NYT Article: Lessons at Indian Hospital About Births

[~Adorkable~]

Great article from the NYTimes "Lessons at Indian Hospital About Births"

great story of low intervention and low c-section

[calpurnia]

I couldn't understand that article until I realised it wasn't actually about an Indian hospital!

[~Adorkable~]

not sure what you mean? do you mean not India? yeah in this article they are referring to American Indian but leave off the American part since the paper come out on the same country. i See how that can be confusing for those that are not living in the US

[emnic77]

Originally Posted by •Adorkable•

not sure what you mean? do you mean not India? yeah in this article they are referring to American Indian but leave off the American part since the paper come out on the same country. i See how that can be confusing for those that are not living in the US

I don't know, I'm born and raised in the US and when I first saw this article a few days ago I thought "India"...growing up next to a Mohawk reservations, it was always "native american."

Regardless, great article, they are a shining example of what the standard of care SHOULD be.

[prancie]

Indian is the incorrect term, it confused me too until they said it was navajo people. It should be Native American or something like that.

It was a great article though! Thanks for posting it!

[~Adorkable~]

ok well my dad is indian so that might explain i dont have any confusion about it nor take any offense, so each there own. i didn't choose the term it they did.
It is funded by a program called the "Indian Health Service"

I'm glad you like the article, i think it is a really great point of bright intelligent light on a dark problem.

[dannic]

Yay Tuba City!

[Peony]

IHS is the health care on the reservations, it really is a wonderful set up for births. In nursing school I did clinicals at one of the hospitals mentioned in the article, c-section are rare. Everyone got a MW for prenatal and births, a OB was called unless it was requested (which I never saw happen) or when the MW decided a c-section was needed. In that hospital where I was at, a MW was there 24/7. there was a room off of OB where they slept waiting for a patient. Births really are an event, I had to get used to it because room where the patient would be laboring would become a constant stream of family coming and going. And I am not just talking about grandmothers and mothers but her distant male cousin that she hadn't seen in years. Epidurals are quite rare as well. They are just not encouraged, culturally by family or the staff. It was the first place I saw RN's putting the laboring moms in the shower to help with pain. There may only be one anesthesiologist in the entire hospital Even 10 years ago there were no central nursery in the Shiprock hospital, it was room-in with mom only. There is a rumor going around now that one of the IHS hospitals really wants to go baby friendly which would be huge.


The fall out by what the IHS does has been great for my area. I live in a neighboring state, but very close to NM border. I do some work with a IHS clinic that does not have a hospital but they are trying to increase their bfing rates. I am hoping to hire a WIC employee for the reservation in that town just to handle their breastfeeding moms. The largest hospital in this area and the only non-IHS one in that part of NM is slowly adopting a similar birthing program. They have 3 on-staff CNMs that take all patients that come in from the ER and will work up from there. Baby steps.

[~Adorkable~]

so cool to hear how they handle birthing women! wish i lived there.