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	activism alerts february 2007

• The Mother's Milk Bank of New England: Big Winner
• Online Guide to Chem-Free Kids Products
• ACOG Condemns Homebirth; Advocates Issue Rebuttal
• Call For Submissions

The Mother's Milk Bank of New England: Big Winner

January's winner is the Mother's Milk Bank of New England. It's co-founder, Naomi Bar-Yam, is now going to buy the equipment to create a nonprofit organization that will distribute donated breastmilk to hospitals and families throughout New England. Studies show that premature babies who receive banked milk are far less likely to suffer life-threatening complications and have much faster recovery rates.

To help raise awareness about the Mother's Milk Bank, Bar-Yam tapped the power of social networks and other online media, getting mentioned over 500 blogs. Although many well-intended projects fly under the radar of venture capitalists or bankers, the good news is that the web is a great platform to tap into a supportive community and find the resources to turn ideas into reality.

"Our milk bank is in the startup stage and ideablob helped us get the word out," explained Bar-Yam. "The $10,000 prize will enable us to purchase equipment and educate the community about what we do and how we will help premature and sick babies."

Online Guide to Chem-Free Kids Products

Following overwhelming response to the holiday shopping guide to toxic chemicals in toys, the Washington Toxics Coalition has launched Safe Start for Kids, a guide to choosing children's products free of harmful chemicals!

Safe Start for Kids provides easy-to-use tips on choosing everyday products for children and gives parents quick answers on questions such as which baby bottle to choose and how to find a safe mattress. Other products include bibs, lunch boxes, art supplies, personal care items like lotions, shampoos, and sunscreen, and more. The guide also contains tips to help parents create a healthy nursery and to know what to look for when choosing day care facilities. Visit Safe Start For Kids now, and tell your friends!

ACOG Condemns Homebirth; Advocates Issue Rebuttal

On February 6th, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) reaffirmed their staunch anti-homebirth stance in a new statement. Among the first advocacy groups to issue a rebuttal was the recently launched organization The Big Push for Midwives. Reprinted below in its entirety, it can also be accessed in PushNews:

ACOG: Out of Touch with Needs of Childbearing Families

Trade Union claims out-of-hospital birth is "trendy;" tries to play the "bad mother" card

(February 7, 2008) - The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), a trade union representing the financial and professional interests of obstetricians, has issued the latest in a series of statements condemning families who choose home birth and calling on policy makers to deny them access to Certified Professional Midwives. CPMs are trained as experts in out-of-hospital delivery and as specialists in risk assessment and preventative care.

"It will certainly come as news to the Amish and other groups in this country who have long chosen home birth that they're simply being 'trendy' or cfashionable,'" said Katie Prown, PhD, Campaign Manager of The Big Push for Midwives 2008. "The fact is, families deliver their babies at home for a variety of very valid reasons, either because they're exercising their religious freedom, following their cultural traditions or because of financial need. These families deserve access to safe, quality and affordable maternity care, just like everyone else."

Besides referring to home birth as a fashionable "trend" and a "cause célébre" that families choose out of ignorance, ACOG's latest statement adds insult to injury by claiming that women delivering outside of the hospital are bad mothers who value the childbirth "experience" over the safety of their babies.

"ACOG has it backwards," said Steff Hedenkamp, Communications Coordinator of The Big Push and the mother of two children born at home. "I delivered my babies with a trained, skilled professional midwife because I wanted the safest out-of-hospital care possible. If every state were to follow ACOG's recommendations and outlaw CPMs, families who choose home birth will be left with no care providers at all. I think we can all agree that this is an irresponsible policy that puts mothers and babies at risk."

The Big Push for Midwives calls on ACOG to abandon these outdated policies and work with CPMs to reduce the cesarean rate and to take meaningful steps towards reducing racial and ethnic disparities in birth outcomes in all regions of the United States. CPMs play a critical role in both cesarean prevention and in the reduction of low-birth weight and pre-term births, the two most preventable causes of neonatal mortality.

Moreover, their training as specialists in out-of-hospital maternity care qualifies CPMs as essential first-responders during disasters in which hospitals become inaccessible or unsafe for laboring mothers. In addition, CPMs work to ensure that all babies born outside of the hospital undergo state-mandated newborn screenings and are provided with legal and secure birth certificates.

Currently, Certified Nurse-Midwives, who work predominantly in hospital settings, are licensed and regulated in all 50 states, while Certified Professional Midwives, who work in out-of-hospital settings, are licensed and regulated in 24 states, with legislation pending in an additional 20 states.

The Big Push for Midwives is a nationally coordinated campaign to advocate for regulation and licensure of Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and to push back against the attempts of the American Medical Association Scope of Practice Partnership to deny American families access to legal midwifery care.

Call For Submissions

Marisa Harder-Chapman and Kathleen Koegler are currently accepting submissions for an anthology on birth. They believe that

"...within each woman is inherent wisdom of the birth process, though it is often forgotten. Also commonly neglected are the meaningful and transformative aspects of birth. Birth is not just a physical way to continue the human population—the way a woman births and is transformed by birth has implications far beyond herself. We want more women to experience birth from a position of trusting birth and themselves... Your words and art may help women on their path toward trusting birth and have an impact on a new generation of mothers."

Please submit original (unpublished) written or visual expression of how you trust birth or how you have begun to travel this path. This may include essays, birth stories, poetry, artwork, or photography—any work that expresses your personal beliefs and feelings about the topic of trusting birth.

Length of poetry should no more than 750 words. Prose should be no more than 1250 words. Shorter lengths are welcome. Submissions will be edited for length and clarity. A letter of consent for publication must accompany all submissions. If you prefer to submit anonymously, please send your consent letter separately from your piece. Unless otherwise specified, first name, last initial, city and state will be included in the published work. Unused submissions along with their accompanying letters of consent will be destroyed after May 16, 2008. If you prefer to have your submission returned, please include a self addressed, stamped envelope.

Submissions are due February 29, 2008, via mail or e-mail. Please request a letter of consent with your submission. Contact Marisa or Kathleen with any questions:

Marisa Harder-Chapman
Kathleen Koegler
1501 S Elm St
Cambridge MN 55008

Marisa: 763-552-0547
Kathleen: 651-699-6454
birthexpressions@gmail.com