Members and supporters of the Birth Action Coalition intend to gather each month in front of St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, until they either: reinstate the midwives at Pleasant Valley; show records of birth outcomes for CNMs and obstetricians which support their claim that it is safer for “low risk” birthing women and babies to labor in Oxnard; or retract their claim that the midwifery ban is due to patient safety.
When: Friday, March 19th, 11am-1pm
Where: Corner of Rose & Gonzalez in Oxnard, in front of St. John's Regional Medical Center. The admin & CEO offices look out onto where will be. AND, the Medical Committee which approved this ban is meeting on this day.
Join us! and invite your friends!
IMPORTANT REMINDERS:
Please DO NOT park in St. John's parking lot.
Please observe ALL rules regarding pedestrian traffic.
Please wear RED shirts (black & brown blend too much, we are going for a bright color).
When at the protest & holding a sign, please face sign toward the street.
Bring your signs (Bigger/Thicker Words are more visible), or borrow one of ours.
Please make sure all trash is picked up.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
BAC President is joined by Ina May Gaskin in VC Star Letters
Click on the links to Ventura County Star letters, share with your friends. Interest in the letters & news, keeps interests on the issue!
BAC President, Kimberly Rivers letter
Ina May Gaskins letter in support of our cause
BAC Member Patti Reis's Letter
BAC President, Kimberly Rivers letter
Ina May Gaskins letter in support of our cause
BAC Member Patti Reis's Letter
Friday, February 26, 2010
Attack on Midwives in Mississippi, Help Stop Bill 695.
Mississippi House Bill 695, which would OUTLAW Certified Professional Midwives and deny women access to their care, needs to be stopped TODAY!
If you live in or have midwifery or doula clients in Mississippi, start making calls and sending emails to your STATE SENATORS ONLY and forward this page to anyone you know who lives in the state (calls can be made to home and office numbers both).
Mississippi residents can find out who their State Senator is here:
http://www.capitolconnect.com/demoassoc1/legislatorsearch.aspx
It is particularly important that members of the Senate Public Health committee (listed below) hear from their constituents, telling them to vote NO on HB 695 and that you do NOT support making Certified Professional Midwives, who are specially trained to deliver babies in out-of-hospital settings, illegal.
The bill, which includes stiff penalties for ANY midwife practicing who is not a nurse-midwife and which repeals the current exemption that midwives have from Mississippi’s medical practice act, has already sailed through the Mississippi House, so urgent action is needed TODAY.
http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2010/pdf/history/HB/HB0695.xml
For all the details: http://www.thebigpushformidwives.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=enews.signup
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Second Protest & BAC's Position regarding Midwifery Ban at Pleasant Valley Hospital
On Saturday, February 20, about 40 members and supporters of the Birth Action Coalition gathered for a second time in front of St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard to protest a ban on midwifery at the hospital’s sister location, Pleasant Valley Hospital in Camarillo. St. John’s administrators continue to cite “patient safety” and availability of a NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) as the reasons for approving the policy, which prohibits certified nurse midwives (CNM) from attending births at Pleasant Valley Hospital.
It is the position of the Birth Action Coalition that all birthing women should have access to the full spectrum of birthing options, and be fully informed on all of those options. This includes the option of care provider and location for her birth. BAC is protesting to maintain access to certified nurse midwives for the childbearing women of Camarillo.
BAC is also asking St. John’s to produce records from the past 10 years showing that laboring women who are attended by certified nurse midwives have a greater need of an immediately available NICU, as compared to laboring women attended by obstetricians. All births, including those attended by CNMs, which take place at Pleasant Valley are supposed to be “low risk,” and all certified nurse midwives work in collaboration with an obstetrician. Studies have shown that there is a reduction in risk when “high risk” mothers deliver their babies at a hospital which contains a NICU(1). So how does banning midwives -- who attend only low risk births -- make it safer for laboring women?
Cesarean births continue to take place at Pleasant Valley Hospital. How is major abdominal surgery, and all the risks to mom and baby that go along with such a procedure, considered lower risk than a birth attended by a certified nurse midwife?
Please show us the numbers.
BAC believes that financial reasons are at the root of this decision. It is understandable in our current healthcare environment that hospitals are looking for creative ways to increase revenue and cut costs. It is our position that St. John’s Regional Medical Center has inappropriately named patient safety as the reason for the midwifery ban, when in fact, it is a policy aimed at increasing overall revenue to the hospital. And to be clear, we hold that there is nothing overtly wrong with a hospital making decisions to increase revenue, but we feel it is inappropriate to limit options for birthing women while making false statements regarding the safety of care provided by certified nurse midwives.
