Romania

Dateline Romania: 11 year old girl raped by her uncle is refused an abortion.
Now she not only must suffer the indignity committed upon her young body by a predator, she is further raped by the system which is forcing her to carry the pregnancy to term.

No doubt according to some she just should have said no and the pregnancy would never have occurred. To some it will be perfectly palatable that this young girl be subjected to nine months of sharing nutrition that she herself needs at this time in her life. Nine months of wonder and fear as to what birth will be like. This scares adult women who have made the choice to have a baby. She will in all likelihood have to have a surgical delivery as her pelvis is underdeveloped and vaginal delivery would be difficult if not impossible.

Even those who have made the choice to carry a pregnancy to term are not safe from interference in their reproductive choices.

The AMA is advocating that women only be allowed to choose a hospital setting for their delivery

AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION HOUSE OF DELEGATES

Resolution: 205
(A-08)

Introduced by: American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

Subject: Home Deliveries

Referred to: Reference Committee B
(Craig W. Anderson, MD, Chair)

Whereas, Twenty-one states currently license midwives to attend home births, all using the certified professional midwife (CPM) credential (CPM or “lay” midwives), not the certified midwives (CM) credential which both the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and American College of Nurse Midwives (ACNM) recognize ; and

Whereas, There has been much attention in the media by celebrities having home deliveries, with recent Today Show headings such as “Ricki Lake takes on baby birthing industry: Actress and former talk show host shares her at-home delivery in new film” ; and

Whereas, An apparently uncomplicated pregnancy or delivery can quickly become very complicated in the setting of maternal hemorrhage, shoulder dystocia, eclampsia or other obstetric emergencies, necessitating the need for rigorous standards, appropriate oversight of obstetric providers, and the availability of emergency care, for the health of both the mother and the baby during a delivery; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That our American Medical Association support the recent American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) statement that “the safest setting for labor, delivery, and the immediate post-partum period is in the hospital, or a birthing center within a hospital complex, that meets standards jointly outlined by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and ACOG, or in a freestanding birthing center that meets the standards of the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, The Joint Commission, or the American Association of Birth Centers” (New HOD Policy); and be it further

RESOLVED, That our AMA develop model legislation in support of the concept that the safest setting for labor, delivery, and the immediate post-partum period is in the hospital, or a birthing center within a hospital complex, that meets standards jointly outlined by the AAP and ACOG, or in a freestanding birthing center that meets the standards of the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, The Joint Commission, or the American Association of Birth Centers.” (Directive to Take Action)

Fiscal Note: Implement accordingly at estimated staff cost of $1,929.

Received: 04/28/08

This statement comes despite the fact that a study in Britain shows

Supporting the Midwives Model of Care

www.cfmidwifery.org . 888-236-4880
Fact Sheet
Copyright © Citizens for Midwifery 2005. Permission to reprint with attribution.
New landmark study shows that
Planned Home Births Are Safe
The largest study of home births attended by Certified Professional Midwives, as published in
the British Medical Journal, has found that home birth is safe for low risk women and
involves far fewer interventions than similar births in hospitals.
Safe & Healthy Outcomes
• Results are consistent with most studies of planned home births and low risk hospital births
• Zero maternal deaths
• Intrapartum and neonatal mortality: 2.0 per 1000 intended home births (only 1.7 per 1000 intended
home births when planned breech and twin births are excluded)
• Immediate neonatal concerns resulted in just 2.4% of newborns being placed in neonatal intensive
care
• At six weeks well over 90% of mothers were still breastfeeding their babies
Low Rates of Medical Intervention
• Much lower rates of interventions for intended home births compared to low risk hospital births:
Planned home birth Hospital birth
Induction of labor (only with oxytocin or prostaglandins) 2.1% * 21.0%
Stimulation of labor (only with oxytocin) 2.7% * 18.9%
Electronic fetal monitoring 9.6% 84.3%
Episiotomy 2.1% 33.0%
Vacuum Extraction 0.6% 5.5%
Cesarean Section 3.7% 19.0%
* These numbers differ from the BMJ article where data for CPMs included forms of induction and stimulation
only used by midwives and not comparable to hospital births.
Satisfied Mothers
• Only 1.7% of the mothers said they would choose a different type of caregiver for a future pregnancy
Few Transfers to Hospital Care
• Only 12.1% transferred to hospital intrapartum or postpartum
• Five out of six transfers were before delivery, most for failure to progress, pain relief or exhaustion
• Midwife considered transfer urgent in only 3.4% of intended home births
High Credibility
• Included all home births involving Certified Professional Midwives in the year 2000
• 5,418 women in U.S. and Canada who intended to give birth at home as of the start of labor
• Prospective – every planned home birth was registered in the study prior to labor and delivery
“Outcomes of planned home births with certified professional midwives: large prospective study in North America.”
Kenneth C Johnson and Betty-Anne Daviss. BMJ 2005;330:1416 (18 June). This article and related letters to the
editor are available online, free, at http://www.bmj.com. (Use the search feature and type Daviss for the author.)Copyright © Citizens for Midwifery 2005. Permission to reprint with attribution

And of course there is also the “a fertilized egg is a person with full legal rights supporters”. Will women who have miscarriages now be subjected to court dates to prove they didn’t in fact murder the legally recognized person in their womb? Is stillbirth manslaughter? If you know you have difficulty carrying a pregnancy to term yet keep trying are you a serial murderer? If you have an illness or accident and what would save you may kill the “person with full legal rights and status” in your womb, who’s rights prevail? Will there be courts in hospitals to determine if pregnant women can receive treatment? Will doctors even want to treat pregnant women when they could be held accountable for murder should any treatment result in death or injury to the fetus womb person with full legal rights and status?

These are not rhetorical questions. They need to be considered carefully and most especially by those who do see children in their future.