4 pm update

No baby, yet.  The doula informed me that she’s comfortable at the hospital but isn’t really dialating well on Pitocin.  Stand by for more updates.

1 pm update on the new baby

Okay.  Here’s what happened.  The doula called saying the mother’s water broke at 8 am.  She and her husband went to the hospital for J to be checked.  I’m not sure why.  I thought it was a home birth?  Now that her water broke, the hospital (nurses or midwife) suggested that she has to stay, be on antibiotics and deliver within 24 hours.   She’s on Pitocin drip, comfortable and hasn’t dilated beyond 1 centimeter.  Will update soon.

Baby Being Born Today

I’m honored and very excited to be attending the birth of a new mom.  I just got the call 8 am this morning to be on standby.  My friend, doula and MEW Board member, Lisa Inglese, graciously invited me.  The new mom-to-be, I’ll call J for privacy issues, opted for a holistic birth at home with a midwife and doula. 

It’s her first child.  We’re all so excited and I’ve been nesting in my own home all morning with nervous energy.  It brings me back to all three of my children’s births.  Some experiences were beautiful and some not so good through my hospital births.  It’s my mission to bring peace and happiness for all moms and, especially right now, this new mom. 

I’ll keep you posted on facebook and twitter. 

What a beautiful day for a new life.  But every day really is alive when you think about it.  We should all live in the moment as a welcome expression of new life coming into being.

Have a great day!

2 year old delivers baby

I had to share this.  A toddler helps deliver his sibling.  http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-us-odd-mamas-helper,0,5758391.story

Ladypallooza—WOMEN’S SYMPOSIUM

HEY,

Come have fun with us on Saturday, December 5th!!

‘Tis the season for festivities!  Celebrate the spirit of women at Ladypallooza.   We’ll be dancing and singing and sharing ideas on Saturday, December 5 between 10 am and 4 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Stony Brook.  Ladypallooza is sponsored by Mothers Emerge Worldwide, a non-profit organization dedicated to help women find holistic health care before, during and after birth.   Shop from local craftswomen, enjoy music from female musicians, participate in workshops, listen to discussions about women’s health, wellness and pregnancy.   They’ll be gourmet snacks.   $5.00 fee or bring a canned good donation and get in free.  Children under 13 are free.  Ladypallooza at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 380 Nichols Road, Stony Brook.  Visit, www.ladypallooza.com

REDBOOK talks about women’s issues “Down There”

Redbook takes a lighter approach towards explaining heavy periods, urinary and fecal incontinence and less on the actual issue of birth trauma.  I shared my story to help others.  Bravo Redbook for talking about these issues.

http://www.redbookmag.com/health-wellness/advice/embarrassing-medical-problems-5

Joni Mitchell’s birth trauma

I love rock ‘n roll.  Who doesn’t?   But lately, I’ve been reading Girls Like Us by Sheila Weller the fascinating account of the three greatest rock ‘n roll women: Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon.   Legend has it, Joni Mitchell’s only child at the time she’d named Kelly, was given up for adoption.  Joni feeling the starving artist was unfit for motherhood was distraught over her choice and many say it haunted her.  She also re-tells the traumatic birth in various media interviews.  

Lyrics from Little Green from the album: Blue. 

Born with the moon in cancer
Choose her a name she will answer to
Call her green and the winters cannot fade her
Call her green for the children who’ve made her
Little green, be a gypsy dancer

He went to California
Hearing that everything’s warmer there
So you write him a letter and say, her eyes are blue.
He sends you a poem and she’s lost to you
Little green, he’s a non-conformer

Chorus:

Just a little green
Like the color when the spring is born
There’ll be crocuses to bring to school tomorrow
Just a little green
Like the nights when the northern lights perform
There’ll be icicles and birthday clothes
And sometimes there’ll be sorrow

Child with a child pretending
Weary of lies you are sending home
So you sign all the papers in the family name
You’re sad and you’re sorry, but you’re not ashamed
Little green, have a happy ending

Here’s an excerpt from the book Girls Like Us:  When 21-year-old Joni Anderson walked out of the Toronto General Hospital maternity ward in February 1965, she was in a “sort of numb and half-awake period,” as she would later recall to intimates.  Her newborn daughters was in foster care, and she was recovering from the nurses’ diverse disdain, which she has labeled as “traumatic.”  “She was one of the walking wounded.  She’s been chastised both tangibly and passively by the nuns in the place — it was just tremendous,” says her second husband Larry Klein, of what she told him fifteen years later.  “She felt she was going to stigmatize her parents, that she would be relegated to the dungeon of existence” if it were revealed that she’d had a child out-of-wedlock, “She felt ostracized, with no hope for a job, and then (a couple of months later) here was this guy who wanted to be with her:  She thought, that’s the strongest way the wind is blowin.”