Members and supporters of the Birth Action Coalition intend to gather each month in front of St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, until they either: reinstate the midwives at Pleasant Valley; show records of birth outcomes for CNMs and obstetricians which support their claim that it is safer for “low risk” birthing women and babies to labor in Oxnard; or retract their claim that the midwifery ban is due to patient safety.
-Kimberly Rivers,
President, BirthActionCoalition.org
1.)US Department of Health & Human Services (AHRQ, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality), Health Care Costs and Financing Researchers examine regionalization and use of expensive health technologies in neonatal intensive care. “These researchers showed that the risk of neonatal death is reduced when hospitals with no NICUs or intermediate NICUs transfer high-risk mothers to hospitals that have a regional NICU where many such babies are treated. High-risk mothers are defined as those who are expected to deliver babies weighing less than 4.2 pounds.”
http://www.ahrq.gov/research/aug02/0802RA17.htm
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Saturdays Protest against the Midwifery Ban!
For a second time, about 40 members and supporters of the Birth Action Coalition gathered in front of St. John's Regional Medical Center in Oxnard to protest a recent ban on midwives at their sister campus, Pleasant Valley Hospital in Camarillo. The Hospital continues to state patient safety as the reason for the ban, while community members, the affected midwives and some hospital staff continue to challenge the hospital to prove that it is risky for midwives to attend births in Camarillo, or state the true reason for the ban. The Birth Action Coalition plans to gather monthly at this location until the Hospital responds.(Photos in this post taken by BAC supporter Lilly Meehan)
Friday, February 19, 2010
"Thoughts on Pediatric Policy" by BAC Medical Advisor, Dr. Stuart J. Fischbein
Below is a wonderful article written by own Medical Advisor, Dr. Stuart J. Fischbein (click here to go to his blog). This is a take on what is going on at Pleasant Valley Hospital and the midwifery ban.
"Thoughts on Pediatric Policy"
As the motivation behind the banning of Certified Nurse Midwives at Pleasant Valley Hospital becomes clearer, I believe it deserves some logical analysis. By now, it is apparent that a major driving force behind the policy was the displeasure of some of the pediatricians at Pleasant Valley. They did not want to take responsibility for babies who were not going to become their patients and for whom they would be reimbursed poorly and feared liability. The merits of this fear are debatable but its existence is a fact and a byproduct of today’s medical-legal world. There was also distaste by the pediatricians for the desires of some of the parents of midwife delivered babies who often had differing views on newborn care. Pressure from them on their committee in turn became pressure on the obstetric committee and the administrative cascade was set in full swing. Whether any alternatives were ever considered is unknown as the process all resides behind a veil of secrecy. Had this been an open discussion, it is possible that another, far better, alternative might have been reached.
A little history is now appropriate. Before the 1980’s healthy newborns were not seen by pediatricians in the hospital setting. Healthy babies were taken to the nursery or roomed in with mothers and cared for by trained hospital nursing staff. Usually within a few days to weeks after going home the baby would be taken to the local family doctor’s office for a check up. Only if problems were discovered by the nurse or parents would a doctor be called. However, in the 80’s doctors were generally paid well by third party payers and pediatricians soon realized that newborn exams were a decent source of revenue. So, policies were created by hospital committees that began mandating newborn exams on every new baby, regardless of necessity or not. These policies were also justified under the guise of “safety” but were really self-serving and revenue generating. In fairness, this tendency was not limited to pediatricians but that is what is relevant here.
For 3 decades the well-baby exam became the norm. This habit was formed before the age of evidenced-based medicine. As Thomas Paine said, “The habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it the superficial appearance of being right”. No one questioned it as long as everyone was paid well by third party payers. But, in the last decade there has been a steady decline in reimbursement for this service. Medi-Cal pays almost nothing. Pediatricians have come to resent having to come to the hospital and have their work be undervalued and their opinions questioned. Patients of the midwifery model often want early discharge but have to wait hours to have their baby discharged as there is no incentive for the pediatrician to be inconvenienced for a well newborn. Frustration and sometimes hostility ensue. Lost in this frustration is the mission of why we do what we do. The original monetary motivated, non-evidence related policy of requiring a doctor to see every newborn baby, regardless of need, has now risen up to bite them and, by default, all of us in the ass.
