I have not posted to this Blog in nearly a year. I don't know if tonight was the best to choose for resuming. Really I am surprised that this spot in cyber space still exists! I have been up to sooo much this last 7 months that it is unreal. My education has taken some turns different than I had expected and it has been really amazing. I have gotten involved with some great groups of women and had life changing opportunities. I will have to write more about them soon.

As for now. It is politics that has me up and roaring. Why? Why does it have to be this way? Why do these people, who have no idea what it means to be the woman making the choices for herself and her baby, seem to think they know what is best?!? AND that they can tell other women who can support them while they make these choices and birth their babies, and when, and how, and where? Don't they know already that the government controls so many of our every day choices and we don't have room for them to step into the very personal, private, parts of our families as well? I feel angry right now, but really it is sadness. Sadness for the women who will end up having to make choices completely outside of their comfort due to regulation.

Currently in the State of Oregon, there are choices surrounding midwifery. Options on how a midwife wants to practice, and options for women and families on who they want to support them. Nationally, the CPM credential can be achieved by certifying through NARM. Oregon adds just a few more requirements to those for NARM certification, takes a few more thousand dollars, and will then give you a "License". It is available to those who qualify, but not mandatory. Midwives still have the option to practice, legally, without either set of letters after their name. This allows women to choose based on their own findings, feelings, references, recommendations, experiences, who may attend their birth. Some choose a LM (licensed midwife) due to 3rd party insurance reimbursement, some because the person who they fit with suits them for all previously listed reasons, some because of letters (completely ignorant, BUT I'm not going to tell women how to choose what is best for them!).

NOW Oregon licensed midwives are facing harsh restrictions that will prevent them from being able to legally attend a VBAC. This is so absurd! There is nothing to prove there are any more negative outcomes with VBAC at home vs. hospital birth. There are almost no hospitals left in the state that will allow a VBAC to take place there, due to malpractice insurance issues, and when they do, it is torcher for mom and baby, and often ends in a 2nd, or 3rd, or whatever c-section. Many times with bogus reasons given at that! But that is a different topic.
What makes this even worse (as if it can get that way) is that this could potentially affect a MINIMUM of 30% of all women in the state. National and from what I have heard, state c-section rate is currently documented at about or just over 30%. True for some hospitals, but many are higher, some significantly. I was recently told by a mom who birthed at the hospital in Tillamook that they quoted her a c-section rate of 73%! Yes, that is 3 out of every 4 babies are being yanked out of their mothers bodies during MAJOR surgery. This is outrageous. This is a huge number of women who will be faced with never being able to have a normal birth. AND with this, will be directly affected when it comes to family planning as well. There are still families out there that would like to have many children. They would love to grow. But the dangers of this surgery are so great, and so hard on the body that after the 2nd one, risks to the mothers health increase greatly. This is not right.

A committee meeting was held today in the state capital regarding the topic. Sadly I was not able to be present. From what I have read so far, it was not pleasant. It was stated more than once that this issue is not about women's choices, it is about what is in the governing boards best interest. One attendant said that it was said that " It's not about parental choice, and they cant please everyone and it's not about women doing what they want-it's about 'the greater good', 'public safety ' and 'the government setting a standard'" WTF!

I will have no part of it. I have a calling to serve women. I will educate myself with the best knowledge I can possible find and learn from as many other wonderful women as possible, and gather every needed skill that I hope to never have to use. I will provide the support women want, the education they deserve about their bodies, trust in birth, and the truth. I will never pay my hard earned money to a government to tell me who I can and can not serve and when, where and how I can serve them. If there are families that do not want to come to me for what I will offer because I do not have those letters after my name, then I am not the right person to serve them anyhow. I am at peace with that.