Research and resources for perinatal professionals.
May 07, 2021 | by: Sharon Muza, BS, LCCE, FACCE, CD/BDT(DONA), CLE
Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control, National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System released a report: Births: Provisional Data for 2020. This report includes information on U.S births by age and race and Hispanic origin of mother/parent. Data on cesarean delivery and preterm births also are included. This preliminary information for 2020 covers a period when the entire world was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This report may provide insights into reproductive behavior under the time frame of the COVID-19 situation.
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May 05, 2021 | by: Sharon Muza, BS, CD/BDT(DONA), LCCE, FACCE, CLE
Today is the annual International Day of the Midwife. Every year on May 5th, global attention turns to the role of the midwife in helping families grow all around the world. This year’s theme is “Follow the Data: Invest in Midwives.” Lamaze International childbirth educators are committed to sharing evidence based information and best practices so families can make informed decisions about their perinatal care. The research on midwifery care demonstrates that midwives are critical to ending preventable deaths for birthing parents and newborns. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.1 is to reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births by 2030, and globally, we are not on track to meet that target. If there is any hope to to reach this important benchmark, there will need to be more midwives, and a greater acceptance of the integrated role for the midwife in perinatal care around the world.
April 30, 2021 | by: Sharon Muza, BS, CD/BDT(DONA), LCCE, FACCE, CLE
Here we are at the end of April, and virtual teaching for childbirth classes is still the norm as the world works to put this COVID pandemic behind us. With that in mind, here is another teaching idea that is very easy to do in a virtual format. This Brilliant Activities for Birth Educators is a twist on a fun idea I learned from Ildi Sebestyen, an LCCE colleague. I have taken Ildi’s in person activity and modified it to work virtually on many different online conferencing platforms. Helping families use the tools they will have at their disposal in their birth location of choice is important. This activities reinforces ideas for birth and peanut ball use during labor. You can find all the Brilliant Activities for Birth Educators for free here by following this link.
April 27, 2021 | by: Sharon Muza, BS, LCCE, FACCE, CD/BDT(DONA), CLE
As maternal-infant health professionals, we must identify our own biases and the oppressive policies and systems in the environments and institutions that we work and practice in. I would like to recommend a very engaging and thorough free online Diversity Science course developed by Diversity Science titled ‘Dignity in Pregnancy and Childbirth Project.” I recently had the opportunity to work through the three modules that make up the course and found it to be a well organized, thoughtful, and effective presentation that invited me to consider my beliefs and behavior. This work and course development is led by Rachel Hardeman, PhD, MPH, and Diversity Science, and is funded by the California Health Care Foundation in response to strong evidence of racial inequalities in perinatal care and outcomes.
April 23, 2021 | by: Mindy Cockeram, LCCE
Tuesday, in Connecting The Dots, in Part I of The Impact of Common Labor Interventions on Newborn Weight Loss and Breast/Chestfeeding Cessation, we examined how the use of analgesics for pain relief, Pitocin for induction and a large IV fluid load delivered throughout labor, can lead to breast/chestfeeding challenges for new parents in the first few hours and days of life.
Today, in Part II, we examine the appropriate timing of a newborn’s baseline weight assessment. When, after birth, should a newborn’s baseline weight be established? Using a weight that may have been impacted by labor interventions can hinder maternal breastfeeding confidence and skew pediatric goals for normal newborn weight gain. We also look at an evidence based tool for determining if weight loss really falls into the supplementation zone.
April 20, 2021 | by: Mindy Cockeram, LCCE
How many parents have you met that experienced the following birth scenario: Labor began with an induced labor using Pitocin (UK-Syntocinon), an epidural for pain relief and a long pushing stage or even an unplanned cesarean? The parents felt overwhelmed with joy when the baby was born and relief that the labor was over. As the new emotions settled in, the next stage of parenting began - breast/chestfeeding a baby on cue around the clock. Discharged home, the sleepy baby suddenly became more wakeful and eager to cluster feed. Day three became a challenge: jaundice set in and the pediatrician recommended supplementation due to excessive weight loss. The scenario ends with an emotionally drained parent worrying about their milk supply, supplementing with bottles of formula daily and potentially giving up on breast/chestfeeding before the mature milk even has a chance to arrive! Did their body really let them down? Did they really not have enough milk?
April 17, 2021 | by: Sharon Muza, BS, LCCE, FACCE, CD/BDT(DONA), CLE
Black Maternal Health Week (BMHW21) ends today, but perinatal professionals need to acknowledge that this focus is not something that should be elevated one week a year. The atrocious maternal morbidity and mortality rate faced by childbearing Black people demands attention and action every single day. There is simply no time to rest, as people are dying while trying to grow their families.
Here are some amazing Black perinatal organizations that are uniquely qualified to serve Black families. This list is just a small compilation of resources, and identifies those organizations with a national presence. You should identify similar groups that are local to your community, so you can include that information as well and make it easier for Black families to identify the right resources for them.
April 13, 2021 | by: Molly Giammarco, MPP
As Lamaze joins stakeholders, advocates, and policymakers in celebrating Black Maternal Health Week (April 11-17, 2021), Lamaze educators, advocates, and parents can reflect on the progress made on raising awareness of maternal health disparities—and the actions taken to address them. With the Congressional Black Maternal Health Caucus’ (BMHC) and other policymakers’ leadership, vision, and collaboration, federal efforts to reduce maternal health disparities and shortfalls are no longer just talking points. They are now Congressional actions.
April 09, 2021 | by: Sharon Muza, BS, CD/BDT(DONA), LCCE, FACCE, CLE
April is Cesarean Awareness Month (CAM) around the world. For some global locations, there are too few cesareans performed and pregnant/postpartum people and/or their newborns are dying or experiencing significant morbidity issues. (In the sub-Saharan region of Africa the rate of cesarean section is 4%.) In other locations, including in the United States, there are too many cesareans performed and pregnant/postpartum people are dying or suffering from significant morbidity issues. (Some Latin American countries have a cesarean rate around 60%, the USA’s cesarean rate is just shy of 32%.) It is estimated that about six million unnecessary cesareans are done each year, half of them in Brazil and China (Boerma, T., et al, 2018.) It is believed that approximately 60% of cesareans are not clinically necessary. Research has indicated that 25 percent of countries underuse cesarean sections, while 60 percent of countries were found to overuse the procedure (Wiklund, I., 2018.)
April 06, 2021 | by: Sharon Muza, BS, LCCE, FACCE, CD/BDT(DONA), CLE
In 2019, 754 people lost their life from maternal causes in the United States. The maternal mortality rate for 2019 was 20.1 deaths per 100,000 live births. In 2018, 658 people died from maternal causes and the maternal mortality rate was 17.4 per 100,000.
2019 brought 96 more deaths and a significantly higher maternal mortality rate.
The United States continues to have the worst maternal mortality rate of all the world’s industrialized countries. It is estimated that 66% of the maternal deaths that occurred in 2019 were preventable.
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