Midwifery Today Issue 134

“Call the Midwife”: Jennifer Worth, a Twentieth Century British Midwife, and the Birth of Conchita Warren’s 24th Baby on TV vs. in Real Life

by Jane Beal May 26, 2020

I started watching the BBC television series “Call the Midwife” after everyone and her mother had recommended it to me. In the first episode, set in 1957, Jenny Lee arrives at Nonnatus House, a nursing convent in London, as the new midwife on staff. I was intrigued.

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Photos provided by author

Covid-19 in Nigeria

by Chinenye MaryRose Nneoma Okonkwo May 24, 2020

The novel coronavirus, which causes Covid-19, is a new life-threatening disease. Covid-19 is a worldwide health hazard that is now spreading throughout the world. Read more…. Covid-19 in Nigeria

Photos provided by author

Covid-19 in Iran

by Narjes Shiraghaei Kootenaei May 22, 2020

Iran is an ancient country in the Middle East, with 7000 years of history and a population of more than 83 million. Every year around 1,300,000 children are born in Iran, and there are more than 55,000 midwives currently available.

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Keeping Waterbirth Safe During Covid-19

by Barbara Harper May 8, 2020

All the research shows that water reduces the rate of infection in all three participants—mother, baby, and provider—and in some cases makes contaminants non-viable. This was the answer I gave to the first person, a hospital midwife from Italy, who asked about restrictions for using water for labor and birth during the Covid-19 outbreak. She sent a message on March 20 and I recommended that they continue with their established hospital waterbirth practice and, where and when necessary, use full personal protection equipment (PPE). Read more…. Keeping Waterbirth Safe During Covid-19

Andean Mountains in southern Ecuador.
Photos provided by author

Ecuador’s New Life Birthing Centers at the Time of Covid-19

by New Life Team Members May 7, 2020

Times are challenging right now all over the world—especially in areas of low resources, where supplies are already stretched thin and cultural barriers exist.
New Life Birthing Centers is a US 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which plants and operates holistic birthing centers that offer free evidence-based care in low resource countries. We currently operate in the Andean area of Ecuador and are opening in the Dominican Republic.

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Pregnancy on High: Is Cannabis Better or Worse than Pharmaceuticals during Pregnancy?

by Ken Magri April 26, 2020

The number of pregnant American women self-reporting cannabis use during pregnancy rose in 2017, to three to five percent. With more states legalizing the drug each year, that percentage is likely to keep rising, reigniting an old debate about whether using cannabis during pregnancy is safe.

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Photo by Kelly Sikkema

Letter to My Soon-to-be Parents—As We Negotiate These Unusual Times….

by Nancy Wainer April 24, 2020

Each day is one day closer to your meeting your baby—how exciting! We all want to do whatever we can to make it the safest, calmest, and most wonderful time it can be.

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Photo by Amy Humphries

A Transition from Medical Model Maternity Care to Women-Led Maternity Care

by Sharon Robinson April 22, 2020

On an epidemic scale, women in childbirth today are being “cared for” by maternity health care personnel who take control and make decisions for them.…

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Photo by CDC

The New Coronavirus and the Future of BCG

by Michel Odent April 10, 2020

Between 1921 and the mid-1970s, Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) was identified and studied exclusively as a vaccine to prevent tuberculosis and leprosy (infections by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium leprae). Let us recall that BCG contains a weakened strain of Mycobacterium bovis.

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Photo by David Veksler

Midwives and Covid-19

by Maryl Smith March 31, 2020

Who would have thought that a pandemic from a new virus would boldly arrive while we were going about our everyday service as midwives? For many of us, it raises questions about how to maintain our own health while protecting the health of our clients and their newborns. Fortunately, the little that we know about the virus and pregnancy is mostly reassuring. Read more…. Midwives and Covid-19

Photo by Josh Bean

Pregnancy, Birth, and Breastfeeding with Covid-19

by Cheryl K. Smith March 27, 2020

We are in the midst of a pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus, Covid-19. Midwives and pregnant women need guidance on how to proceed and whether their babies are at risk. Read more…. Pregnancy, Birth, and Breastfeeding with Covid-19

Photo by CDC

The Conflict Between Humanity and the Virosphere

by Michel Odent March 23, 2020

With the permission of Michel Odent, we find it relevant to save from oblivion extracts from his 2014 book titled Childbirth and the Evolution of Homo Sapien”. The selected chapter is about “Homo sapiens and the Virosphere.” Published originally in 2014 (too soon!), this book is now understandable.