UPDATED: Over 30 "Supporters of Midwifery at Evergreen" demonstrate, address Board of Commissioners.

Some great news to share:   On Friday, January 6th, two representatives of the group attended a meeting at Evergreen Hospital with members of their administration and staff. During the meeting it was learned that steps are already being taken on the part of Evergreen.... more to come!  Read their Facebook Page, below for all the news and details!

"Support Midwifery at Evergreen" demonstrators/FACEBOOK

Recently, three of Evergreen's five contracted midwives (not hospital employees) were let go.  Regional supporters of midwifery organized, sending letters to the Administration and circulating a website and Facebook Page.  Kay Taylor, Evergreen's Communication and Marketing Director responded favorably to the activists, writing:

"We are evaluating whether we could provide 24-hour midwifery care again in the future. While we are working diligently, the process may not be completed until the end of January."

But this didn't stop their planned demonstration.  Over 30 women, men and children demonstrated outside of Evergreen Hospital yesterday afternoon.  They peacefully carried home-made signs telling Evergreen to bring full service midwifery care back to Evergreen.   About 13 attended the 6:30PM Board of Commissioners meeting (including Minutes) where two midwifery advocates addressed the Board.  Read More >>


Laura of Kirkland spoke for the demonstrators first.  She was supportive of Evergreen saying "this was THE place to have a baby."  She praised Evergreen for being the first hospital in the region in the '60's designated as "baby friendly."   Laura said "lots of mothers came to Evergreen because of  it's unique "combo-hospital-midwifery" service."  Laura said full service care ended when the Administration laid off 3 of their 5 midwives, eliminating 24/7 care.  "Midwives now have to share on call duty with the doctor, so midwives could miss deliveries"  A second issue is "OB doctors can't back up a midwife during complicated 'vaginal births after C-section'."   Chair DeYoung promised that Evergreen would work for "a win-win" solution. 

Activist LD of http://www.birthzone.com/  writes:

"Removing the midwives will inevitably raise the c-section rate, partly because midwives typically have more patience with long labors than OBs have, and partly because a percentage of the low risk women will choose to birth elsewhere, taking their vaginal births with them. As an illustration of that, I'm working with Puget Sound Birth Center to see if they'll share how many clients have already transferred to them from Evergreen midwives as a result of this change.

Reported By Bob Yoder
Photo By SMAE Facebook Page

A member of the Support Midwifery at Evergreen organization sent RNB data ranking Washington hospitals C-section rates.  To find Evergreen, Overlake, Swedish, Group Health, Northwest, Providence and other hospital C-section rates, Read More >>

Rankings: Seattle area hospitals, ranked from LOWEST TO HIGHEST cesarean (c-s) rate, 2009:

Group Health Central Hospital  (complicated deliveries in 2008:  21%)

total births: 1712,  Cesarean (c-s rate):  24%,

Northwest Hospital (complicated deliveries in 2008: 21%)

total births: 1047;  c-s rate:  29%

Stevens Healthcare

total births:  1134; c-s rate 30%

Providence Everett Medical Center  (complicated deliveries in 2008:  21%)

total births: 3674;  c-s rate: 30%

Tacoma General Hospital

total births: 3804;  31%

Valley General (Monroe)

total births: 372 ; 31%

Swedish Medical Center (both) (complicated deliveries in 2008:  24%)

total births:  7316; 33%

Valley Medical Center (Renton) (complicated deliveries in 2008:  19%)

total births:  3864; 35%

Auburn Regional Medical Center (complicated deliveries in 2008:  18%)

total births:  958;  36%

University Of Washington Med Ctr  (complicated deliveries in 2008:  42%)

total births:  2201; c-s rate:  37%

Overlake Hospital Medical Center  (complicated deliveries in 2008:  15%)

total births:  4109; c-s rate: 38%

Evergreen Hospital Medical Center  (complicated deliveries in 2008:  21%)

total births:  4080; Cesarean (c-s) rate:  38%

Data source: Washington State Department of Health, Comprehensive Hospital Abstract Reporting System
http://www.doh.wa.gov/EHSPHL/hospdata/CHARS/2009/2009FYHospitalCensusandChargesbyDRG.xls

Why do rates range so much from birth place to birth place?

Different populations: Rural hospitals often only accept low-risk clients who are not expected to need substantial interventions, and refer clients who are known to be higher risk to larger, regional hospitals or research/teaching hospitals which have the facilities to deal with potential complications. Therefore, it is natural for these regional hospitals and teaching hospitals to have higher rates of interventions because they serve a higher-risk population.

Different caregiver philosophies/training: Midwives are typically trained to minimize interventions, and typically have lower rates than obstetricians, who are trained surgeons. Thus, birthplaces which use midwives and family practice doctors typically have lower rates than hospitals where obstetricians perform most of the deliveries.

Prevalence of other interventions: Hospital protocols also vary, with some birthplace philosophies leading to lower cesarean rates. Other medical interventions in the labor and birth process may increase the prevalence of cesarean, so if interventions are common at a birthplace, then the cesarean rate may be higher. For example, induction of labor increases the relative risk of cesarean, so a hospital with a high induction rate would be likely to have a high cesarean rate.

ENTIRE SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE:  "Cesarean Rates for Washington State Hospitals, 2009"
http://www.transitiontoparenthood.com/ttp/resources/seattlecesareanrates2005.htm

THE UNNCESAREAN BLOG:
http://www.theunnecesarean.com/blog/2010/8/23/washington-state-cesarean-rates-by-hospital-2009.html

Evergreen Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Nursery
http://www.evergreenhospital.org/nicu