Replies

I've had 2 encouraging replies to my letters. The first one mentions the hearing being canceled, but it was rescheduled (it seems) as a way to halt the flow of letters and throw us off the trail. Didn't work. Over 100 midwifery supporters showed up. It made an impression for sure!
I promise I have hundreds of posts in my head. I'll do one soon!

Dear Ms. :

Thank you for writing Representative Maurer on the issue of a woman’s right to choose where and with whom she gives birth. Of course he recognizes that it is a family decision as well, as he has heard from a number of fathers who have written e-mails who have written letters in support of their partners birthing circumstances. For all of you- both the professionals and the clients (note the absence of the word “patient” as Rep. Maurer believes pregnancy is a natural state as opposed to a condition which routinely requires some sort on medical intervention) please understand he is committed to keeping Oregon a leader in the nation regarding mid-wife options for those who wish to use their services.

I apologize that I am unable to answer each of you individually who wrote this week but rest assured I have read all of your e-mails and have keep Rep. Maurer fully aware of how seriously you take this issue. I have just received a revised agenda for the House of Representatives Interim Health Care Committee on November 17, 2009 and it looks like you have been replaced by H1N1 as the last topic of the day. Between sessions committees meet about every eight weeks and these meetings are informational in nature. I stress this because I want you to know that I do not think that there will be any current change in policy at this time. Based on the fact our next session in February 2010 is only 4 weeks in length and each member is allowed only one bill I do not believe there will be any changes to the current law during the upcoming session.

I would be remiss if I were not to caution to remain vigilant and informed about what your legislators think about this subject. Be sure they understand your reasoning in a polite and articulate manner and your opinions will be taken seriously.

Best regards,

Allison Mac Mullin

Chief of Staff

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Thank you so much for your email about midwifery and home birth.

I have received over 130 emails in the past 10 days from moms, dad, midwives, and students of midwifery telling about their experiences with home birth. As someone who has experience with home birth within my own family, this issue hits close to home for me, too.

During the hearing, I understood the concerns regarding home birth that were raised by the Home Birth Safety Committee, but I also heard you loud and clear: it should be up to parents how they choose to bring their children into the world. I promise to balance my consideration of safety with the rights of parents if this conversation continues.

Your advocacy is important and I appreciate it. I hope that you will be in touch with your legislators about this issue and others going forward. In the meantime, happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

-ben

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Ben Cannon
State Representative - House District 46
900 Court Street NE
Salem, OR 97301
(503) 236-3351 (Portland)
(503) 986-1446 (Capitol)
rep.bencannon@state.or.us
www.repbencannon.com

My letter to the Oregon House Health Care Committee

Tuesday, November 17th the Oregon House Health Committee will hold a hearing on direct entry midwives (DEMs) at about 4pm in Salem. I am going to try to figure out how to be there! There is movement afoot to make it very difficult to have a midwife-attended homebirth in Oregon. NOT OK!
I am e-mailing this letter to the committee members. I'll make some phone calls too. Please do the same if you can. Thanks!

I am a midwifery client. I chose to have a homebirth for the birth of my daughter in April. I had a hospital birth with my son 11 years ago and witnessed the births of my 2 adopted children in hospitals.
I did not make the decision to homebirth lightly. There seems to be some misconception about those who choose homebirth or birth center births. I am a 33 year old homemaker with a BS in Child Development. My husband of 13 years has a MS in Mechanical Engineering. I read extensively about birth, researched birth choices and gave the matter a lot of thought.
In my research, I learned that for uncomplicated birth, home is safer. Even in more "complicated" birth situations, such as breech presentation, twin birth or VBAC, for me, I felt safer with midwife who trusted my body's ability to give birth. I have found that many people look only at data showing whether or not mom and baby lived through the birth experience. The fact is, there is so much more to it than that. What about morbidity? Including, but not limited to, sever and disabling consequences from C-section mistakes, infection, reactions to medications, birth experiences that are so traumatic they leave the mother depressed or dealing with PTSD?
The reason I chose a homebirth was so I could maintain choice and control over my birth. In a hospital setting, women give up all autonomy over birth. Fear is used evey steop of the way to coerce families into going along with what the doctors and nurses want. What they want usually translates into "more convenient" or "more likely to hold up in court". Insurance companies and fear of litigation run the show. Research and evidence are ignored outright.
My midwife was very open with me about what the research said. I signed countless forms stating I understood the risks and benefits of each choice I made. I know that I was fully participating in the decisions made about MY baby and MY birth.
There was no carelessness or disregard for my safety. My midwife spent a full hour at every appointment. She looked for any signs me or my baby might have any sort of complications. She had a contingency plan for everything. If I had developed a complication and wanted or needed the care of a physician, she would have happily helped me obtain care from one.
Pregnancy and birth are not medical emergencies. By treating them as such, we are actually creating many of the problems we are trying to avoid. Too many babies are born premature because of doctors' hastiness to induce or surgically extract babies. Usually this is based on tests of questionable reliability. Trust in medicine is being eroded. For me personally, if my midwife has to "risk out" for everything under the sun--especially breech, twins and VBAC's--I will NOT choose to birth in a hospital with a doctor instead. I will birth with an unlicensed midwife or birth without any assistance at all. Based on conversations with other women, I know I am certainly not alone in this sentiment.

