Updates

Educating

Texans for Midwifery-Austin offers informative presentations about childbirth, maternity care in the U.S. and the Midwives Model of Care©. If you know of a community group or classroom interested in these issues, please email Dawn Martin at dmartin36@austin.rr.com.

TfM-Austin is also available to staff a booth or table at events where prospective parents and parents are seeking information regarding health care, pregnancy and childbirth. If you know of an upcoming event, please email Dawn Martin at dmartin36@austin.rr.com.

Advocating

TfM-Austin educates members of the state legislature, city council, and local hospital administrators about the value of The Midwives Model of Care©, and how to make this kind of care accessible to all women. Our goals have been to remove barriers to midwifery care at local hospitals (which no longer offer midwifery care) and to protect access to out-of-hospital birth with midwives. More details on that below.

Our most recent public event to bring attention to the problems we face in accessing The Midwives Model of Care© was our October 2003 "Rally for Our Midwives" at the Texas State Capitol. Citizens and midwives came together for inspiration from midwives like Ina May Gaskin, Melanie Van Aiken and Mary Barnett, as well as several citizen and physician advocates for midwifery care. Read remarks by Mary Ann Shah, president of the American College of Nurse Midwives.

Update on Direct-Entry or "Documented" Midwives, who practice in homes and birth centers:

Our access to out-of-hospital birth with midwives has never been more vulnerable. A powerful lobby representing the interests of physicians "vehemently opposes out-of-hospital birth" and thinks that "midwives should be overseen and regulated by doctors," according to an April 2004 article in Parent:Wise Austin magazine. Without citizens voicing their support for out-of-hospital birth with midwives, we face the possibility of loosing this important birth option in the next state legislative session. Texas legislators must know that we and the American Public Health Association supports "efforts to increase access to out-of-hospital midwifery services." Join TfM-Austin today to help us get this message out!

 

Update on Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs), who primarily practice in hospitals (but not in Austin anymore):

Nurse

  • Seton Healthcare Network has formed a committee to consider the applications of Certified Nurse Midwives seeking to practice as non-sponsored Licensed Independent Practioners. While it is standard and recommended practice for CNMs to consult and collaborate with obstetricians (Obs), Seton Medical Center requires CNMs to be “sponsored” by an OB, who is required to be at the hospital (or “in-house”) for every midwife-attended birth. This in-house requirement was a primary reason for one physician group to end its sponsorship of CNMs.
  • The city has leased the Austin Women's Hospital to the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), which is not obligated to provide the Midwives Model of Care. However, UTMB spokesperson Karen Sexton gave us some hope when she told the Austin American Statesman that UTMB would be "open" to doing midwife deliveries the way they do them at other UTMB hospitals. This means that nurse midwives who are not employees of UTMB would not be able to deliver at Austin Women's Hospital. Throughout 2003, TfM-Austin members have met with city council members, city staff and aired our concerns with UTMB at an October 2003 public meeting on the lease issue. While all decisionmakers understand that parents want access to the Midwives Model of Care at our city hospital, it remains to be seen if this will happen. Nonetheless, councilmembers have demonstrated considerable support for the issue.
  • Texans for Midwifery-Austin has established a dialogue with St. David’s Columbia Partnership the OB department heads regarding midwives. St. David’s has never allowed nurse midwives to practice, and according to our physiican liaison with St. David's, some obstetricians still have reservations about working with midwives.

Sponsorship and the in-house requirement has proven to be a major barrier to CNMs to attend births in Austin’s hospitals.

Updates from the Midwives

Here are updates from the nurse midwives who lost their jobs in 2002 when their physician sponsors dropped sponsorship.

Nancy Loomis has stayed on at Women Partners in Health doing well woman gyn care. Feel free to see her there. She is enjoying more time with her almost 4 year old daughter Baca and husband Kurt. To be honest, after 22 1/2 nonstop years of catching babies, she is appreciating the increased family time and sleep!

Melanie Benson has started working at the University of Texas Student Health Center in the Women’s Health Clinic providing well woman gyn care to women students. If anyone is enrolled at UT, she would love to provide your care. Melanie has also established her own health and nutrition business. She is enjoying providing quality nutritional options to improve energy and well being, assist with weight concerns and other health issues. If you know anyone who may be interested in nutritional assistance, please call Melanie at 447-9685.

Mary Barnett is enjoying having time to nurture herself and her family. She is actively seeking a midwife partner and is in the beginning stages of establishing a small home birth practice with the goal of establishing a birth center. She is accepting clients that are due after January 30, 2004. If anyone knows of a midwife who is interested in partnering with Mary, please contact her.

Susan Wente and her family moved back to Newaygo, Michigan, on July 13 after being in Texas for 25 years.  Unfortunately, we do not have a wonderful group near us like TfM and there is very little support for the midwifery model of care.  Like Austin, the Ob/Gyn climate is extremely conservative and territorial ($$$$$$$).  However, I am starting a  home birth/gyn  practice in a rural northern county in Michigan serving primarily the Amish and people who home school their kids. I am also investigating the possibilities of teaching temporarily at one of the universities part time until the practice is built up. 

Sandra Gale  is working for Community Action, Inc, a non-profit agency based in San Marcus.  This agency provides family planning, and gyn services to low income women in many of the smaller communities surrounding  Austin.  She is traveling a lot of miles and no two days are the same as she and 3 other nurse practitioners staff 7 different clinics.  She  has continued her work representing CNMs in state-wide organizations working to remove regulatory barriers to practice.