendy Gordon.

When you are told you need a c-section because your baby is too big, just how true is that statement? Here is the research:

The effectiveness and costs of elective cesarean delivery for fetal macrosomia diagnosed by ultrasound.

One-third of our home birthed babies are over 9 pounds, and frankly I like to see a little soft padding on those shoulders to help prevent mom from tearing.

So my question has to be this : Wouldn't all that money be better spent teaching doctors kinesiology and better maneuvers for safely and gently delivering shoulder dystocias? Is that just too much common sense...?

I couldn't help myself, this photo was just too adorable. A new dad, one of my recent births. Have I mentioned how amazing home birth is for family bonding?

OK, I made a BLOG. Just for you.
Comments will be moderated prior to posting to weed out all the spammers. Have a blast!

Newborns and their beautiful moms at a postpartum visit in my office.

These ladies are forming a powerful community resource for involved parents in Yakima. If you would like to connect with other parents, search for the Yakima Parent Support Group on Facebook.

Why is it that in the rest of the world, which spends far, far less in maternity care than we do, the rate of mothers dying in childbirth is lower in 49 other countries than it is in ours? The rate of newborns dying is lower in 33 other countries? Why are their rates improving and ours are deteriorating? Don't try to pass off some garbage on me about how those countries don't keep records as well as we do - most of them keep better records. Just cowgirl up and face it - more of our mothers and babies die here, and we pay a lot more for that privilege. Doesn't that make you feel special?

So why is this? Why is our typical medical/health care in America killing women at an ever-increasing rate? Why has the decline in newborn mortality rates turned around and deaths rates for our babies have increased again? What steps are healthcare professionals taking to reverse these trends?

Unfortunately, the steps being taken by most of the mainstream medical establishment are not going to reduce the trend, which is why it is continuing to rise. In some states, like California, the death rate in hospitals doubled in only 10 years. While almost all sources of statistics and research compilation agree that interventions such as inductions, epidurals, and C-sections are largely responsible for the high rate of complications leading to morbidity and mortality, those interventions are not being used less, they are being used more.

Our mothers and babies are suffering from a standard of medical care which mistakenly perceives that more interventions equals better care. Not better outcomes, just a level of care which is called "heroic", meaning that in a court of law when a provider is being sued, they can argue that they "did everything they could" and have the chart notes to prove it. Forget the fact that the very act of performing all of those interventions is what caused the bad outcome, and what they are "saving" you from is something iatrogenic - caused by the medical treatment itself.

Time to get real, folks; doing the wrong thing more will not make it work better. Any intervention which is not medically indicated, with sound scientific evidence to back up the fact that it will improve the outcome for the patient, is in fact causing added risks and harm to mother and baby.

Can I prove this? In so many ways, yes, it is easy. An entire book could be written on the reasons why, most of which are common sense and clear to anyone who has not forgotten anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry. The average farmer understands the reasons why birth works best when it is not disrupted.

But what about outcomes? There is your definitive proof. The rate of mortality and morbidity for both mothers and babies is NOT rising among planned home births with a trained midwife. It continues to be low, along with the rate of interventions for home births.

Many arguments are thrown out about how it is "unfair" to compare low-risk home birth mothers to the average mother. Why? Can't the medical profession also counsel their mothers adequately about nutrition, supplements, diet and exercise, ways to prevent complications like pre-eclampsia or gestational diabetes, ways to improve immune function to prevent infections, reducing stress during pregnancy, strictly avoiding induction unless medically necessary, delayed cord clamping so the newborn is not anemic, gentle natural birthing techniques to avoid stressing both mother and baby, skin-to-skin contact and undisturbed bonding time for easier breastfeeding success...and so many other things that midwives are doing to promote these excellent outcomes?

Not all of our mothers come to us as low-risk; many of them work hard to achieve a low-risk status in time to be allowed to have us attend their birth; not all make it that far, but they all do become healthier and therefore safer in the process. Maybe the medical profession should be sincerely thanking the midwives for improving our average national statistics so they don't look even worse than they are now.

To put this into perspective, when an immediate induction or c-section is medically necessary then it is a life-saving procedure. When it is not medically necessary, it places a mother and baby in direct risk of harm.

How much harm? First read this article: "Aetna Urges Moms to Avoid Cesareans Births to Reduce Risk". In addition to all of the other known risks of surgery to both mother and baby (see recent article: "Cesareans More Dangerous Than Previously Thought: 1 in 10 Women Develop Infections"), these c-sections are performed before the pregnancy is actually at full term.

“It’s been a slippery slope where we’ve said ‘Let’s induce at 39 and a half weeks. OK, that worked well, let’s try 38; let’s try 37,’” said Elliott Main, chairman of obstetrics and gynecology at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. “Year after year, it’s gotten pushed back.”

Why is this significant? Read this article and see: "Academic Achievement Varies With Gestational Age Among Children Born at Term".

“Analyses revealed that gestational age within the normal term range was significantly and positively related to reading and math scores in third grade, with achievement scores for children born at 37 and 38 weeks significantly lower than those for children born at 39, 40, or 41 weeks. This effect was independent of birth weight, as well as a number of other obstetric, social, and economic factors.”

To help understand why this may be true, read this article: "Natural Birth Kickstarts Key Brain Protein Production In Mice, C-Section Does Not: Study".

“When they looked closer, the researchers found that vaginal birth somehow triggers UCP2 expression in the neurons of the hippocampus, the brain region involved in both short and long-term memory as well as spatial orientation.”

So my question is; are doctors explaining to mothers that they are not only placing their own health and the health of their baby at risk by agreeing to an unnecessary major surgery, but they also risk lowering their child's intelligence? What mother, given all of the facts, would choose to do this? I cannot think of any, so obviously they are not being given the facts.

Why do I also mention induction? Because induction is also often done in the late pre-term stage when baby's brain may not be ready, and is far more likely to fail and end up with an emergency c-section because the mother's body is also not ready. This makes induction prior to 40 weeks for non-medical reasons a virtual cocktail recipe for disaster.

Any clients who would like for me to post a baby photo on the Baby Counter page, email me the photo and I will change the file name to the date of your baby's birth and post it!

Locations:
      In Tri-Cities area; John Dam Plaza, 1815 George Washington Way, Richland WA
            Local Contact: Kseniya Deryckx, 360-510-3475, kseniya.deryckx@gmail.com

      In Yakima area; Franklin Park, 410 S 19th Ave, Yakima WA
            Local Contact: Lindsay Kinman, lindsaykinman@yahoo.com

      National Contact: Dawn Thompson, 760-840-8723, dawn.thompson@improvingbirth.org

A monumental uprising is on the horizon. Thousands of men, women and children will gather on September 3rd as part of a national movement. These rallies are being hosted in over 100 major cities, coast to coast, for Improving Birth’s “National Rally for Change on Labor Day.” Thanks to the intricate nature of social media, ImprovingBirth.org has been able to organize a massive movement to bring awareness to the lack of evidence-based maternity care in the US. With supporters like talk show host Ricki Lake and sponsors such as “International Cesarean Awareness Network” and the “American Association of Birth Centers,” this is sure to be an impactful event.

Much of scientific evidence takes an average of 20 to 30 years to become standard practice in our maternity care system; this is an unacceptable time table especially when talking about the well being of mothers and babies. Until we get it right, we are needlessly subjecting mothers and babies to major abdominal surgery, the long term side effects that go along with that and the unnecessary risk of death for both.

“Despite the dire situation, this is not a protest,” says Dawn Thompson, founder of ImprovingBirth. “It is a public awareness campaign to bring attention to the outdated practices that have been proven time and again to not be what is best for mothers and babies.”

Ina May Gaskin, Midwife and Right Livelihood Award winner, says “We need medical practice standards at both the federal and the state level that would address C-sections performed without medical justification and assure more mother-friendly births and fewer medical interventions during labor.” This is just one of the six steps Gaskin believes to be essential in obtaining better maternal healthcare.

Improving Birth was founded with the vision of encouraging hospital administrators to review their birth-specific policies and procedures. We ask that they implement incentive programs for doctors and nurses to get up-to-date information and education about the most current care practices. The U.S. outspends every country in the world for maternity care, and yet we rank #49 for maternal mortality rates. (Note: Since this press release, we have dropped even lower to #50. -LC) In fact, Amnesty International reports that “women in the US face a greater risk of maternal death than nearly all European countries, as well as Canada and several countries in Asia and the Middle East.”

We Can Do Better. For more information about the National Rally for change, visit www.ImprovingBirth.org.

Other states which do not have good midwifery laws or high standards of education and training for licensure might be having problems, but Washington state is loving what our Licensed Midwives are doing! In March, both the Senate and House voted unanimously for a bill introduced by Representative Barbara Bailey (Republican, Oak Harbor) which specifically states that Licensed Midwives do have the authority to issue medical directives for nurses. This is a big bonus for mothers, as it will help us to streamline their care!

Read the MAWS press release:   Bailey's bill to empower midwives, nurses signed into law.

Here is the page posted by the House Republicans, which sometimes loads and sometimes does not: Health Care News.

