Patricia Couch, a midwife at the Bella Vie Gentle Birth Center in Salem, OR, is gathering donations for supplies and will be going down to Haiti on February 19 with the organization Midwives for Haiti to help pregnant women devastated by the earthquake. If you would like to support her efforts, please call Bella Vie […]

My first daughter was born in a birth center, and I was grateful to have the option. While I did not use Medicaid to pay for our care, birth should be reimbursed by health insurance regardless of where it occurs - home, hospital, or birth center. By only reimbursing for hospital births, the health industry […]

Aaron Bouren, Karen Fennell, Me, Scott Smith

I met Aaron Bouren at the Controversies in Childbirth conference, and I am still recovering. If you ever have the chance to meet this guy you will know what I’m talking about. Everything about Aaron is big - his six-foot-plus frame has to be huge to contain his passion, […]

Lynn M. Paltrow, founder and Executive Director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women (”NAPW”), gave a talk at the Controversies in Childbirth conference on how anti-abortion policies and legislation are being used against women who want to make choices in their birth experiences.
Women are being forced into surgeries against their will, sheriffs show up […]

Erin Martinez received her placenta this morning from Sunrise Hospital. We held a celebratory rally out front of the hospital in honor of the occasion, and presented the nursing staff with flowers, balloons and a Thank You card. The hospital had told her she would need a court order, but then reversed their decision once […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 4, 2008
Contact: Jodi Selander
Placenta Benefits, Ltd.
702.947.0879
PR@placentabenefits.info
UNDER PRESSURE, SUNRISE HOSPITAL REVERSES STANCE
– Hospital to Release Placenta After Forcing Mother to Obtain Court Order –
LAS VEGAS, NV - A triumphant group of mother advocates will gather near Sunrise Hospital on Monday, April 7, at 10 a.m. to stand up for a woman’s right of […]

I am so excited to write that Sunrise Hospital has decided to release the placenta to the mother! Our press release: DESPITE COURT RULING, SUNRISE HOSPITAL NOT MOTHER-FRIENDLY, was sent out yesterday, and today the mother filed the paperwork for an injunction to stop them from destroying the placenta. The paperwork also included her complaint, […]

Sunrise Hospital has once again refused to give a young couple their baby’s placenta. The parents were told they have two weeks to produce the court order or the hospital will be tossing it into a big bin with all the other placentas to await its inevitable incineration. This is a living organ, one that […]

Here’s a good question: How much of the Earth’s resources does your lifestyle require? Take this quiz and find out. Then you may be inspired to take action.
http://www.myfootprint.org/
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As a mother who has had two amazing, empowering waterbirths, I am very concerned by this latest news. Waterbirth International, Barbara Harper’s organization that made it all happen for me, is in trouble. I will just post her letter below for you to read. Please, I urge you to do whatever you can to help […]