From Medscape Medical News; Home Birth Study Findings Raise Controversy, by Emma Hitt, PhD July 16, 2010 — A meta-analysis of studies comparing planned home births vs hospital births reported that home births may be associated with an increased neonatal mortality rate; however, the study findings are controversial and have received criticism.

A journalist discusses the increasing number of midwife-attended births and the controversy around this as maternal mortality increases in the United States.

MEDIA ADVISORY April 19, 2010 Contact: Angela Bradbery (202) 588-7741 Dorry Samuels (202) 588-7742 Press Conference: New York Is Performing Many Unnecessary Cesarean Sections, Public Citizen Report Finds

Bed sharing is a practice in which an infant shares the same sleep surface with another person, including the parents or siblings; it is often used interchangeably with co-sleeping. Co-sleeping is also used to mean having the infant sleep in a bassinet or crib that is directly next to the parents’ bed or in the same room.

The Netherlands has a system of pregnancy and birth care that is unique in the Western world. The majority of Dutch midwives work independently from obstetricians, are the sole care providers for low risk women and are primarily responsible for the system of risk selection. Almost 30% of women choose to give birth at home.

The US Department of Health and Human Services lists the benefits of breastfeeding to the baby, to the mother, and to society. On their website, they also include the health risks of not breastfeeding. Click on the header to see the benefits.

The Boston Women's Health Book Collective, publisher of Our Bodies, Ourselves and many related books on women's health, has an excellent blog site. Visit it, hear what others say, and voice your own opinion!

Each and every one of you CAN take action to put birth centers on the Congressional radar. The birth community must take the lead on this--Congress won't take any action for us unless it hears from its constituents. AABC's lobbyist Karen Fennell is busy making Congressional visits, but they are saying they have not heard from you--so it must not be important . . .

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Pregnant women who have a cesarean delivery appear to be more likely to suffer a stroke during the following year than women who give birth normally, researchers in Taiwan have shown.

As reported in an article by Gardiner Harris in the New York Times, "about 77 percent of new mothers breast-feed their infants at least briefly, the highest rate seen in the United States in more than a decade, according to a government survey released on Wednesday."