And here is the actual bill: HOUSE BILL 2186.   Way to go, Rep. Bailey!

Some clients have posted comments in our Guestbook.

Here are links to some of our clients' blogs about their home births:
The Home Birth
Pax's Birth Story
Samuel's Birth   and   Samuel Now
What a Healing Birth is Like
My Homebirth Experience - Noelle's Birth Story
Mother's Day - Follow-up to Noelle's Birth
Timothy Thomas Home Birth Story
A Client's Slide Show

Actually, it is not really even a minor complication. It is normal and common! The somersault technique we show you in our childbirth education class for clients is the same one shown on this page:
Cord around the neck — what parents & practitioners should know by Kate Emerson

This site - Cesarean Rates - gives the latest c-section stats on each state and on the individual hospitals, as well as information about which hospitals allow or ban VBAC's.

Supporting Healthy and Normal Physiologic Childbirth: A Consensus Statement by ACNM, MANA, and NACPM was just released in May 2012. This is a must-read statement for parents and professionals alike.

Read directly from the source HERE. A copy of the statement is also posted HERE.

Excerpt from the May 2012 article by Consumer Reports,
"What to reject when you're expecting - 10 procedures to think twice about during your pregnancy"

"Despite a health-care system that outspends those in the rest of the world, infants and mothers fare worse in the U.S. than in many other industrialized nations. The infant mortality rate in Canada is 25 percent lower than it is in the U.S.; the Japanese rate, more than 60 percent lower. According to the World Health Organization, America ranks behind 41 other countries in preventing mothers from dying during childbirth."

Show your support for the guardians of normal birth with this bumper sticker!

My new logo was done by Justin Farnsworth.

He turned my temporary mountain logo into the angel's wings; then partly as a nod to my mostly-Viking heritage, and partly because he has seen how protective I am about my moms and babies, he turned her into a Valkyrie.

I'm so stoked...my own original logo!

More of his artwork can be seen HERE.

Journal Watch just reported on the Cochrane Review of Tamiflu and Relenza, in a very understated and cautious article listed here. The real gem is their link to the actual review, which is a free pdf download.

A word to the wise:
Please do read the actual review. It is a revealing look at not only the corruption behind the approval of this drug, but also the stockpiling of it by public health officials. Why? Notice that it suppresses antibody production...and they know this. So if you take it you are more susceptible to disease, not less. Please read carefully and think about the ramifications of this.

And guess who is the 2000^th Certified Professional Midwife in North America?   Click Here.

Now to see the number of CPMs hit 3000!

Latest News from MANA:

"Every mother counts, and health care is a human right." These are the final words spoken by Robin Lim, through tears, at the star-studded ceremony at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles where she accepted the 2011 Hero of the Year Award last night. Robin Lim is an American midwife who helps thousands of poor Indonesian women have healthy pregnancies and births each year.

In 1995 Robin founded Yayasan Bumi Sehat (Healthy Mother Earth), a non-profit village-based organization that runs two centers in Aceh and Bali. At Bumi Sehat, Robin and her staff provide over 17,000 health consultations for children and adults each year. To ensure access to healthcare and gentle birth experiences, Robin offers midwifery care to all who seek her services, many of whom cannot afford to pay. In that case she offers prenatal care, birthing services, and medical aid for free or on a donation-basis. Her clinics welcome approximately 600 new babies into the world each year. The mission of Bumi Sehat is "to reduce maternal and child morbidity and mortality, to support the health and wise development of communities ... and to work in partnership with people to improve quality of life and to improve peace."

At the awards ceremony Robin, known affectionately by the local Indonesian people as Ibu Robin/Mother Robin said, "Every baby's first breath on Earth could be one of peace and love. Every mother should be healthy and strong. Every birth could be safe and loving. But our world is not there yet. On our earth, 981 mothers in the prime of their life will die each day. All of us can help change that. We can save lives together, mothers and babies. Every mother counts and healthcare is a human right." Robin said, "The midwives of the world need your help, because they are the bridge to safe motherhood."

"I do believe we can build world peace -- one baby, one mother at a time," Lim said during the ceremony. "I found my life's purpose really is love. If I wasn't living for love, every minute of every day, what is the point?"

The CNN Hero of the Year was chosen by the public after an 11-week vote on CNN.com. For being named Hero of the Year, Lim will receive $250,000 for her cause. That's in addition to the $50,000 she and the rest of the top 10 Heroes each received for making the Top 10. We extend a hearty thank you to the midwifery community and supporters who voted regularly to make Robin Lim the CNN Hero of the Year. Robin's Bumi Sehat Foundation will receive her winnings to build a new clinic and continue the extraordinary work she is doing in Indonesia.

