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I have been thinking about this quite a bit lately.  I live in Santa Fe, New Mexico and things here (so I have been told) are much better then they are in other places around the country.  For instance, our labor and delivery nurses encourage moms to breastfeed and the babies are always put right up on mom's chest-skin to skin immediately and usually for the duration.  The nursery on the maternity floor is big enough to hold maybe two babies and they usually only utilize this room when mom is in surgery or for the hearing tests. We have many homebirths in my area and the cesarean rate in New Mexico is one of the lowest in the country. I am originally from the east coast where all of my friends are currently having babies and the situation is far from similar-so I am wondering...

What is it like where you live? Are mom's discouraged from wanting a natural birth? Are they encouraged to breastfeed? Are the babies swept away and brought to the nursery or do they room in? Are mom's allowed to get up and walk around in labor? What else are they "allowed" and "not allowed" to do?

I look forward to hearing your stories!

Are you computer-savvy? 

The ICEA Board is seeking a member to chair an initiative to provide our training workshops online!  We want to create the opportunity to obtain quality ICEA training without having to travel.  The Board is here to support the candidate who has the energy for this project. 

Please contact ICEA Executive Director Dave Feild at dfeild@firstpointresources.com or 919-861-4533 if you are interested.

Greetings from Birth Matters Virginia! On April 9th, 2011, Birth Matters Virginia and Shenandoah University are sponsoring a maternal health summit on maternal mortality. Healthy Mothers Healthy Birth
2011 brings together experts from multiple disciplines, concerned citizens, and health professions to examine the rising maternal mortality rate in the United States.

In conjunction with the summit, on April 10th, 2011, the Ina May Gaskin’s Safe Motherhood Quilt will be walked down the National Mall in Washington D.C. to bring public awareness to the United State’s
rising maternal mortality rate.  Ina May’s book, Birth Matters: How What We Don’t Know About Nature, Bodies and Surgery Can Hurt Us, will be released shortly before the summit and we will host a book signing at the event.

It is our intention, with this letter, to invite you to participate in the Healthy Mothers Healthy Birth Summit. Invitations have been issued to organizations who conduct maternity care research, policymakers, medical professionals, medical students, national maternity care organizations, and consumer watchdogs or public policy thinktanks. With an invitation, there is no cost to attend the event. The summit is an interactive workday, combining the expertise of speakers, panelists, and participant dialogue. We hope that you will
send a representative from your organization to participate in this unique event.

Click Here to be directed to the page where you will find a copy of the day’s agenda and the goals of the summit. We hope that you will join us for this important event. We are a small grassroots non-profit organization, but our mission is big!
Together, we can turn the dangerous trend of a rising maternal mortality rate around.

CIMS and the Breastfeeding and Feminism Symposium Series encourage you to help spread the word about the upcoming “Reframing Birth and Breastfeeding: Moving Forward”, March 11-12, 2011, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  As our Valentine’s Day gift, we’re extending the deadline for registrants to take advantage of reduced Early Bird registration rates through February 14, 2011.
 
Another way that we are sharing the love this Valentine’s Day is by offering an exceptional conference program, a copy of which is attached. The conference program includes more than 22 hours of educational programming, and attendees may qualify for more than 13 contact hours for their participation.  Speakers include Eugene Declercq, Miriam Labbok, Penny Simkin, Susan Ludington, Lori Dorfman, Best for Babes’ Bettina Forbes and Danielle Rigg, Bernice Hausman, Jacqueline Wolf, and many more.  That’s a lot to love!
 
Here are 3 ways that you can share the love with your friends and colleagues.
 
1.  Email the attached promotional flyer to your list of contacts or print and share it at events, meetings, and at work.
2.  Feature the attached promotional image and a link to www.motherfriendly.org/forum.php on your website.
3.  Post, like, share and promote conference information on Facebook, Twitter and other social media.
 
Here are 5 ways that you can share the love on Facebook.
 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Megan Renner, 301-807-4963 (cell), mrenner@usbreastfeeding.org

Surgeon General’s Call to Action:
A Roadmap to Improving Support for Breastfeeding Mothers

Washington, DC--Three out of four women in the United States provide their infants with the healthiest start in life by breastfeeding, and today Surgeon General Regina Benjamin called on the entire nation to support the removal of barriers to this important public health behavior. The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding is an unprecedented document from the nation's highest medical source, calling on health care providers, employers, insurers, policymakers, researchers, and the community at large to take 20 concrete action steps to support mothers in reaching their personal breastfeeding goals.

The United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) applauds the Call to Action, which is based on the latest evidence about the health, psychosocial, economic, and environmental effects of breastfeeding. The document includes action steps and implementation strategies for six major sectors of society: