St. John's Pleasant Valley forbids midwife deliveries as of Monday

Lynn Olson monitors the health of a mother and child through a sonogram. Cammie Dittmar watches at back. Leaders of St. John’s Pleasant Valley Hospital have told certified nurse midwives they will no longer be allowed to deliver or assist in deliveries as of Monday.

Midwives say they don’t know why they’re being banned from delivering babies at a Camarillo hospital, though officials say the decision is driven by concerns about patient safety.

Leaders of St. John’s Pleasant Valley Hospital have told certified nurse midwives they will no longer be allowed to deliver or assist in deliveries as of Monday. They will still be able to deliver babies at a sister hospital, St. John’s Regional Medical Center, 11 miles away in Oxnard.

Hospital officials said in a written statement they wanted midwives at the Oxnard site because it has an intensive care unit for babies as well as a specially trained staff. That ensures immediate access to “the highest level of care,” said T. Michael Murray, president and CEO of St. John’s in Oxnard and Camarillo.

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/feb/06/st-johns-pleasant-valley-forbids-midwife-as-of/

Planned midwife deliveries in hospitals have high rate of positive outcomes; even higher than planned doctor deliveries in hospitals (check Canadian Medical Association Journal). This is also a cheaper method of care, which could substantially lower health costs if insurance covered it in America (which it does in Canada).

Because that's how I was delivered - at home by a midwife.

I suspect it's a turf battle either between administrator's or by the nurses.

Maybe they've had lawsuits or close calls with midwives.

Although that doesn't seem to be the general trend with midwives. Our son was born quite safely with a midwife in attendance, even if she wasn't the caregiver in charge.

in the absence of a NICU, there shouldn't be any deliveries happening there.

The Birth Action Coalition (BAC) is protesting this decision tomorrow 11am at the corner of Rose and Gonzalez in Oxnard. BAC Medical Advisor, Dr. Stuart J. Fischbein has written an article on what is going on at Pleasant Valley Hospital and the midwifery ban. "Thoughts on Pediatric Policy"

http://birthactioncoalition.blogspot.com/2010/02/thoughts-on-pediatric-policy-by-bac.html

For more information on BAC visit their website: http://www.birthactioncoalition.org or their blog http://birthactioncoalition.blogspot.com or http://twitter.com/BirthActionCoal

Tiffany

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