AWHONN Day 1

I actually like attending OB conferences...I always learn so much and I like connecting with old friends and making new ones.  And those that attend conferences often have common goals and interests which makes talking and networking pretty easy.
I try to make it like a mini vacation, yes, it is work related but I like getting away to a different city and staying in a hotel.  I like trying the local food and doing some touristy type things.
Back to the conference though~

Our first speaker, Dolores Aguilar talked about Centering in Pregnancy.  She is from northern California and does group appointments for her pregnant patients.  It is a new way of giving care where women learn about their health, are taken care of, are provided with education and form a support group with the other pregnant women.  It is quite a novel thought.  I then had lunch with Dolores...what a sweet natured woman.  And she is really making a difference for her patients.  You can learn about the Centering in pregnancy model by clicking here.

Then I heard about Assessing Women's Coping in labor.  Instead of always asking about a women's pain in labor (yes, they are going to have pain), we should be asking and assessing how well they are coping with that pain.  Maybe we need to quit bringing up their pain and instead help them work through that pain. Here is the algorithm for the coping scale.

The next speaker talked about skin to skin in the operating room.  We do lots of skin to skin where I work.  The babies are born and go right up on to the mom.  Any medications and assessments are done while the baby is with mom.  The bath is not giving till hours later.  Skin to skin is important for it increases bonding and helps with breastfeeding.
Our c/section patients get to see the baby and touch the baby but the dad does most of the holding in the operating room...once the mother is in the recovery room then the baby is placed skin to skin.  Our babies do not go to the nursery for a routine exam as is done in many hospitals but stays in the recovery room with the mother (as long as both patients are stable).  We try to keep the delivery family centered as much as possible, whether that be a vaginal delivery or a c/section.
But, the new info from this lecture was that babies should be able to go skin to skin in the operating room too.  Impossible ~ no...but it would take some adjusting and convincing of doctors that it could be done.

Watch this cool video to see how it is done.  It is a bit long but worth the watch. Remember to turn off my playlist so the two sounds don't compete for your attention.  Warning it is a bit graphic (cool to me, but if you aren't used to the blood it may be hard for you).

The blurb from the you tube site:

"Although much effort has gone into promoting early skin-to-skin contact and parental involvement at vaginal birth, caesarean birth remains entrenched in surgical and resuscitative rituals, which delay parental contact, impair maternal satisfaction and reduce breastfeeding. We describe a 'natural' approach that mimics the situation at vaginal birth by allowing (i) the parents to watch the birth of their child as active participants (ii) slow delivery with physiological autoresuscitation and (iii) the baby to be transferred directly onto the mother's chest for early skin-to-skin. Studies are required into methods of reforming caesarean section, the most common operation worldwide."

Our last speaker of the day, Tiffany Montgomery, was so funny.  She has quite a sense of humor and was so easy to listen to.  She was speaking on "Protecting Mom's and Babies, How to take Legislative Action". Now I have never been one to get involved in political things...but she actually made it sound pretty fun.  She taught us how to write letters to our legislative leaders and encouraged us to get involved to make a difference.  Did you know there are nurses in congress?  Well, people that were nurses before they became congress women.  Tiffany even travels to Washington, D.C to support certain bills and speak to the House.  She lives an exciting life!

A couple of the bills that are on the floor right now are related to women's health and newborns.

There is one for supporting preterm infants - The PREEMIE Act:

Preterm birth is the leading cause of neonatal death. In an effort to better understand preterm birth and improve the health of millions of newborns, Congress passed the PREEMIE Act in 2006. The law expands research and other federal activities related to prematurity. The PREEMIE Act of 2006 must be reauthorized. Email your Representative and Senators and ask them to support the health of newborns by co-sponsoring the PREEMIE Reauthorization Act of 2011 (S. 1440/ H.R. 2679).

One to combat Maternal Mortality:

Women in the United States face a greater risk of dying from pregnancy-related causes than women in 49 other countries. The Maternal Health Accountability Act of 2011 (H.R. 894) would provide grant funding to better understand and combat maternal mortality and morbidity

And one for breastfeeding promotion.

Breastfeeding is the optimal form of infant nutrition. Help ensure that more moms can continue to breastfeed their babies after they return to work. Email your Representative and Senators and them to co-sponsor the Breastfeeding Promotion Act of 2011 (H.R. 2758/S. 1463).

The AWHONN site actually has a page where you can click on a form letter to send to your lawmakers.  It is super easy.  If these are things that are important to you then click on the AWHONN site and send those letters.  You do not have to be an AWHONN member to send the letters (but they do say you are a nurse, so you may have to change the wording a bit if you aren't one).  I told you that she made getting involved fun.  It is all about awareness.

This was just a quick snapshot of the conference. So much to learn about!

Debbie