News Headlines

Midwife Amy Medwin (left) was recently arrested.

• Midwife Amy Medwin arrested for practicing midwifery in North Carolina Feb. 23, 2011 "Amy Medwin was arrested Sunday morning and charged with giving unauthorized practice of midwifery after a newborn was born in an east Charlotte home and rushed to the hospital." More information on how to support Amy here: http://www.ncfom.org/

• Georgia law could give death penalty for miscarriage Feb. 23, 2011 "There's a new bill on the block that may have reached the apex (I hope) of woman-hating craziness. Georgia State Rep. Bobby Franklin—who last year proposed making rape and domestic violence "victims" into "accusers"—has introduced a 10-page bill that would criminalize miscarriages and make abortion in Georgia completely illegal. Both miscarriages and abortions would be potentially punishable by death: any "prenatal murder" in the words of the bill, including "human involvement" in a miscarriage, would be a felony and carry a penalty of life in prison or death."

• The "Skeptical OB" speaks on how natural childbirth educators are lying to pregnant women Feb. 23, 2011 (warning, this article is pretty intense) "...natural childbirth is not simply a specific set of choices; it's a philosophy that idealizes a specific set of choices and makes value judgments about women who choose differently. Moreover, it is a philosophy that rests on specific empirical claims; claims that are disingenuous, untrue, or occasionally outright lies."

• Incarcerated woman dies from an ectopic pregnancy Feb. 22, 2011 "A pregnant Marion County jail inmate died from internal bleeding caused by an abnormal pregnancy, police said Tuesday. But Amber Redden's family wants to know why she wasn't taken to a hospital before she died."

• UK university trains midwives in sign language Feb. 21, 2011 "Student midwives at a university in Leicester are the first in the UK to be taught basic sign language so they can help deaf women during labour."

• FDA issues severe warning on pre-term labor drug 'Terbutaline' Feb. 18, 2011 "The drug is FDA-approved to prevent and treat symptoms associated with asthma, bronchitis and emphysema, and was being used for off-label obstetric purposes, including treating preterm labor. There is no evidence that using Terbutaline improves infant outcomes, and carries risk of serious adverse effects, including maternal death."

• 61-year-old surrogate grandmother gives birth to her grandson Feb. 15, 2011 "A Chicago woman gave birth to her first grandson last week. Kristine Casey, 61, served as a surrogate for her daughter, Sara Connell, 35, who had tried unsuccessfully for years to have a baby. When Finnean Lee Connell arrived via cesarean section, Casey became the oldest woman in Chicago's recorded history to give birth."

• Sudan focuses on high maternal mortality rate Feb. 10, 2011 "The United Nations humanitarian office in South Sudan's capital, Juba, says that 1 in 7 women who become pregnant “will probably die from pregnancy-related causes.”'

• UK Midwifery Training Numbers Fall Feb. 8, 2011 "The number of midwifery training places is dropping despite the Prime Minister's promise to recruit 3,000 more midwives, research has suggested."

• Moms fight hospital over photography ban Feb. 3, 2011 "Spurred by a hospital policy not allowing any photography or video until five minutes after birth, an online petition has hundreds of people expressing outrage that a hospital would prevent parents from recording such a moment that could never be recaptured."