Homebirth midwife in my area being indicted!

[angelapittman]

My beloved midwife in Oregon is being indicted on serious charges after a baby died days after birth. She has been a midwife for 30+ years and delivered 300+ babies with no serious incidents. With the unfortunate death of 1 baby last year, she is faced with charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. I am trying to help spread the word on this injustice! I watched Marcene deliver my sister, Sara, 19 years ago at our home when I was 7 years old. I was then blessed to call her my midwife when I delivered my daughter at my home in December 2008. I support her 100% and am praying for her in this terrible situation.

News story:

http://theworldlink.com/bandon/news/court-indicts-midwife/article_a...

You can follow her facebook page for updates: http://www.facebook.com/#!/missionformarcene

Email is [e-mail]

[pokeyAC]

Angela - I'm sorry to hear this is happening. I hope everything works out for the best.  I tried clicking on the link to the story, but it didn't work for me.  I also thought I would bump this up for more attention.

[kawa kamuri]

From what I'm reading there are many people who question this MW. I, of course, don't know either way just that my MW would have sent the baby to the hospital if in the same condition.  

http://theworldlink.com/news/local/moms-kids-rally-for-midwife/article_8d4ed375-c258-5ecb-a55e-6cb6741f02cb.html

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Bandon-midwife-pleads-not-guilty-in-baby-s-death-3750827.php 

[eabbmom]

It does appear that this midwife should have sent the baby to the hospital when it was not responsive and lacked a rooting reflex. I fully support homebirth midwives and intend on being one someday. It is important that whenever a baby is lost (at home, in a hospital) that a full investigation is completed and the guilty parties are brought to justice. As a future midwife I want my chosen profession to be respected and regulated so that homebirth can grow to be a respected and safe as possible choice. My heart goes out to the parents and the midwife, a grave mistake was made.

[fairydoula]

Originally Posted by eabbmom 

It does appear that this midwife should have sent the baby to the hospital when it was not responsive and lacked a rooting reflex. I fully support homebirth midwives and intend on being one someday. It is important that whenever a baby is lost (at home, in a hospital) that a full investigation is completed and the guilty parties are brought to justice. As a future midwife I want my chosen profession to be respected and regulated so that homebirth can grow to be a respected and safe as possible choice. My heart goes out to the parents and the midwife, a grave mistake was made.

like like like. If this was FB I'd like it again.  I totally agree with what you're saying as a future midwife! We need more midwives with your mindset! YAY for you! A grave mistake WAS made, and probably because in 30 years, and only ten or less births per year, she simply never came across that particular complication. That is why experience is SO important. Experience and education. CNM's might work primarily in hospitals, but they see hundreds of births in their first couple years of training, before they're ever ready to deliver on their own, whether that's in or out of hospital. This is why mothers and families need to start demanding MORE of their midwives! More education! More experience! More births attended!  30 or 40 births is not nearly enough to be a competent provider! 100 births is not enough either! As a future CNM I expect to have gone to hundreds of births before I would attend a woman as a primary. Mothers and babies deserve the very best care we can possibly give them, NOT mediocre care and surely not inexperienced or sorely underexperienced care? It sounds like this midwife was a "part time" kind of midwife. I contend that midwifery should NOT be a hobby for those who's partner provides most of the income in the household! It's not right! And it's why OB's and other medical professionals don't take CPM's seriously, most of the time. 

[kgdg]

Septic shock--this mom likely needed antibiotics to prevent GBS, not just medical treatment for the kiddo after the fact. Also 300 babies in 30 years is very few--10 a year, less than one a month. CNM and OBs see 10x that many in 1/5 of the time or so. This midwife may have been long in tooth but she was very short on experience. How terribly sad.

[fruitfulmomma]

Puhlease with the obs\cnms see x times as many patients. My ob spent maybe 10 minutes tops with me at my appointments vs. around an hour with my midwife. With my latest hospital birth the ob that checked me in was there for about 15 minutes and then came back to let me know she was leaving 12 hours later and the cnm would take over. She checked in more often but still wasn't there constantly and after the birth i didn't see her again. (Another cnm checked in on me for about 5 mins. next day.) All the work was on the nurses. The only reason hospital-based hcp can see that many women is because they are juggling them.

[Georgetown HB Mom]

Originally Posted by kgdg 

Septic shock--this mom likely needed antibiotics to prevent GBS, not just medical treatment for the kiddo after the fact. Also 300 babies in 30 years is very few--10 a year, less than one a month. CNM and OBs see 10x that many in 1/5 of the time or so. This midwife may have been long in tooth but she was very short on experience. How terribly sad.

We don't know that the mom had GBS. The baby was born already unresponsive. That alone should have warranted a trip to the hospital to have it checked out. I agree that the midwife was out of line by not seeking a higher level of care. However, it is always shocking to me that anytime a midwife messes up she is immediatly brought up on murder or manslaughter charges. I was a NICU Respiratory Therapist for many years in the hospital. I went to countless births and treated countless babies where the OB screwed up. I even treated babies that had permanent damage simply due to the OB screwing up. Not once did any of these OB's go to court. Sometimes they got a slap on the wrist by the medical board but it was rare for them to even have to go in front of the board. The reason is because as soon as a doc screws up the risk management department in the hospital steps in and covers everything up. They tell all the staff not to talk to anyone, they tell all the staff that the doctor was not in the wrong and to not tell anyone he/she may have been. They hide the medical records, even if the family requests to see them, they do there best to hide them away or they tell the family they are not allowed to see the records. People would be shocked at what goes on behind the scenes in the hospital.

[Buzzbuzz]

Is she licensed by the state?  I think you see criminal charges much more frequently where the practioner is unlicensed -- meaning that there is no other regulatory body to step in and evaluate/removal the party from the practice of medicine.

[kgdg]

but doesnt change the fact that seeing 300 patients and not losing any is not enough data to be reassuring---losing even 1/300 would be a lot statistically.