So, my suggestion would be for St. John’s staff and administration to reconsider their policy banning midwives and look at another evidenced based option. Eliminate the requirement that every newborn be seen by a doctor before going home. Create a new policy that restores low risk midwife patients to Pleasant Valley and allows the delivering practitioner and the well trained nursing staff at Pleasant Valley to decide which babies are in need of an exam and which can do just fine with loving parents following up with their family doctor or pediatrician in the office. Truthfully, there is no reason a well newborn needs to be taken away from its mother to be examined in the sterile environment of the little nursery area there. It would be rare indeed to find anything that is life threatening. And for babies that are sick, well, those babies are going to be transferred to St. John’s NICU anyway. On the rare occasion that a low risk mother delivers a baby in need of resuscitation there can be a trained technician or nurse in house while the NICU team is on the way. Quite frankly, most office based pediatricians are not comfortable with advanced resuscitation anyway. Some being years removed from it and wise enough to leave it to those that perform it frequently.
I believe there is a better solution to the pediatricians' concerns. There most certainly is a better process that could have been used. The committees that decided the policy to ban midwives should have opened up dialogue between the concerned parties. The midwives and the doctors that work with them were never consulted in the process. Secrecy has no place in this issue. This was not a peer review process so why the hiding behind confidentiality? Questions have been asked and gone unanswered for 10 days now. The pediatric committee was motivated by financial and legal concerns. The OB committee was all too eager, in their pettiness, to oblige and failed to consider other options. The administration has its agenda which may very well include closing the labor and delivery unit at Pleasant Valley Hospital. Since they are all forbidden by their lawyers to speak and they have offered no other logical explanation this must be true.
Bring Thomas Paine’s “common sense” back to Pleasant Valley. Let’s change the habit of not thinking something is wrong simply because it has been done that way for a long time. Pediatricians do not want to see some newborns at PV. So let’s have a policy that says they don’t have to unless a doctor or nurse requests it. Leave the healthy babies alone and let them thrive with their new families. Being born is not a disease!
Stuart Fischbein, MD FACOG
"Thoughts on Pediatric Policy"
As the motivation behind the banning of Certified Nurse Midwives at Pleasant Valley Hospital becomes clearer, I believe it deserves some logical analysis. By now, it is apparent that a major driving force behind the policy was the displeasure of some of the pediatricians at Pleasant Valley. They did not want to take responsibility for babies who were not going to become their patients and for whom they would be reimbursed poorly and feared liability. The merits of this fear are debatable but its existence is a fact and a byproduct of today’s medical-legal world. There was also distaste by the pediatricians for the desires of some of the parents of midwife delivered babies who often had differing views on newborn care. Pressure from them on their committee in turn became pressure on the obstetric committee and the administrative cascade was set in full swing. Whether any alternatives were ever considered is unknown as the process all resides behind a veil of secrecy. Had this been an open discussion, it is possible that another, far better, alternative might have been reached.
A little history is now appropriate. Before the 1980’s healthy newborns were not seen by pediatricians in the hospital setting. Healthy babies were taken to the nursery or roomed in with mothers and cared for by trained hospital nursing staff. Usually within a few days to weeks after going home the baby would be taken to the local family doctor’s office for a check up. Only if problems were discovered by the nurse or parents would a doctor be called. However, in the 80’s doctors were generally paid well by third party payers and pediatricians soon realized that newborn exams were a decent source of revenue. So, policies were created by hospital committees that began mandating newborn exams on every new baby, regardless of necessity or not. These policies were also justified under the guise of “safety” but were really self-serving and revenue generating. In fairness, this tendency was not limited to pediatricians but that is what is relevant here.
For 3 decades the well-baby exam became the norm. This habit was formed before the age of evidenced-based medicine. As Thomas Paine said, “The habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it the superficial appearance of being right”. No one questioned it as long as everyone was paid well by third party payers. But, in the last decade there has been a steady decline in reimbursement for this service. Medi-Cal pays almost nothing. Pediatricians have come to resent having to come to the hospital and have their work be undervalued and their opinions questioned. Patients of the midwifery model often want early discharge but have to wait hours to have their baby discharged as there is no incentive for the pediatrician to be inconvenienced for a well newborn. Frustration and sometimes hostility ensue. Lost in this frustration is the mission of why we do what we do. The original monetary motivated, non-evidence related policy of requiring a doctor to see every newborn baby, regardless of need, has now risen up to bite them and, by default, all of us in the ass.
