MBC Achieves Baby-Friendly Designation
Madison Birth Center was recently recognized as a “Baby-Friendly” birth facility, making us one of only 50 hospitals and birth centers in the USA (and the only facility in all of south central Wisconsin) to achieve this prestigious designation!
The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) is a global program sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to encourage and recognize hospitals and birthing centers that offer an optimal level of breastfeeding support for mothers and their babies. Thank you to all of the MBC staff, and to our clients, for making “Baby-Friendly” status a reality for Madison Birth Center.
MBC Recognized as a “Best Practice” in Nation
Madison Birth Center recently participated in a national benchmarking process through the American College of Nurse Midwives. Our practice was recognized as one of the top three in the nation for the percentage of women breastfeeding at 6 weeks. Our practice serves a diverse set of clients, many of whom are devoted to breastfeeding, but some who are not. Kudos go to all birth center staff for creating an environment that so successfully supports a woman’s ability to breastfeed, and to our clients for their commitment to this important mothering practice.
World Breastfeeding Week Walk
The first week in August is World Breastfeeding Week. This year’s theme is “Breastfeeding and Family Foods: Loving and Healthy” and aims to educate families about feeding family foods while continuing to breastfeed. Beginning solid foods while breastfeeding confuses many parents, and as more women breastfeed for longer, the theme is timely. A good resource in the Madison area is Happy Bambino’s “Baby’s First Foods” class, taught by MBC’s Hannah Copp and Kimberly Wasserman. Check out the class description at Happy Bambino
World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated in over 120 countries. In Madison, our La Leche League chapter is sponsoring a walk around the Capitol Square on Saturday, August 6th at 9:30am. The walk will be followed by drawings for prizes from many local businesse! s, Madison Birth Center included. For more information on the walk, contact Leigh at wbwmadison@gmail.com, or 608-442-9612. We encourage all breastfeeding families to take part in this fun event!
First Annual Reunion Picnic
This Saturday - August 6, 2005 - is the date for the First Annual Madison Birth Center Reunion Picnic for all MBC clients, students and group members. We have reserved Mendota Park, which is right on Lake Mendota in Middleton, with a large shelter, grills, play structures, horseshoe rings, a sand volleyball court and bathrooms - in short, everything we need to have a great time. You should have gotten an invitation by now. If not, please give us a call at the birth center. Come see friends and fellow childbirth class members and their babies/toddlers. We are very excited to see all of you soon!
Garage Sale to Benefit Birth Center Clients
Birth and Parenting Options of Madison Inc., a new local non-profit, will be hosting a garage sale on Friday, September 9 and Saturday, September 10, from 9 am to 4 pm at 5209 Milwaukee Street. Proceeds from the sale will go towards grants for women who wish to birth at the birth center, but can’t afford to do so. Save the date and save your stuff. We will be accepting donations after the first week of August – bikes, toys, kid and adult clothing, gently used furniture and more. Email Vesla at vesla@kennyp.com to arrange a drop off on your side of town.
Sad Farewells
We bid farewell to two of our midwives as they move on to pursue other opportunities. Mary Sommers accepted a full-time job directing the new Access to Health Care Community Health Center on the east side of Madison in June. Debbie Healy will leave the birth center in early September, around the time she gets married. We wish these talented midwives the best of luck on their journeys, and are confident they will grace the world with their many talents.
Welcome Julia Vance, CNM
We are very pleased to welcome a new nurse-midwife to the Madison Birth Center! Julia Vance will join us from Portland Oregon, where she has had a busy home birth and hospital practice. She is an experienced lactation consultant and has trained student midwives from the Oregon Health and Science University and Seattle Midwifery Schools. Julia has a teen-age daughter and adult son, both born at home. Julia has a very interesting life story that we’ll post on the website soon. (Stay tuned!) She will start at the birth center at the end of August. Please welcome Julia and help make her feel at home in Madison.
Friends of Wisconsin Midwives
Friends of Wisconsin Midwives (FOWM) is a newly formed grassroots organization dedicated to supporting the midwives model of care and access to midwifery in all settings in Wisconsin. They believe every childbearing family has a right to a safe, satisfying experience with respect for human dignity and worth, for cultural expression and a parent’s right to self-determination. They are currently building a data base and gearing up to support current legislative efforts that support midwifery care. We encourage you to join this group (it’s free) and consider giving them a donation to cover mailing and other costs. As a member, you’ll get their wonderful newsletter, detailing events and issues important to families who support midwifery care. Please support this all-volunteer organization! You can request to be added to their list by e-mailing Tanya Mudrick at midwifetanya@yahoo.com or sending a donation to:
Friends of Wisconsin Midwives
c/o Meg Collins
2156 Linden Ave., #1
Madison, WI 53704
MBC Supports Birth Center in Haiti
Madison Birth Center recently donated medical supplies to Maison de Naissance a birth center in southern Haiti, which is doing much to address the suffering of women and children in that area. In addition to providing obstetrical and women’s health care, this birth center provides much needed vaccines and vitamin supplements. Haiti has been affected by poverty and political unrest for quite some time and mothers and babies have paid the price with the highest neonatal and maternal mortality rates in the western hemisphere. Maison de Naissance employs Haitian nurse-midwives and staff, with the help of financial support and volunteers from the U.S. One of our nurses, Natalee Hartwig, will be volunteering there in January. To learn more about this effort, visit www.maisondenaissance.com.