~ Personally, she has been my hero since seeing this video. It was striking to watch how her gentle dignity and inner beauty outshone all of the glamor and glitz at that ceremony. An award greatly deserved. ~Lorri

Click HERE to listen to the first interview on March 25, 2011 of Lorri by the lovely hostess Dr. Evelyn Richardson on The Doctors Radio Show.

Click HERE to listen to the second interview on April 1, 2011 on The Doctors Radio Show.

Click HERE to listen to the April 8, 2011 interviews with Dr. Richardson on The Doctors Radio Show. The first half of the show is with lactation expert Ginna Wall in Bellevue Washington, discussing the importance of breastfeeding. The second hour we finally got Kristin Eggleston online to talk about birth!

All vaccinations should be HALTED right now, and forbidden to resume until proven clean and safe. Why?

Read this article and see: Cow Fetuses Contaminated Vaccines, FDA Did Nothing

Excerpts:
"Are contaminated vaccines being injected into our babies? Many parents may be surprised to learn the answer is likely yes."

"...a person given the polio vaccine contaminated with diphtheria phage actually could contract diphtheria."

For Immediate Release: ACOG ANNOUNCES PLANS TO STOP ELECTIVE C-SECTIONS
April 1, 2011

The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) announced today it is devising a comprehensive plan to lower C-section rates in the United States. C-sections in the U.S. have gone up 700% since they were first measured in 1965, when the C-section rate was only 4.5 percent.

"The nation's C-section rate has been rising steadily for the last eleven years. It's now over 31 percent," said an ACOG spokesperson. "This is a deplorable situation that harms women and their newborns." An organization that advocates for quality healthcare for women, ACOG is asking obstetricians to halt elective C-sections. "C-sections should only be a last resort. They should never be performed for the convenience of the doctor," the spokesperson said, "or for financial or liability reasons."

Since the use of electronic fetal monitoring has been shown to increase unnecessary C-section rate without any proven benefit to the mother or infant, ACOG is also calling on American hospitals to stop the routine use of electronic monitoring during labor. ACOG's new guidelines encourage women to have freedom of movement during labor, labor standing up or squatting, and to eat and drink at will.

"Cesarean can save lives. But doctors and consumers have to remember that this is major surgery that carries major risk," the spokesperson said, pointing to the example of 29-year-old Abbie Dorn, who suffered severe hemorrhaging and brain damage after her uterus was nicked during a Cesarean section at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (2006), 32-year-old Diane Rizk McCabe, who died following complications from a Caesarean section at Albany Medical Center Hospital (2007), and Karen Vasques, 27, who died during a C-section at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (2008).

Maternal mortality has risen every year in the United States for the past 25 years, while over the same period the rate of C-sections has gone up 33 percent. "The skyrocketing rate of C-section in America has had devastating consequences," the spokesperson said. "ACOG, the most highly respected organization of obstetricians and gynecologists in the United States, is leading the fight to stop it."

{{{Ah, if only this were true.}}}

So much for ACOG attacking Home Births again! Ouch! This one is not an April Fools joke.

I knew this was coming as soon as I saw the study published by Wax, which foolishly included the study that caused poor Pang to go down in infamy among his own peers for "most poorly constructed study ever published". It made me wonder how much someone had to pay Wax to let his name be ruined in such a manner, and how long it would take for experts to tear his study to shreds. Not long.

The Wax study is even so far off in the numerical calculations (which are all wrong - they didn't even do the math right!) that it brings the fabulous old quote to mind - "He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts...for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)

Read the latest report on Medscape about how badly the truth must be twisted or ignored entirely to try to make hospital births appear to be safer than they really are, compared with home births! Read the pdf version HERE.

In case some of you are wondering why we advise Vitamin D testing and supplementation to you, here's a site devoted to research on Vitamin D that has lots of information - Vitamin D Council's News page. For those who have heard the scare tactics about the safety of Vitamin D, there is also great information on their site about toxicity.

Not only does D have long-term health implications for things like cancer, it also is part of determining the health of your baby in utero and while breastfeeding! Low maternal levels of vitamin D in the bloodstream and breastmilk can cause rickets (yes, it's back!) in the baby at birth and early childhood, autism symptoms in the 1-2 year old, and allergies in children. What's really upsetting is that both mom and baby can be protected by mom's consumption of vitamin D (it's cheap and easy--how often do you hear THAT outside of a bar?). Instead, we are using "life-saving, nutritionally correct, and affordable" infant formula, which IS supplemented with some vitamin D; we encourage the decline of breastfeeding because we think breastmilk is nutritionally deficient; we sidestep maternal health issues like preeclampsia and bone density; we are spending loads of money on testing and treatments for autism and allergies, in addition to all that worry; and we are placing even more blame on parents for not being good parents. All so unnecessary!