So, my suggestion would be for St. John’s staff and administration to reconsider their policy banning midwives and look at another evidenced based option. Eliminate the requirement that every newborn be seen by a doctor before going home. Create a new policy that restores low risk midwife patients to Pleasant Valley and allows the delivering practitioner and the well trained nursing staff at Pleasant Valley to decide which babies are in need of an exam and which can do just fine with loving parents following up with their family doctor or pediatrician in the office. Truthfully, there is no reason a well newborn needs to be taken away from its mother to be examined in the sterile environment of the little nursery area there. It would be rare indeed to find anything that is life threatening. And for babies that are sick, well, those babies are going to be transferred to St. John’s NICU anyway. On the rare occasion that a low risk mother delivers a baby in need of resuscitation there can be a trained technician or nurse in house while the NICU team is on the way. Quite frankly, most office based pediatricians are not comfortable with advanced resuscitation anyway. Some being years removed from it and wise enough to leave it to those that perform it frequently.
I believe there is a better solution to the pediatricians' concerns. There most certainly is a better process that could have been used. The committees that decided the policy to ban midwives should have opened up dialogue between the concerned parties. The midwives and the doctors that work with them were never consulted in the process. Secrecy has no place in this issue. This was not a peer review process so why the hiding behind confidentiality? Questions have been asked and gone unanswered for 10 days now. The pediatric committee was motivated by financial and legal concerns. The OB committee was all too eager, in their pettiness, to oblige and failed to consider other options. The administration has its agenda which may very well include closing the labor and delivery unit at Pleasant Valley Hospital. Since they are all forbidden by their lawyers to speak and they have offered no other logical explanation this must be true.
Bring Thomas Paine’s “common sense” back to Pleasant Valley. Let’s change the habit of not thinking something is wrong simply because it has been done that way for a long time. Pediatricians do not want to see some newborns at PV. So let’s have a policy that says they don’t have to unless a doctor or nurse requests it. Leave the healthy babies alone and let them thrive with their new families. Being born is not a disease!
Stuart Fischbein, MD FACOG
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Why do women want Access to Midwives?
Here is an excerpt from the posting. Dr. Terry Cole is a local OBGYN who works with two CNM's Denise Ellison & Anne Chezar Garnett. They mainly attend births at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura.
This is a part of an article at: http://www.mymidwife.org/midwifery.cfm
A doctor's opinion. "What's really a shame is that more women aren't afforded the opportunity to deliver with a midwife," says Dr. Terry L. Cole, a California obstetrician. In his 21 years of practice, Cole says, he has "virtually always been associated with midwives."
This is a part of an article at: http://www.mymidwife.org/midwifery.cfm
A doctor's opinion. "What's really a shame is that more women aren't afforded the opportunity to deliver with a midwife," says Dr. Terry L. Cole, a California obstetrician. In his 21 years of practice, Cole says, he has "virtually always been associated with midwives."
In his Ventura and Oxnard, California, offices, Cole and two CNMs-Anne Chezar
Garnett and Denise Ellison-serve women from all walks of life. When a low-risk woman comes to Cole, he will meet with her once during her pregnancy, but otherwise she will receive all her prenatal care with the CNMs. Garnett and Ellison share call duties; most women will see both midwives during the prenatal period, so they will be comfortable with either one for the birth. Deliveries take place at one of two nearby hospitals supportive of the midwifery approach. "When a woman goes into labor, she calls the midwife," Cole says. "I'm just called if I'm needed. I'm there for consultation."
Most of the women delivering with his midwives are classified as low-risk. Cole says that he, Garnett, and Ellison can co-manage women with moderately elevated risk, such as those with mild toxemia. And in cases where Cole needs to manage the delivery, one midwife might still be there to offer emotional support.
Cole's confidence in midwives is evident, but the most telling endorsement he offers? "My wife was delivered by midwives. If you are a low-risk patient, you really want a midwife delivering your baby," Cole says. "Anyone who has ever seen a midwife with a woman in labor or been delivered by a midwife would never go back to a doctor."
*taken from "Up Close and personal" by Caroline Kettlewell, Every Baby magazine, Issue Four.
