This groundbreaking book takes us around the world in search of birth models that work in order to improve the standard of care for mothers and families everywhere. The contributors describe examples of maternity services from both developing countries and wealthy industrialized societies that apply the latest scientific evidence to support and facilitate normal physiological birth; deal appropriately with complications; and generate excellent birth outcomes—including psychological satisfaction for the mother. The book concludes with a description of the ideology that underlies all these working models—known internationally as the midwifery model of care.
Birth Models That Work
About the Book
Reviews
“Recommended.”—Choice"This book is a major contribution to the global struggle for control of women's bodies and their giving birth and should be read by all obstetricians, midwives, obstetric nurses, pregnant women and anyone else with interest in maternity care. It documents the worldwide success of programs for pregnancy and birth which honor the women and put them in control of their own reproductive lives."—Marsden Wagner, MD, author of Born In The USA: How a Broken Maternity System Must Be Fixed to Put Women and Children First
Table of Contents
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES
INTRODUCTION
Robbie Davis-Floyd, Lesley Barclay, Betty-Anne Daviss, and Jan Tritten
PART ONE. LARGE-SCALE SYSTEMS: NATIONAL AND REGIONAL MODELS
1. The Dutch Obstetrical System: Vanguard of the Future in Maternity Care
Raymond De Vries, Therese A. Wiegers, Beatrijs Smulders, and Edwin van Teijlingen
2. The New Zealand Maternity System: A Midwifery Renaissance
Chris Hendry
3. The Ontario Midwifery Model of Care
Margaret E. MacDonald and Ivy Lynn Bourgeault
4. Samoan Midwives’ Stories: Joining Social and Professional Midwives in New Models
of Birth
Lesley Barclay Utumuu
PART TWO. LOCAL MODELS IN DEVELOPED NATIONS: HOSPITALS AND BIRTH CENTERS
5. The Albany Midwifery Practice
Becky Reed and Cathy Walton
6. Small Really Is Beautiful: Tales from a Freestanding Birth Center in England
Denis Walsh
7. Transforming the Culture of a Maternity Service: St George Hospital, Sydney, Australia
Pat Brodie and Caroline Homer
8. Maternity Homes in Japan: Reservoirs of Normal Childbirth
Etsuko Matsuoka and Fumiko Hinokuma
9. The Northern New Mexico Midwifery Center Model, Taos, New Mexico
Elizabeth Gilmore
PART THREE. LOCAL MODELS IN DEVELOPING NATIONS: TRADITIONAL MIDWIVES, Professional
MIDWIVES AND OBSTETRICIANS WORKING TOGETHER
10. Teamwork: An Obstetrician, a Midwife, and a Doula in Brazil
Ricardo Herbert Jones
11. The CASA Hospital and Professional Midwifery School: An Education and Practice
Model That Works
Lisa Mills and Robbie Davis-Floyd
12. Mercy in Action: Bringing Mother- and Baby-Friendly Birth Centers to the Philippines
Vicki Penwell
PART FOUR. MAKING MODELS WORK
13. Circles of Community: The CenteringPregnancy® Group Prenatal Care Model
Sharon Schindler Rising and Rima Jolivet
14. Humanizing Childbirth to Reduce Maternal and Neonatal Mortality: A National
Effort in Brazil
Daphne Rattner, Isa Paula Hamouche Abreu, Maria José de Oliveira Araújo, and
Adson Roberto França Santos
15. “Orchestrating Normal”: The Conduct of Midwifery in the United States
Holly Powell Kennedy
CONCLUSION
Robbie Davis-Floyd, Lesley Barclay, Betty-Anne Daviss, and Jan Tritten
CONTRIBUTORS
INDEX