Midwifery and Health Care Reform Event on June 27th

Midwifery Emphasizes Healthy Nutrition for Healthy Moms and Babies

            Courtney Stasny is expecting her second child, who she will deliver at home with the help of midwife. Asked why she chose midwifery over traditional care, she said, “I’m pretty holistic about everything I do, so I wanted to have my babies as naturally as possible.”

            Stasny, along with her 18-month old son Noah, attended a healthy food cooking demonstration at CentreVida Birth and Wellness Center in Austin held as part of the nationwide Organizing for America Health Care reform program on Saturday, June 27^th.

            “Prevention is at the heart of midwifery,” explains June Lamphier, LM, CPM, a Licensed and Certified Professional Midwife (LM, CPM) and founding partner of CentreVida. “From the first interview through post-partum visits, we talk about nutrition because we know so many common problems can be prevented by eating healthy foods,” Lamphier said.

            Participants were shown how to prepare several easy-to-make and highly nutritious foods, including dishes made from lentils (high in protein), kale greens (high in calcium), and green beans. Everyone made their own three-ingredient savory sauce which they were given to take home, along with a healthy snack – maple syrup mixed nuts. Throughout the class, all sorts of nutritional tips were discussed such as how and why to soak dried beans and how to make ghee, clarified butter. The event ended with a meal made of the day’s dishes served with brown rice.

            Event organizer, Christy Tashjian, RN, CPM, LM says midwifery fits well into the framework of healthcare reform. Delivering babies at home or in a birth center costs a fraction of traditional methods. In Central Texas, for example, midwife service fees average $2,500 and include full-spectrum prenatal and postnatal care along with the actual birthing. Normal deliveries in a hospital, on the other hand, typically cost $10,000-15,000, and a Cesarean section can cost as much $25,000.

            “Midwifery is cost-effective and sustainable because this is holistic healthcare that’s about more than just money,” says Laurie Fremgen, CPM, LM, who also attended Saturday’s event.

            Another participant, Illysa Foster, M.Ed., CPM, LM, adds, “Midwives are experts at normal births. We provide each mother with nutritional counseling, emotional support and education throughout her pregnancy.”           

            Tashjian says an effort is under way to elevate awareness and consideration of midwifery as a viable healthcare alternative. Midwives and Mothers In Action (MAMA) is national organization that’s trying to achieve federal recognition of Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) as Medicaid providers.

            For more information about the organization and the effort to include midwifery in healthcare reform, please visit www.mamacampaign.org.

Written by Laurie Stoneham

Midwives who hosted the event

June Lamphier, Illysa Foster, Christy Tashjian, and Laurie Fremgen