A recent survey of mothers reveals some disturbing things about hospital maternity care that may make pregnant women want to take a closer look at their options. To read more, click here to see the AlterNet article posted on October 20, 2007. (Posted on 11/2/07)

March 26-30, 2008; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; sponsored by Midwifery Today. 

May 7-10, 2008; Ann Arbor, Michigan; sponsored by Midwifery Today. Learn the effects of sexual abuse on pregnancy and childbirth and how you can help survivor moms.  For more information or to register for the conference, click here to go to the Midwifery Today website. 

Of the many births that I have witnessed and assisted over the past 25 years, some of the most memorable were waterbirths.  I frequently recall one early morning, in a dark and quiet hospital room, sitting with a dad and a nurse while the mother labored quietly in a pool of water.  All of a sudden we saw a bubble of clear fluid emerge from between her legs, filled with specks of vernix that sparkled like thousands of tiny stars reflected from the light in the bottom of the pool.  As the bubble grew larger, we saw the baby within it, first the head, then the body.  The bubble with the baby floated into the pool, attached to the mother by its cord.  My fascination with this incredible sight must have lasted only momentarily, but it seemed a lot longer before I shook myself, reached into the pool, broke the bubble, and caught the baby, bringing her to the surface and into her mother’s waiting arms.  They sat there nestled together for a few minutes more; no one in the room wanted to break this enchanted spell by speaking or moving. For 24 years, Barbara Harper, the founder and director of Waterbirth International , has worked determinedly and tirelessly to promote normal childbirth and particularly the use of water to endow the laboring woman and her baby with a calm, gentle, safe, and almost sacred environment.  Without her efforts, scenes like the one I describe above would almost certainly not have taken place in the United States, except as rare, exotic, experiences considered by the obstetric mainstream to be fraught with danger and foolishness.  Today, waterbirth is available in many hospitals and birthing centers, as well as at home births, and its safety and beneficial effects on the laboring mother and the newborn are well appreciated, particularly in the midwifery community.   Barbara is asking for help to keep Waterbirth International going - click on the title of this entry to see her message and find out what you can do to help with this effort.  She has helped all of us so much in the past; now it is our turn to help her.    

April 30-May 3, 2008; Montgomery, Indiana; sponsored by Christian Midwives International.  For more information or to register, go to the CMI website at http://www.christianmidwives.org .  The conference will be held at the Gasthof Amish Village; for more information on the venue, go to http://www.gasthofamishvillage.com/lodging/ .