Research and resources for perinatal professionals.
May 12, 2009 | by: Amy M. Romano, RN,CNM
Following a link from The Unnecesarean Blog, I read about the recent episode of The Doctors, in which the hosts discussed birthing options with Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein, co-authors of the new book, Your Best Birth.There's plenty to unpack in this discussion, but one thing that jumped off the
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May 10, 2009 | by: Henci Goer, BA
Editors note: This week brings us the first contribution from Henci Goer. Henci will be a regular contributor to Science & Sensibility, and continues to respond to reader questions on the Ask Henci Forum. AMR I was pulling together studies for the chapter on cesarean for Amys and my new edition
May 04, 2009 | by: Amy M. Romano, RN,CNM
There was a fascinating post on Nursing Birth today about the giving and taking of informed consent for anesthesia (epidurals, etc.) for labor and birth. Already, there is a very eye-opening discussion brewing among her readers.I really liked the way the author, who is an anonymous practicing labor
May 02, 2009 | by: Amy M. Romano, RN,CNM
Yesterday, the New York Times ran a short and sweet piece about a father who "watched a couple of YouTube videos" about how to catch a baby when his wife was about to give birth to their fourth child and there was no time to get her to the hospital. Last month, Jill at The Unnecesarean Blog posted a
April 28, 2009 | by: Amy M. Romano, RN,CNM
At long last, The Birth Survey has given the public access to consumer ratings of maternity care providers and birth facilities. This is a major step toward increased transparency in maternity care. I've been involved with The Birth Survey for a couple of years and am a vocal proponent
April 24, 2009 | by: Amy M. Romano, RN,CNM
I've given a talk called, "Transparency in Maternity Care: Bringing Birth Out of the Dark to Improve Quality" a number of times at conferences and as a webinar. (I will give it again as a webinar in September for Lamaze, so make sure you're signed up to get e-News updates if you're interested.) The
April 21, 2009 | by: Amy M. Romano, RN,CNM
The internet is abuzz about a new study out of the Netherlands comparing the outcomes of planned home birth with those of planned hospital births in low-risk women. With over half a million women involved in the study, it is the largest of its kind. Its findings provide the best evidence to date
This week, media outlets shared the news of a new Cochrane review that concludes upright positions are beneficial because they shorten labor by about one hour. The birth blogs have been buzzing about this, and the consensus is that we should feel delighted and vindicated to have the scientific
April 17, 2009 | by: Amy M. Romano, RN,CNM
Often, the closer I look at a study, the less confident I become about the results. I've learned that you can't always trust a paper's title or abstract, and media coverage of new studies can bewoefully misleading, even when it is not carefully orchestrated by those with a vested interest (which it
A doula friend of mine was telling me recently about the seemingly arbitrary variation she sees across the different hospitals where she attends births. In one hospital they always turn the epidural off when the woman is ready to push, and in another hospital just a few miles away we had to fight
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