Before my children were born I thought I had a pretty good concept of normal birth. I’d seen it on TV plenty of times. I’d be chain-smoking Camels in a waiting room while a team of doctors were flinging instruments around an operating room. They’d see the head, and about five seconds later the baby would catapult straight into the hands of the surgeon, who would slap the kid around a bit and pass it off to the smiling mother. The whole thing would be finished in an hour, tops. Then we’d go home and go to sleep. Either that or the baby would be delivered in the back of our Hyundai by a helpful cop.
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In Europe, three-quarters of all births are overseen by midwives. In America that percentage drops to less than five, even though midwife and home-birth practices here are demonstrably safe and cost between a third and a fourth of a hospital birth presided over by a doctor. The U.S. is home to 200,000 obstetricians trained for high-risk pregnancies, and first in the world in use of fetal monitors and other expensive machinery, but we’re number 22 in infant mortality. Illinois is 46th in infant mortality in the country. What are we doing wrong?
“In some states there are birth centers, places other than hospitals where women get care and give birth,” says Valerie Koster, who helped organize the conference. Koster is a certified nurse midwife, which means she’s an RN with advanced training in childbirth; she worked at Cook County Hospital before starting a small home-birth practice in 1989. “The existing birth centers have excellent records, but here in Illinois they’re illegal. There’s also no licensing procedure for direct-entry midwives.” Direct-entry, or lay, midwives have taken on-the-job training but have no degree. “They’re not illegal, but they’re not sanctioned–they’re in a kind of limbo.”
The midwives are also sponsoring two art exhibits, both called “The Birth of Art, the Art of Birth”–one running through October 1 at ARC Gallery, 1040 W. Huron, and the other at the hotel for the duration of the conference. “Anyone who’s interested in women’s health issues should come to the conference,” says Bogard. Single-day registration is $120-$130, the full weekend costs $380, and fees include all meals. Tipper Gore has already declined her invitation, but Clinton said she might come. Shalala hasn’t responded.
