For Immediate Release: September 2007
Contact: Kathleen Chambers, Marketing Director, Mothering magazine
505.984.6289, kathleenc@mothering.com

Mothering's third annual pregnancy issue takes a close look at how a culture's view of birth affects birth outcomes.

The featured article "Cesarean Birth in a Culture of Fear," is an exposé of how the increasing medicalization of birth in the US has led to our skyrocketing cesarean rate, and one the worst rates of neonatal mortality in the industrialized world. In the US, the overall c-section rate has now reached 30.2 percent. The World Health Organization (WHO) says that any time a country's cesarean rate rises above 15 percent, the dangers of c-section surgery outweigh the lifesaving benefits it is supposed to provide. According to a 2006 survey "Listening to Mothers II," 72 percent of first time mothers felt that being rescued from a dangerous situation by medical technology now seems to them to be a normal part of the birth experience.

Alternatively, the Netherlands has a cesarean rate lower than the US and a very different attitude about birth. In "Homebirth in Holland," an American mother learns how safe birth can be. Her Dutch midwives' low-tech ways helped her to experience birth as a natural event, not a medical one. In Holland, midwives are an established and integral part of community health care.

Shafia Monroe, founder of the International Center for Traditional Childbearing, wants midwives to serve the same role in the US, specifically among African Americans. "The Legacy of Black Midwives" illustrates why the culturally sensitive training provided by Monroe's center is so necessary.

On a lighter note, "Mama was a Midwife" is a hilarious article written by a baby catcher's daughter, for whom the facts of life were no big deal. The author recounts growing up in a home where lessons in reproduction were standard dinner-table conversation—where birth was an everyday affair.

For this and other informative articles for parents, ask for Mothering magazine's September-October 2007 issue at your local bookstore, newsstand, or natural food store; try Mothering Digital; or go to www.mothering.com.

Mothering is a bimonthly magazine that reports on natural family living. Articles cover pregnancy, natural childbirth, breastfeeding, education alternatives, and family health issues. Mothering's editors can serve as trusted resources for any stories involving these topics.

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Representatives of the media may obtain a complimentary subscription to Mothering magazine or Mothering Digital by contacting Kathleen Chambers, Marketing Director, at kathleenc@mothering.com.