Birth Activists

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Comment by Maureen Stevens on June 10, 2009 at 1:15pm

Birth Activists Group in Southern California

PROJECT CABO Working together for access to birth options
www.projectcabo.org

Comment by Jennifer L. Hensley on June 2, 2009 at 11:23am

I would love to get some junior/senior high school programs going, because it is hard to educate women once they're pregnant--for one, there are a lot of things that may be stressful to consider, and pregnancy is just a bad time for stress. I would even say that birth plans should be done in the TTC (trying to conceive) stage--if not sooner (and part of that is because a thorough birth plan includes plans for what can go wrong, including fetal death.) There's a lot about our bodies we're not required to take in school (like I've only known for the last year or so that the uterus has ligaments that attach to the pelvis--after taking pregnancy massage classes.)

Comment by Katie Reitman on June 1, 2009 at 11:24am

Where in California are you amber? I have some friends in SoCal I'd be happy to ask.

Comment by Brandi Frey on June 1, 2009 at 11:18am

Amber, have you been to this website? http://www.californiamidwives.org/?page_id=18

Comment by Amber Collins-Lopez on June 1, 2009 at 10:55am

I haven't found any advocacy organizations yet. But you'd think there must be at least one in California, so I'll keep looking. In the meantime, if any other's know of such organizations, please share! Thank you, Brandi!

Comment by Brandi Frey on May 31, 2009 at 11:13am

Wow, I can't believe that, it just makes me sick when I hear stuff like this. And what's so ridiculous is that it is going to cost the insurance company a fraction of what a hospital birth would.

The insurance company I had before did not cover homebirth either, but around the time I got pregnant, we got a different carrier because my husband's job moved across the border from WA to ID. I have to pay everything up front, and then hope the insurance does reimburse me after the birth. We'll see how it goes. It is Group Health.

Hang in there, and I hope you find some resolution. Is there some kind of midwife advocacy organization in CA that can help you? We have one in ID, of all places, and they do a bunch of lobbying in support of midwifery care initiatives. They just got a law passed that makes is so midwives can legally use certain life-saving medicines and measures during labor and delivery (something they still did before the law passed, but could have gotten sued for).

Anyhow, good luck!

Comment by Amber Collins-Lopez on May 31, 2009 at 9:49am

Hi Brandi and all others!
Welcome! Please join us! I'm hoping that we can, through the sharing of thoughts, ideas, news, accomplishments and frustrations, help move things forward in this country in regards to natural birth.

I helped start this particular group because my husband and are expecting our first baby in October and are utilizing midwifery care and planning for a homebirth. I recently learned that my insurance company refuses to cover the homebirth ... in California! A state where homebirth has been legalized by the legislature and where insurance companies are required to cover midwifery care! The insurance company's refusal to cover is based on a statement (a STATEMENT, keep in mind, not a study) written by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists (ACOG) in which they express their belief that the only safe place to deliver is in a hospital or birth center attached to a hospital. So, despite state law to the contrary, the insurance company is basing their refusal to cover on a statement by a competing entity that has a vested financial interest in keeping births within the confines of traditional western-medicine practices.

So I’m planning to write to both the insurance company and the state insurance commissioner. But I also wanted an avenue to gather with and brainstorm with and hear the stories of others who are facing or have faced similar challenges … a place to help, encourage, share and work together. I look forward to hearing from you all.

And Brandi, thank you for your comment. Certainly, part of the challenge is changing the way birth is perceived and approached in this country in general and finding a way to get information regarding alternatives into the hands of the women we all know.

Please share everyone! Thank you so much! Blessings to you all - Amber

Comment by Brandi Frey on May 28, 2009 at 8:45pm

Wow, I just joined your group on facebook. I have been feeling so frustrated lately with all of the women I know around me getting pregnant, doing no research whatsoever, and just going for the medicated hospital birth. It's so sad to see; none of these women know what they are missing out on.

I got my hopes up recently when this gal in my yoga class said she was going to do a natural birth in the hospital, but was at least going to have a doula. Well her husband, at the last minute decided that he felt threatened by having the doula there, and persuaded her to ditch the doula. She just had her baby last week, and guess what? Epidural, episiotomy, and vacuum extraction. All of which sound like they would have been completely avoidable had she had someone supportive like a doula there with her. I remember her telling me she felt very strongly that she didn't want any of those interventions.

It's so upsetting, it's like you have to get women into the idea of natural childbirth before they get pregnant, it seems almost too late when they are already pregnant. I find it hard to talk about it without seeming preachy.

Anyways, I would love to help, but I am not sure how. Let me know, I really wish there was something more I could do.

Comment by Katie Reitman on May 27, 2009 at 11:54am

Join me on the Million Mom Waddle (or at least help me! I'm drowning!):
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=61445738140&ref=ts

Right now it's just a facebook group, I have a website on hold.

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