For complete "article" see: http://www.mymidwife.org/midwifery.cfm
People are talking...
about our efforts, here's a blog post:
http://www.onbirthing.com/2010/02/09/california-why-say-no-to-midwives/#more-312
http://www.onbirthing.com/2010/02/09/california-why-say-no-to-midwives/#more-312
OUR EFFORTS ON "My Best Birth", the website of Ricki Lake & Abby Epstein.
A local CNM, Joyce Weckl's letter about our current efforts to get St. John's to life the midwifery ban at Pleasant Valley Hospital in Camarillo appears on My Best Birth Website. Check it out!
http://www.mybestbirth.com/profiles/blogs/take-action-cnms-barred-from
http://www.mybestbirth.com/profiles/blogs/take-action-cnms-barred-from
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Media Alert for Protest on Saturday:
***MEDIA ALERT***
• What: Second Protest by members & supporters of BAC (Birth Action Coalition) against recent decision by St. John’s Hospital (part of Catholic Healthcare West) to ban midwives from attending births at the St. John’s facility in Camarillo.
• When: Saturday, February 20, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
• Where: St. John’s Hospital and Corporate Offices in Oxnard (corner of Rose & Gonzalez)
• Who: The Birth Action Coalition are community members who believe the birth journey is an essential expression of human dignity that requires informed and empowered partnerships between women, families and healthcare providers. Through projects that educate and advocate, The Birth Action Coalition will work to create supportive birth environments in the Ventura and Santa Barbara areas.
• Why: It is the position of BAC that certified and licensed midwives are an integral part of our community. In Ventura County, professional midwives have been working with doctors in providing a choice to birthing families for over 30 years, as Certified Nurse Midwives (CNM) in our local hospitals, and as Licensed Midwives (LM) since 1996, when the state began licensing midwives for births in women’s homes and independent birth centers. See our Press Release for more details and our response to St. John’s claim that this policy was made due to “patient safety” concerns.
• What: Second Protest by members & supporters of BAC (Birth Action Coalition) against recent decision by St. John’s Hospital (part of Catholic Healthcare West) to ban midwives from attending births at the St. John’s facility in Camarillo.
• When: Saturday, February 20, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
• Where: St. John’s Hospital and Corporate Offices in Oxnard (corner of Rose & Gonzalez)
• Who: The Birth Action Coalition are community members who believe the birth journey is an essential expression of human dignity that requires informed and empowered partnerships between women, families and healthcare providers. Through projects that educate and advocate, The Birth Action Coalition will work to create supportive birth environments in the Ventura and Santa Barbara areas.
• Why: It is the position of BAC that certified and licensed midwives are an integral part of our community. In Ventura County, professional midwives have been working with doctors in providing a choice to birthing families for over 30 years, as Certified Nurse Midwives (CNM) in our local hospitals, and as Licensed Midwives (LM) since 1996, when the state began licensing midwives for births in women’s homes and independent birth centers. See our Press Release for more details and our response to St. John’s claim that this policy was made due to “patient safety” concerns.
To request our full press release please email: pr@birthactioncoalition.org
For questions please contact: Kimberly Rivers 805-727-1393
Monday, February 15, 2010
Our New Website! If you haven't seen it today, You haven't seen it!
Please visit our new & revamped website.
We're adding great content, photos and info.
Check it out!
www.birthactioncoalition.org!
cheers!
We're adding great content, photos and info.
Check it out!
www.birthactioncoalition.org!
cheers!
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Letters to the Editor
There were some wonderful letters to the editor supporting our position on the midwifery ban at Pleasant Valley Hospital.
Here is a link to one: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/feb/13/pregnant-women-deserve-options/?comments?cid=Facebook
Keep the pressure on!
Here is a link to one: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/feb/13/pregnant-women-deserve-options/?comments?cid=Facebook
Keep the pressure on!
15 of 16 Registered Nurses (RN) in Women's Unit at St. John's Oppose New Policy banning Midwives.
See the Ventura County Star article. http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/feb/13/15-of-16-rns-in-womens-unit-at-st-johns-oppose/
The Nurses are with us!
The Nurses are with us!
Thank you to our donors!
Thank you so very much to Tara S. & Laura B. for
donating money immediately to support our sign making needs!
Want to support our efforts too?
contribute to BAC... 2 easy ways:
1. paypal: donations@birthactioncoalition.org
2. checks payable to Birth Action Coalition, mailed to
Birth Action Coalition, PO Box 24254, Ventura, CA 93002-4254
donating money immediately to support our sign making needs!
