Sisters Midwifery Blog

Illysa Foster, author of Professional Ethics in Midwifery Practice, has a great blog:

Sisters Midwifery Blog

Midwives Model of Care and Ethics

How does the Midwives Model of Care inform our ethical decision making? How does ethics in midwifery differ from ethics in medicine? These questions can best be answered by re-framing ethics not as a linear, "if X, then Y" paradigm, but rather as a system that guides our decision-making in the context of caring. The Midwives Model of Care places pregnancy and childbirth in a woman-centered context, with the midwife-client relationship as a trusting, caring foundation. Consequently, ethical decision-making in midwifery starts with the relationship and then aims to resolve ethical dilemmas in a context-sensitive manner. For an elaborated discussion, see Chapter 12 of Professional Ethics in Midwifery Practice.

Meet the Authors

Authors Illysa Foster and Jon Lasser are available for presentations on ethics for midwives. Spring travel includes trips to Chicago, Amherst, and Philadelphia. If you're interested in making arrangements for a meeting with the authors, contact Jon at drlasser at gmail dot com. Meetings can be formal or informal and tailored to your needs. We're particularly interested in midwifery education and visiting with students.

Our publisher, Jones and Bartlett, has a wonderful nursing blog that has good content and links to many useful sites.

Fundraiser Brings in Over $600 for Haiti

Last night, in conjunction with the release of Professional Ethics in Midwifery Practice, a fundraiser was held to deliver maternity care and supplies to Haiti. The raffle and silent auction raised over $600, which will be used to purchase supplies that will be taken directly to Haiti this summer by Austin midwives Illysa Foster and Mary Littlefield. Illysa and Mary are traveling through Midwives for Haiti, which has been providing care to Hatian women since 2003.

United Nations Promoting Midwifery

This is old news (2008), but new to us. The United Nations reports that millions of lives can be saved by investing in midwifery.
Full story: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=28150&Cr=UNFPA&Cr1

Excerpt: “By investing in midwives and universal access to reproductive health, millions of lives can be saved and we can reach Millennium Development Goal 5, to improve maternal health,” UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid said in a news release today, referring to one of eight goals that seek to slash a host of social ills by 2015. Beyond the deaths millions more women suffer long-lasting harm due to lack of care.

Book Release Party and Haiti Fundraiser

Please come to the book release party and fundraiser to provide maternity care and supplies to Haiti. 2-12-10 from 8-10pm at Soma Vida, 1210 Rosewood Ave., Austin, TX. Free event with silent auction, raffle, live music, desserts and drinks