DOULAS WILL BE COVERED UNDER MEDICAID

Wonderful news!!!  Finally.   This information was shared from Long Island Doula Association.   For the full information on the tax code for doulas, check out:  NUCC.org

Effective October 1, 2009, the National Uniform Claim Committee (NUCC) has approved and defined a tax code for certified doulas in the United States. This code will enable certified doulas to obtain an NPI (National Provider Identification) number to submit reimbursement claims to Medicaid and third-party provider insurance companies.
Applying for your NPI numberThe new taxonomy code is 374J00000X and is called “Doula” under the heading of “Nursing Service Related Providers Type.” Although it is listed under the “Nursing” heading, it is not required to be an RN or LPN to obtain an NPI number. The description includes the services of labor doulas, postpartum doulas, and antepartum doulas. “Doulas work in a variety of settings and have been trained to provide physical, emotional, and information support to a mother before, during, and just after birth and/or provide emotional and practical support to a mother during the postpartum period.”— NUCC.org

Application standards are in the final stages of development, but one thing is already clear. Certification credentials will be necessary to apply. Only certified doulas will be able to use this code to apply for an NPI number or for reimbursement. Application for an NPI number can be made using the new taxonomy code at the National Plan and Provider Enumerator Systems (NPPES) website. While group practices may be allowed to apply for a number, it is strongly suggested by NPPES that each individual certified doula apply for her own NPI code.
Billing for Medicaid/Insurance Reimbursement

The taxonomy code and NPI number do not guarantee reimbursement, but they do remove the major obstacles to reimbursement that have existed up to this point. Continue to use appropriate contracts with your clients. Billing your clients directly and offering them reimbursement when we receive payment from the insurance companies will create the best opportunity for consistent insurance billing to become a reality. Once everything starts working more smoothly, we may be in a better position to bill directly.

A standard billing form is in development and will be available shortly. In the meantime, a 1500 Universal Claims Form can be used to bill for reimbursement. These forms can be ordered online or purchased at any medical supply store. Billing standards for labor doulas are in the final stages of development. CAPPA will release those amounts as soon as they are finalized. We feel confident that suggested billing amounts will be much more commensurate with the work involved than is reflected in many regional fee structures.

Billing standards for postpartum and antepartum doulas are still in development and may take a little longer as they are much more complex.

In order to become a “Medicaid Provider”, a separate application process must be completed. This process varies by state, but will require the taxonomy code and NPI number. Check for application instructions on your state website.

CAPPA will be sending out further information on billing standards, forms, and other developments as they become available. We will strive to answer all your questions in a timely fashion. Please direct your questions to your program director as follows: Labor Doula program, Antepartum Doula program, Postpartum Doula program.

We owe a deep debt of gratitude to Pat Burrell, RN, CD for working tirelessly over the last year to obtain assignment of this code. Pat is continuing to spearhead the effort to finalize details of this exciting development. If you have a question that cannot be answered by your program director, or if you simply wish to express your thanks to Pat, she can be reached at mindbodysp@aol. com.

__._,_.___

Birth Trauma

I still live it.  Her fingers were spindly long, trimmed with paper thin crumbly fingernails.   Her skin had that pink, crisco crinkle drying in her new, brightly lit air womb of the world.  I was in love with her and breathed in the musty muck of motherhood scent she and I both held.  I cradled her easily with my left arm as she lay on my swollen belly–on the outside now–aware that we are two, no longer one.

Somewhere after that first feeding, with Melanie quietly tucked in her plastic cradle, I had the urge to go and the nurse accommodated me with a bed pan.  I never needed the bed pan with my first two children.  Legs still numb from the epidurals, I was still able to slither off the bed and make it to the bathroom where a nurse would hold up a plastic container requesting some “liquid output” so she could record my recovery progress.   I always made it. 

Not this time.  Something was different right away.  Something was different since it took my ob/gyn almost an hour the day before to sew me back together.   I remember wondering in a dizzy post birth fog as the epidural wearoff and sheer exhaustion and overwhelming emotions took over, was something wrong with my body?  It was the beginning of a seven-year journey to heal.

Mothers Day Every Day

This is a must do.    In light of the recent high powered women’s summit in New York City this week end.  This is some much needed help that we can do in grassroots community ways.
Mothers Day Every Day: The Campaign for Healthy Moms and Newborns

 

“http://www.mothersdayeveryday.org/index.cfm