Bath time creativity

Awwwww
Watching her crazy brother. See how bewildering he is?

We have all been sick. Even poor baby M. So far it has been mild. Fever, coughs, runny noses, general aches and cranky's. When G got up this morning (after a very uncharacteristic trip to mom and dad's bed) he was shivering. Sure enough, he was burning up. I wrapped him up in sweats, socks and a blanket and let him have reign of a section of couch. This afternoon when he complained again of his hands hurting, I thought to take a look. They were red and swollen so we called the dr and they said to bring him in. Because of his history of Kawasakis, there is a danger to his heart. His body tends to swell, in the veins and arteries. As in aorta. Scary. So he has an Rx for tamiflu, which we have decided to fill given the risk his heart
Anyway to keep E occupied while I cough up my lungs, I put him in the tub. He thought the baby bath looked like a fun boat. So in it went. Then in went E. There was a bit of a learning curve to avoid capsizing it, but he figured it out. Then it was in and out. In and out. In and out.




Now I need to go cuddle my G and sit and nurse Baby M, which is apparently the only acceptable activity right now in her mind.

Trip to Rockaway

Several months ago, my mom asked if we would be interested in taking their week at the beach. She had bazaars and Dad had meetings so they couldn't go this September. I jumped on it! So, ight near the end of the month, we packed up and headed to Rockaway Beach, Oregon for a week of family vacation time.
The thing I love about Rockaway, well 2 things really, is how peaceful it is. Quite a few towns on the coast are so touristy and busy. Rockaway really isn't. The other thing is how much beach there is. Not a rock for miles. At low tide it feels like you are in an entire county of smooth sandy beach.
The unit we stay in has a bed, kitchen, dining in one studio-type room, plus a bedroom with two queens. It was far from E proof--but nothing really is. So that kept us hopping. It also made sue we got out and about everyday! Lots of walks on the beach and trips to the swimming pool.
I never did get a picture of the kids in the pool. They were so cute. Baby M decided the pool was just grand. She splashed her little heart out. :)
Here's a few of the pictures from the adventure.

C helping E fly a kite

M on the same day. For some reason, when everyone else was in shorts, M was bundled. *shrug*


We took a morning trip to Oswald State Park. C took the older 2 over to see some tide pools. They naturally walked in the surf on the way back. Something happened (dunno what still) and G totally went down. Face first. Into a wave. That frosted look to his hair is all sand. His mouth is fine btw, he just needed, like, 5 crackers at once to feel revitalized. He was completely fine. We were just glad it was G and not M that ate it. Or the rest of the day would have been miserable. G is such an adventurer.

The evening walks were more apt to get chilly. Especially for wet little toes. Here's my little E and me, finishing up a walk.

G displying his kelp find. He was too chicken to touch it for awhile, but warmed to the idea eventually. Not long after that, we found a dead squid that had washed up. It hadn't been dead for long, but we don't have a clue as to cause of death. I didn't have my camera and C is a bit squeamish about that kind of thing. So we don't have pictures, but I wish we did. It was huge! And in perfect shape. M had a great time poking at it as we did a semi-science lesson. I would guess the body was a little over 2 feet and the tentacles a bit longer still.

Walking back from town. The boys are racing. You can see just how vast the beach is here. Baby M took all her walks in the wrap, of course. :)

An accurate family picture

Pics of the kids

Pictures of the kids hope this works ok - S is trying to use Lightroom

Shorts

Me: G, it's too cold today for short sleeves and shorts. How about one of your new pairs of pants?
G: No way! I love shorts. I'm always gonna wear shorts.
Me: Well, its getting colder. When you play outside, your legs will get cold.
G: I saw somebody else wearing shorts. I can too.
(discussion about the wonders of having our own brain to think with and the importance of not doing things just because someone else does it)
G: wanders off singing a love song to his shorts

15 minutes later
G: Is it almost time to leave for school?
Me: About 5 more minutes.
G: Is that enough time to change my shorts?
Me: Yes
G: Good, cuz I hate wearing shorts!

Me: Chuckle sigh