Proper Midwifery

01/27/2026

Please share (but just in the Idaho Panhandle, Lincoln County, MT, and Pend Oreille and Spokane Counties, WA)!

01/01/2026

The story is good but there is so much more!

North Idaho midwives Kathy Johnson, LM, CPM, and Lori Sabin, LM, CPM, were also busy on Christmas Day. We all three practice in Boundary and Bonner Counties and beyond. The Christmas rush began in the early hours of Christmas Eve when one of my clients reported the beginnings of labor. Baby decided to wait until early morning on Christmas to make her arrival. She was followed by three of Kathy’s clients and one of Lori’s. Then, to end the day with a bang is the story in the article.

Also mentioned in the story, my youngest daughter decided to make her grand entrance twenty-six years ago on Christmas. The previous year, Lori had a Christmas baby. Interestingly, presumably due to the commonality of Cesarean-sections, inductions, and doctors wanting to spend Christmas day at home with their families, there are between 30% and 40% fewer babies born on Christmas Day in countries that celebrate.

Out of hospital, or community, births have increased over the past few years. In Idaho, there were 487 in 2018 increasing to 1,200 in 2024. According to Idaho Vital Records, about 5% of all Idaho babies are community births.

Fast forward to 2025, she served as midwife for another woman who welcomed a child on the holiday, though in a twist of fate she could not be there to help.

10/17/2025

Very well done and worth the watch.

What will *you* do when things go still?Each day, 65 American babies are born still, even in otherwise healthy, low-risk pregnancies. Together, we can change...

10/16/2025

10/16/2025

A pregnant woman (Amy Poehler) gives birth during a meeting with her employees (Sarah Sherman, Ashley Padilla, Tommy Brennan).Saturday Night Live. Stream now...

08/13/2025

Watch the video and tell me what you think.

Layers of tissue called the amniotic sac hold the fluid that surround a baby in the womb. In most cases, these membranes rupture during labor or within 24 hours before starting labor. Premature rupture of the membranes (PROM) is said to occur when the membranes break before the 37th week of pregnanc...

06/13/2025

“Too often we criticize women for their choices and do not stop to consider why they are making these choices.”

“Women will always find ways to meet their needs and feel safe when it comes to giving birth.”

From: Dahlen, H. G., Jackson, M., and Stevens, J. (2010). Homebirth, freebirth and doulas: Casualty and consequences of a broken maternity system. Women and Birth, 2011(24), 47-50.

02/11/2025

There's a lot of good/interesting information here.

Reisa Pollard is the founder and lead designer at Beyond Beige – a leading Vancouver based interior design firm. As a proclaimed late bloomer, she ventured t...

01/27/2025

Note to self: when doing a newborn metabolic screen, don't poke your own finger.

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01/19/2025

This is amazing!

As I was working to catch up on my reading and podcasts that I go through, I came across some very exciting news.

Dr. Stu Fischbein OBGYN of Reteach Breech and Birthing Instincts, alongside Rixa Freeze of Breech Without Borders successfully published a Twin Homebirth Study in a peer reviewed journal. This is a huge deal as there has never been a study done like this, and the parameters and outcomes of this study are incredible. To get into some of the statistics discovered in this study-
Twin Homebirths: Outcomes of 100 sets of twins in the care of a single practitioner.

Transfers prior to labor- 31. 1 true cholestasis, 1 true IUGR, 4 cases of twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) of the 21 mono-di pregnancies, and some preterm labor and pprom (waters breaking preterm pre-labor) cases.

69 sets of twins went into labor at home. 8 transferred during labor, resulting in 6 cesarean deliveries and 2 vaginal births.
91.3% of twin births resulted in a successful vaginal birth. Vaginal birth of twins for multips (mothers of one or more children) was 97.9%. Vaginal birth of twins for Primips (first time mothers) delivering twins was 77.3%. In this study, mothers with no previous vaginal births having a VBAC with twins were included in the primip category, despite having 1 or more previous cesarean deliveries.

61 sets of twins were born at home with 1 maternal postpartum transfer and 1 neonatal postpartum transfer. This included 5 twin VBACs with no previous vaginal deliveries and 1 twin VBAC with at least one prior vaginal delivery.

The single newborn transfer was due to Transient Tachypnea of the Newborn (TTN), a benign condition that resolved without treatment. The average delivery was 39 weeks 0 days, range 35-42wks. On average, Twin A had an APGAR of 8 and Twin B an APGAR of 7 at 1 minute. There were no statistical differences in APGAR scores based on birth interval, the time between baby A and baby B is born. The rate of maternal blood loss did increase with the birth interval (40+min).

There was only one emergent transfer during labor, indicated by intense maternal uterine pain. This can be a sign of uterine rupture, so the team decided on hospital transfer by ambulance. During surgery (indicated for suspected uterine rupture) there was no uterine window or rupture detected and the cause of the intense pain was unknown.

63.9% of the mothers with successful births at home had an intact perineum with no tearing, 27.9% had a first degree tear, 6.6% (4 women) had a 2nd degree tear, and 1 woman who was also a primip had a third degree tear (1.6%). There were no episiotomies. There were no neonatal deaths. There were no maternal deaths.

25% of hospital twins are born vaginally in the hospital setting, leaving a 75% rate of cesarean for twins born at the hospital. This study had a cesarean rate of 8.7%. The current USA overall cesarean rate is 34%. The World Health Organization states that a cesarean rate above 15% is concerning, as only about 10% of women should medically need a cesarean. Women deserve information and opportunity to make an informed decision that is right for them. As it stands, if a provider has not had breech vaginal training, about 1 in 20 of their patients will be an automatic cesarean. About 5.5% of pregnancies will have a breech twin or breech singleton. That is 1 in 20 clients that they can not serve, but can only offer a cesarean.

Below is linked the recently published study, as well as the podcast where Dr. Stu and Rixa Freeze discuss the study.

Twin Home Birth study:
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0313941

Rixa joins at 14 minutes and goes through her background and the process of peer review. At 42 minutes, the discussion of the study begins.
https://redcircle.com/shows/93749277-4626-4bd4-8469-ed3c1c1bf4d2/episodes/f175751e-d0ac-40f8-bdfb-1da6d200ddcf

11/26/2024

Found this food for thought today: "Very few Christians will admit to having more faith in the medical system than they have in God, but very few are willing to trust Him without the medical system. I think the time is coming when we will have to recognize it's an either/or situation." --in Born in Zion by Carl Balizet

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11/25/2024

Ran across this today and thought I would share because there is some good information and interesting stories within:

Visit the Black Coalition for Safe Motherhood website for a safe motherhood. Click for more details about us and our services.