We hope you all take some time to look around the Vitamin D Council site...AND take your vitamin D3!!!

Judge for yourself, by the reactions that doctors are having to a threat to this income source; click HERE to read the article. Keep in mind that the actual rate of necessary C-section surgeries is far lower than what these doctors are inflicting on mothers. A Cesarean section is a precious, miraculous, life-saving procedure when it is needed. When it is not needed, it is an unspeakable travesty. And yes, that is my well-educated personal opinion!

I have been asking for decades; "If humans are so evolved, then why do we give less consideration to our mothers and newborns than we do to our animals?" Beth Barbeau addresses this question beautifully in her insightful article in Midwifery Today, truly a must-read.

Lobby Day 2011

Your midwives were busy again this February, talking with state legislators to try to protect your access to high-quality midwifery care.


If you want to know more about your local Representatives and Senators, don't hesitate to ask us how it went and how to contact them.

Silver Sage Herbal Tinctures now has an online shopping cart with secure payment options! And you can also make payments for your midwifery care there, by selecting "Other Payments" and choosing Highland or Sunrise! This means that if you really need to for any reason, you can now use a credit card.

This took a monumental amount of work, since I am my own webmaster. Check it out and let me know what you think - NEW Silver Sage STORE.

"Midwife Who Saved Hundreds of Newborn Babies from Nazis to be Honored".

"The late Polish midwife Stanislawa Leszczynska will be honoured in a display at the 5th World Prayer Congress for Life in Rome next month for her heroic efforts in saving hundreds of newborn babies from a brutal end at Auschwitz. ... During her time at Auschwitz, Leszczynska delivered over 3,000 babies. ... During Leszczynska's entire time at the camp, no mother or baby died under her care."

Even under the most horrid conditions; starvation, hypothermia, rats, no medicines, little water, unbearable stress - this midwife still had a far better mortality rate than the best hospitals staffed by her would-be oppressors. (So much for the idea that midwives have good outcomes only because they serve low-risk clients...)

Please Click Here to read the article about this amazing woman and how she defied her captors. To read more, click here.

"New bacteria on the rise"   A new report shows how a once-rare bug has rapidly turned into the top bacterial threat in hospitals throughout the southeast–and quite possibly around the nation. This one is even worse than MRSA, as if we really needed more reasons to have our babies safely at home! Click Here to read the article.

Click Here to watch the interview with Kristin and one of our recent clients in Yakima, Feb. 22, 2010.
Here is a link to the written story on KIMA TV's website: Click Here.

"Vitamin D better than vaccines at preventing flu, report claims."   "The risk of children suffering from flu can be halved if they take vitamin D, doctors in Japan have found. The finding has implications for flu epidemics since vitamin D, which is naturally produced by the human body when exposed to direct sunlight, has no significant side effects, costs little and can be several times more effective than anti-viral drugs or vaccine." Read the article HERE.

Click Here to watch "New Moms at Risk": Why are a growing number of American moms dying shortly after giving birth in hospitals (and only in hospitals)? Posted March 4, 2010. After reading this one, see the next article below, "Lessons at Indian Hospital..." for a reality check about this trend, and how a small hospital is using midwives to prevent it!
The related link mentioned in the story is HERE, at California Watch.

Click Here to read an article in The New York Times, March 6, 2010, describing how midwives and tort reform (no malpractice worries, the single most important reform that is NOT in the "Health Care Bill" in Congress) have slashed the C-section rate in one small older hospital in Arizona. In spite of demographics which should make them higher risk, they are outperforming other hospitals to an embarrassing degree. Chalk up another one for the midwives! This is in sharp contrast to the rise in maternal deaths in the hospitals with the ever-higher c-section rates (see ABC News link above to "New Moms at Risk"). Obviously all of those c-sections are NOT necessary.

Someone has been thinking about us. Click Here to read a nice little write-up about us midwives who deliver in Yakima. Many thanks to Lisa Russell for posting that article!

Click Here to read a wonderful article just published on Medscape's website, Feb. 25, 2010, setting the record straight once and for all about the many studies on the safety of home birth. If the internet is acting up and you are unable to get to the article, click HERE to read the article in Adobe. This one is so good, I had to put a link here too, but a permanent link will stay up on my "Home Birth" page as a resource. Studies are posted there in chronological order.