Please be open-minded and patient while reading this post. While it's understandable that this can be an upsetting topic, I'm seeking positive brainstorming and theorizing on the issue and am not up for flames.
I live in Michigan where I've been told, and always believed, DEMs were *alegal*. Thanks to the patient instruction from MWs in IL and WI at MDC, I now know understand why DEMs are *illegal* in Michigan despite sometimes being paid by health insurance, active in MI MWs Association, and even interacting freely with the health department.
One problem I see with their illegal status is there is no structure in place, that I know of, for them to police their own or for the government to police DEMs short of criminal prosecution. Have you thought about ways to maintain the good reputation of midwifery care and protect women from out of control (even renegade?) MWs in these circumstances?
I'm sure those of you from MI remember a the case of a particular nationally (if not world) renowned DEM who was extensively published on midwifery care. Laurie Morgan's birth attended by that MW compelled her to UC and she become a staunch UC advocate in the 90s. I have a friend who's now a UC activist after having the same MW manually dilate her from 7cm so she could attach the vacuum (without telling her let alone getting her consent... she was actually screaming, “Stop! Stop! It hurts! Stop it!”) and extract the baby to prevent my dear friend from suffering the pains of labor. <shudder> It wasn't until there was a dead baby that NARM revoked this renegade MW's CPM credentialing. The undisputed facts of the case are there was a baby with a congenital defect, she applied the vacuum extractor and sucked the baby's brains out before the baby. Even with her CPM credentialing revoked a Google search shows she's acting as a professional witness advocating for MWs brought up on charges and she has an apparent stellar reputation... even here on MDC.
I had a MW who managed not to kill me during my first birth. I consider her actions toward (or more precisely *against*) me as immoral, unprofessional, and even criminal. I thank God I didn't die in the process and became a Ucer as the only means I knew to ensure my safety and autonomy during pregnancy, labor, and birth. Ten years after the fact I started seeing a counselor for PTSD related to birth professionals. While I've managed fairly well at avoiding my triggers for ten years, between seeing the counselor and hanging out on MDC, I strongly believe a woman's choice should not be limited to the safety, control, autonomy and respect of UC or rolling the dice with assisted births. I am concerned that she's still in practice, has held office in the state midwifery organization, and will probably never be stopped unless there is a dead baby or mother to draw attention to her outrageous acts. Unlike Val she has very little web presence but what she has is positive... even on MDC.
If these DEMs were doctors or CNMs, we could file our complaints with insurance companies that have them as preferred providers, the hospitals where they have privileges, and with the state agency which licenses them. We don't have that option in states where DEMs aren't regulated. As mothers if we build a website www.SoAndSoEndangersWomen.com to share our stories we risk a civil suit for libel. So my question to all you birth professionals is what do you think should be done to protect the reputation of midwifery and, far more important to me, women?
Thank you for your thoughtful input.
~BV
I live in Michigan where I've been told, and always believed, DEMs were *alegal*. Thanks to the patient instruction from MWs in IL and WI at MDC, I now know understand why DEMs are *illegal* in Michigan despite sometimes being paid by health insurance, active in MI MWs Association, and even interacting freely with the health department.
One problem I see with their illegal status is there is no structure in place, that I know of, for them to police their own or for the government to police DEMs short of criminal prosecution. Have you thought about ways to maintain the good reputation of midwifery care and protect women from out of control (even renegade?) MWs in these circumstances?
I'm sure those of you from MI remember a the case of a particular nationally (if not world) renowned DEM who was extensively published on midwifery care. Laurie Morgan's birth attended by that MW compelled her to UC and she become a staunch UC advocate in the 90s. I have a friend who's now a UC activist after having the same MW manually dilate her from 7cm so she could attach the vacuum (without telling her let alone getting her consent... she was actually screaming, “Stop! Stop! It hurts! Stop it!”) and extract the baby to prevent my dear friend from suffering the pains of labor. <shudder> It wasn't until there was a dead baby that NARM revoked this renegade MW's CPM credentialing. The undisputed facts of the case are there was a baby with a congenital defect, she applied the vacuum extractor and sucked the baby's brains out before the baby. Even with her CPM credentialing revoked a Google search shows she's acting as a professional witness advocating for MWs brought up on charges and she has an apparent stellar reputation... even here on MDC.
I had a MW who managed not to kill me during my first birth. I consider her actions toward (or more precisely *against*) me as immoral, unprofessional, and even criminal. I thank God I didn't die in the process and became a Ucer as the only means I knew to ensure my safety and autonomy during pregnancy, labor, and birth. Ten years after the fact I started seeing a counselor for PTSD related to birth professionals. While I've managed fairly well at avoiding my triggers for ten years, between seeing the counselor and hanging out on MDC, I strongly believe a woman's choice should not be limited to the safety, control, autonomy and respect of UC or rolling the dice with assisted births. I am concerned that she's still in practice, has held office in the state midwifery organization, and will probably never be stopped unless there is a dead baby or mother to draw attention to her outrageous acts. Unlike Val she has very little web presence but what she has is positive... even on MDC.
If these DEMs were doctors or CNMs, we could file our complaints with insurance companies that have them as preferred providers, the hospitals where they have privileges, and with the state agency which licenses them. We don't have that option in states where DEMs aren't regulated. As mothers if we build a website www.SoAndSoEndangersWomen.com to share our stories we risk a civil suit for libel. So my question to all you birth professionals is what do you think should be done to protect the reputation of midwifery and, far more important to me, women?
Thank you for your thoughtful input.
~BV
: I based my comments on the newspaper reports at the time (all I read agreed the brain was outside the skull after vacuum extraction was applied and the dispute between the parties involved were whether it was due to a birth defect or the vacuum extraction) as well as updates from her previous clients who were following the case. Were all the reports at the time incorrect in stating the brain was outside the skull after the procedure? I've also been told she has been banned from ever attending births in Michigan which, as DEMs are registered or licensed in Michigan, I can only imagine, if true, would be the result of some sort of plea agreement or agreement to avoid prosecution. Do you know if this is true?
