Letters to the Editor and More (This portion of the site is under construction)
The Omaha World Herald
Letter to the Editor: The Public Pulse pulse@owh.com
Journal Star (Lincoln)
Letters to the Editor:
Gordon Winters, Opinion Page Editor: (402) 473-7434
Victoria Ayotte Brown, Interactivity Editor: (402) 473-7338
Mail: Lincoln Journal Star, Editorial, P.O. Box 81689, Lincoln, NE 68501
Email: oped@journalstar.com Fax: (402) 473-7291
Letter to the Editor: The Public Pulse pulse@owh.com
Journal Star (Lincoln)
Letters to the Editor:
Gordon Winters, Opinion Page Editor: (402) 473-7434
Victoria Ayotte Brown, Interactivity Editor: (402) 473-7338
Mail: Lincoln Journal Star, Editorial, P.O. Box 81689, Lincoln, NE 68501
Email: oped@journalstar.com Fax: (402) 473-7291
Nebraska News
39 born at Midwife's Place, not hospital
Omaha World Herald
39 born at Midwife's Place, not hospital -reported by Bob Glissmann Published May 15 15, 2012
Cindy Lange-Kubick: Hoping not to break the law when their water breaks -Journal Star article
Cindy Lange-Kubick: Hoping not to break the law when their water breaks -published January 19, 2012
Rally for Homebirth Rights- 1011 News
Rally for Homebirth Rights -reported by Kim Eiten. Aired January 18, 2012
Unassisted: Home Birth in Nebraska- KVNO 90.7 FM Story
Originally aired December 29 and 30, 2011, this story highlights Nebraska's continued lack of access to licensed midwifery care in a home birth setting. Click to hear or read transcripts of Lindsey Peterson's piece:
Unassisted: Home Birth in Nebraska Part One
Unassisted: Home Birth in Nebraska Part Two
Unassisted: Home Birth in Nebraska Part One
Unassisted: Home Birth in Nebraska Part Two
NFOM BOD Response to "Home Births on the Rise"
To read the Omaha World Herald article this response addresses, please click here. This response was originally posted September 13, 2011 in the form of a note to the NFOM facebook page.
"Saturday's Omaha World Herald article about the rising home birth rate deftly demonstrated what so many already know: that the Nebraska laws governing home birth exist in their present state because many medical professionals seek to deter consumers from choosing home birth by making it legally difficult, and they have persuaded lawmakers that home birth is an unsafe option. When medical professionals characterize home birth as unsafe, they are directly contradicting many studies that establish the safety of home birth, including the one published in 2009 in Canada. In addition, Britain’s Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (RCOG) is now calling for more out-of-hospital births. Such evidence in support of home birth makes one wonder if concerns about safety are truly behind the objection to midwife-attended home birth in Nebraska.
The fact that home births in Nebraska have increased by 30% between 2005 and 2010, a rate significantly higher than the 20% national rate of increase, is especially interesting. Not only is paying out-of-pocket the only option for a midwife-attended home birth in Nebraska (no insurance, no Medicaid coverage), but Nebraska consumers have no practical access to home birth attendants recognized by the state. The characterization of direct entry midwives (DEMs) who attend home births in Nebraska as "skirting the law" seems an attempt by the journalist to summarize the unclear statutes surrounding the profession, as there are no laws that specifically address the legality of DEM-attended births.
There was an effort to criminalize the work of non-nurse midwives in the early 1990s, but it was unsuccessful. An opinion issued by then Attorney General Don Stenberg was quoted in a Lincoln Journal article (May 19, 1993): "The practice of lay midwifery...constitutes the unauthorized practice of medicine". The opinion went on to state "...the Nebraska Legislature's failure to specifically mention midwifery in section 71-1, 102 (dealing with the practice of medicine) or to define it, could cause section 71-1, 102 to be challenged as being unconstitutionally vague should a lay midwife be prosecuted for the unauthorized practice of medicine under this statute." (More information is available on this topic [on the NFOM website].
Clearly, trying to deter women from choosing home birth by limiting their access to midwives is ineffective and, if concerns about birth safety are indeed paramount, then ensuring women have easier access to recognized birth attendants in the home seems a more prudent approach. Home birth is not the ultimate goal of its advocates, but rather safe birth, which is best achieved in a climate which supports open communication and collaboration among various care providers.
Of all potential birth attendants, including doctors, midwives, and family members, Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs) are the only ones for whom it is explicitly illegal to attend Nebraska home births. Nebraska Friends of Midwives (NFOM) is actively advocating and lobbying to remove the home birth exclusion from the statutes governing the practice of CNMs. While Marilyn Lowe, CNM, says that she will only practice in a hospital setting despite any future changes to the law, there are other CNMs practicing in Nebraska who would very much like to attend home births. Home birth is within the scope of CNM practice in most states, including all the states which surround Nebraska.
Furthermore, the American College of Certified Nurse Midwives (an organization of which Ms Lowe is a member) "supports the right of women who meet selection criteria to choose home birth," and "recognizes certified nurse-midwives (CNMs)...as providers who are qualified to attend planned home births." The discomfort of one CNM who is unfamiliar with home birth hardly speaks to the safety of midwife-attended home birth, let alone to the willingness of other current and future Nebraska CNMs to attend home birth. Nor does this opinion respond to the demands of consumers.
Finally, while access to attended home birth is certainly something NFOM supports, NFOM is not a "home-birth advocacy group" as stated in the article. NFOM is a non-profit organization with the primary purpose of providing education and raising awareness regarding the benefits of midwifery, and lobbies proudly within the boundaries of a 501 (c)(3) organization for increased access statewide to midwifery care in all settings. A request for a correction regarding this information has been submitted to the Omaha World Herald.
-Nebraska Friends of Midwives Board of Directors"
Additional Responses:
"Hospitals have trouble re-creating what midwives offer: a respect for the process and the ability to wait and support mom, baby and the family." said Omahan Rachel Dowd in her responding letter to the editor.
Omaha World Herald- Essay about Birth Centers 2010
Essay about birth centers in Nebraska.
Published in the Omaha World Herald.
Written by Autumn Cook (NFOM Chair 2005-2010) about Birth Centers in Nebraska
Published in the Omaha World Herald.
Written by Autumn Cook (NFOM Chair 2005-2010) about Birth Centers in Nebraska
Nebraska CNM speaks about midwifery care
Omaha World Herald- Gentle Beginnings Birth Center in Norfolk
Omaha World Herald article about how the legal requirement for a Written Practice Agreement impeded the opening of Certified Nurse-Midwife Gail Consoli's free-standing birth center in Norfolk.
