Although there are no practicing Midwives in North Louisiana, according to the Louisiana Association of Midwives Louisiana currently has twenty eight licensed midwives, twenty one of whom are Certified Nurse Midwives practicing in-hospital with board certified Obstetricians, and seven of whom are Certified Professional Midwives practicing out-of-hospital with Obstetrician backup. This year our Governor, Bobby Jindal, has declared May 5th the International Day of the Midwife in Louisiana. There are several activities planned in South Louisiana to celebrate the hard work and dedication of Louisiana Midwives. You can go to the Louisiana Natural Birth and Louisiana Association of Midwives websites for more information.
My hope is by this time next year (and for years to come) North Louisiana will be able to celebrate along with our sisters to the south. The first step is to educate the public about the benefits of Midwives and raise awareness on the lack of access to birth choices in this area. Child bearing women and their families need to let their voices be heard! OBs in the area need to be open to working/collaborating with Midwives who wish to serve North Louisiana. We need to be doing everything possible to provide better maternity care and producing better outcomes for mothers and babies. As it stands North Louisiana has one of the highest Maternal and Infant Mortality rates in the country. We also have one of the lowest Breastfeeding rates. I believe if we had better access to holistic maternity and postpartum care our outcomes would improve dramatically. Our communities should be demanding better care and more choices for our families than the status quo.
Change is part of the reality of research, education, and evidence-based practices that are being implemented around the country. If our hospitals and OB practices are resistant to these changes then they are not doing what is in the best interest of our communities. Allowing women to birth the way they feel is best for them (including where and with whom they wish to birth) should be the primary focus of maternity care. Not every woman desires a medicated birth (induction, pain management, repeat C-section, etc) but if you are giving birth in the hospital (which is about 98% in this area) you have to fight almost every step of the way to have a mother/family centered birth and postpartum recovery. We need to do a better job of educating doctors, nurses, hospital administrations, etc on the benefits of natural and/or Midwife attended birth (in and out of the hospital).
It starts here.
Proclamation for International Day of the Midwife
WHEREAS, midwives have throughout time and in all nations provided healthcare to mothers, babies and their communities; and
WHEREAS, midwives offer pregnancy screening, prenatal care, childbirth education and counseling to pregnant women on health needs, pregnancy-related transitions, family relations and postpartum concerns; and
WHEREAS, midwives are dedicated to the care of pregnancy and birth and treat each woman’s pregnancy according to her unique physical and personal needs; and
WHEREAS, midwives provide a family-centered childbirth option that has grown in response to the choice of thousands of parents; and
WHEREAS, midwives offer to assist birthing women in a variety of settings according to what is appropriate, within hospitals, in freestanding birthing centers, and at home; and
WHEREAS, the World Health Organization and the Midwives Alliance of North America have noted the strong positive contribution midwifery care has on the health and well being of mothers and babies; now
THEREFOR, I, Bobby Jindal, Governor of the State of Louisiana, hereby proclaim May 5, 2010, as
INTERNATIONAL MIDWIVES’ DAY
and encourage the people of Louisiana to become better acquainted with the services offered by the midwives of our community and the contributions they make to the families of Louisiana.
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