Want to support our efforts too?
contribute to BAC... 2 easy ways:
1. paypal: donations@birthactioncoalition.org
2. checks payable to Birth Action Coalition, mailed to
Birth Action Coalition, PO Box 24254, Ventura, CA 93002-4254
Protesting AGAIN! Join us!
Members & Supporters of the Birth Action Coalition will gather again to protest the ban on midwives at Pleasant Valley Hospital in Camarillo. We will be at the corner of Rose & Gonzalez in Oxnard, in front of the corporate offices at St. John's Regional Medical Center, the folks who govern Pleasant Valley.
Bring your signs (all positive slogans please? pressing questions are great!) the bigger the better, your lunch, picnic blanket and sunscreen!
Wear dark brown our black.
Please DO NOT park in the St. John's parking lot, there are plenty of places to part across the street.
Parents, PLEASE (we know it can be tough) make sure your kiddos are respectful of the property.
Bring your signs (all positive slogans please? pressing questions are great!) the bigger the better, your lunch, picnic blanket and sunscreen!
Wear dark brown our black.
Please DO NOT park in the St. John's parking lot, there are plenty of places to part across the street.
Parents, PLEASE (we know it can be tough) make sure your kiddos are respectful of the property.
When: Saturday, February 20th, 11am-1pm
Where: corner of Rose & Gonzalez in Oxnard, South West Corner right in front of St. John's.
Where: corner of Rose & Gonzalez in Oxnard, South West Corner right in front of St. John's.
Friday, February 12, 2010
First CNM in Ventura County Responds to Midwife Ban at St. John's Pleasant Valley
MY-MY- MY!!
Thirty years after struggling against unfair, restricted trade practices against Certified Nurse Midwives (CNM), it starts all over again. SJPVH has taken away a perfectly legal birth choice for families.
All hospitals, nursing services and medical staff should be practicing based on evidence based facts. There is no evidence that nurse midwifery care is inferior to medical care, in fact there is evidence against this misinformation.
To use lack of a level 2 nursery as an excuse is ridiculous. If a hospital cannot manage care for their patients, perhaps they should not be providing that service. To single out a licensed professional is restrictive and against fair trade Act
30 years ago I fought this battle, pioneering nurse midwifery into Ventura Co. It was a struggle at times, humbling at times, but eventually very rewarding. I spent 10 years assisting births at both St John’s and Community Hospital. I certainly never thought that midwives would have to go through this again.
A CNM is a licensed legal professional, whose education qualifies her (or him) to provide excellent and safe care. We practice in conjunction with the medical team, identify problems, get consults, and assistance as needed
I sincerely hope that the hospital, MD's and risk management revisit and correct this issue.
Sincerely,
Patricia Halpin, CNM
Thirty years after struggling against unfair, restricted trade practices against Certified Nurse Midwives (CNM), it starts all over again. SJPVH has taken away a perfectly legal birth choice for families.
All hospitals, nursing services and medical staff should be practicing based on evidence based facts. There is no evidence that nurse midwifery care is inferior to medical care, in fact there is evidence against this misinformation.
To use lack of a level 2 nursery as an excuse is ridiculous. If a hospital cannot manage care for their patients, perhaps they should not be providing that service. To single out a licensed professional is restrictive and against fair trade Act
30 years ago I fought this battle, pioneering nurse midwifery into Ventura Co. It was a struggle at times, humbling at times, but eventually very rewarding. I spent 10 years assisting births at both St John’s and Community Hospital. I certainly never thought that midwives would have to go through this again.
A CNM is a licensed legal professional, whose education qualifies her (or him) to provide excellent and safe care. We practice in conjunction with the medical team, identify problems, get consults, and assistance as needed
I sincerely hope that the hospital, MD's and risk management revisit and correct this issue.
Sincerely,
Patricia Halpin, CNM
BAC's New Blog: Protest at St.John's a great Success.
Over 50 supporters showed up to speak out for birthing options today, February 12th, 2010 in Oxnard. Members & Supporters of the Birth Action Coalition gathered to let St. John's Hospital know that we will not stand for the ban of midwives at Pleasant Valley Hospital in Camarillo.
We are planning to keep the pressure on, and will be protesting again, Saturday, February 20 from 11am-1pm at the corner of Rose & Gonzalez in Oxnard.
Find us on Facebook! Here are some photos from the event and check out the Ventura County Star Article and the great photos they took: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/feb/12/supporters-will-rally-in-oxnard-today-to-protest/
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