Document text
SATURDAY January 24, 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels January 7, 2004 A natural take on birth By Amanda Bolsinger For the Tidings Unknown to many in the city, Ashland is home to Oregon's only licensed private midwifery career school. Student Char Peterson (left) holds out a pelvis for a practice baby doll to move through. Denise Baratta | Ashland Daily Tidings The International School of Traditional Midwifery is in its third year of operation. The school has an on-site program that draws students from around the country - only one student attending the program is from Ashland. The rest have moved here to take advantage of the school, which also has a computer-based distance learning program that trains students around the world. While most babies in the United States are born in hospitals, midwifery is becoming a more popular alternative. "Women are reevaluating the kind of care that they want," says school director Sudy Storm. "Midwifery is very woman and family centered. Prenatal visits are an hour long and the woman gets the midwife that they sign on with, not just whoever is on call." Many women choose to have their babies in hospitals because they feel safer with the technology that hospitals offer. For other women, though, hospitals are an intimidating choice. "Midwifery is the oldest approach to birthing," says student Char Peterson. "The medical community looks at pregnancy as what can go wrong. Midwives approach to birthing is that in most cases with a healthy mother birthing is a natural process. Women have been doing this for centuries." Midwifery has excellent outcomes, according to school officials. Statistically, pregnancies with midwives have few complications, fewer cesarean sections, and lower birth trauma rates. The countries with the best birth statistics are the countries that women have babies with midwives, Storm says. "We focus on prevention education through the prenatal visits," says Storm. "The midwife is present through labor and delivery. We give personal individualized care and become very close to the families, like extended family really." The International School of Traditional Midwifery also has an outreach program. Its mission is to improve maternal-child health and maternity outcomes through education and service. The school has sent instructors and students to countries with a need for midwives. "We support their training of indigenous midwives, help them set standards and protocol and empower them to improve their maternal-child outcome," says Storm. The students who go on the trips also gain valuable experience in birthing that is hard to come by in the United States. "We learn along with their midwives. It's an exchange of culture, supplies and knowledge," says Peterson. The program is called Moms on a Mission of Service, known affectionately as MOMS. Currently the school is planning a trip to Nigeria - one instructor and two to four students will represent the Ashland-based school on the trip, which will probably last 30 to 60 days. "It's a joint educational process," says Storm. "Clinical experience is hard for our students to get here, and the people there get help with academics and prenatal and birthing instruction." School officials are planning ways to involve the local community in their project. They are planning on having school children and Girl Scout troops help collect and organize "momma baby packets" consisting of cloth diapers and blankets. Medical professionals are helping them gather medical supplies and teaching materials. The school is also hosting a family fair on Jan. 19 in the old Cantwell's building. The fair will include a variety of people from the community to offer advice and information on care provider options, the community resources available, and child-birth educators. The school will offer free prenatal exams and baby-weight checks. "We are real excited about doing something locally," says Storm. "We just think that you have to do something in your own backyard." DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - ODOT Road Cams