Interested in having Henci speak?
For availability and fees, send Henci an email.
A list of talk topics is available below the
schedule; however, Henci will consult with you to determine
what best meets your audience's needs.
Scheduled Talks
| When |
Where |
Sponsor |
Topic |
Contact |
| 29 Mar 2008 - 9 Mar 2008 |
Redondo Beach, CA |
Ancient Arts Midwifery |
|
Trust Birth Conference |
Talk List
Active Management of Labor: Promise Unfulfilled
Participants will be able to:
- debunk the rationale that Active Management serves laboring women's interests
- list the disadvantages and risks of Active Management
- offer equally effective and far less risky strategies for promoting progress in labor
The Case Against Elective Primary Cesarean Surgery
Participants will be able to refute arguments that:
- elective primary cesarean surgery is as safe or nearly as safe as planned vaginal birth
- cesarean section protects the pelvic floor
- obstetricians championing a woman's right to elect surgery are merely defending patient autonomy
The Case for Natural Childbirth (not a full-length talk)
Participants will be able to:
- refute erroneous beliefs about natural childbirth
- explain the benefits of an unmedicated birth
- recommend or implement nonpharmacologic techniques to increase comfort in labor
Challenges to Implementing Mother-Friendly Care: The Ethics of Choice and Control (10 min)
CIMS Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative: Blueprint for Safe, Effective, Satisfying Care
Participants will be able to:
- list problems with U.S. maternity care
- describe a model of care that is safe, effective, satisfying, and cost-effective
- list strategies for improving maternity care
Economic Disincentives for Mother-Friendly Care (co-developed with Susan Hodges)
Participants will be able to:
- describe how the industrialization of medicine and the development of the obstetric specialist gave rise to the current profit-driven maternity-care system.
- list economic factors that have impact on the delivery of care.
- discuss ways in which reimbursement directs obstetric management.
- link specific policies and practices to profit motive.
- explain how outside commercial interests influence practices and policies.
- explain how time management concerns drive practices and policies.
- explain why HMOs and hospitals haven't embraced midwifery care or out-of-hospital birth as a cost-effective alternative.
Electronic Fetal Monitoring: The Machine that Goes Ping!
Participants will be able to:
- refute common rationales for the routine use of electronic fetal monitoring (EFM)
- list indications for EFM
- compare and contrast external and internal fetal heart rate and contraction monitoring
- list ways to avoid the drawbacks of EFM
- discuss strategies to avoid the baby developing abnormal fetal heart rate patterns
Epidurals for Labor: A Practical Approach
Participants will be able to:
- present the risks and benefits of epidurals and the risks and benefits of natural childbirth
- suggest strategies that will help laboring women avoid having an epidural
- list considerations that those assisting laboring woman can use to help her decide whether to have an epidural
- implement strategies that minimize the probability of experiencing an epidural's side effects
The Full-Term Breech: Turning Conventional Wisdom Upside Down
Participants will be able to:
- describe techniques for turning a breech, including their safety and efficacy
- list strategies for maximizing the safety and efficacy of external cephalic version
- explain why routine planned cesarean section has not improved breech outcomes
- list the controversies of breech birth and give pros and cons for each side
- list strategies for maximizing the safety of vaginal breech birth
The Gap Between Evidence and Practice
Participants will be able to list routinely or frequently used procedures, drugs, tests, and restrictions that do not constitute evidence-based care.
Gestational Diabetes: A Symptom in Search of a Disease
Description forthcoming.
Having a Baby? Ten Questions to Ask
Participants will be able to:
- make informed decisions about their care
- choose care options most likely to result in the best physical and psychological outcomes for mother and baby
- implement strategies for obtaining Mother-Friendly Care
How to Choose a Caregiver
Participants will be able to:
- compare and contrast the midwifery and obstetric models of care
- evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of choosing an obstetrician, family practitioner, nurse-midwife, or direct-entry midwife
- interview and select a specific caregiver
How to Choose the Place of Birth
Participants will be able to:
- compare and contrast the safety of out-of-hospital birth with in-hospital birth
- decide on whether to have the birth in a hospital, free-standing birth center, or at home
- choose a specific birth site
Preventing the Preventable Cesarean
Participants will be able to:
- list excess harms of cesarean surgery
- explain why expectant couples must take a proactive role
- list strategies for avoiding unnecessary surgery
How to Read the Medical Literature for Fun and Profit
Participants will be able to:
- describe, compare, and contrast the various types of medical journal articles
- define basic, statistical concepts
- evaluate the quality of medical studies
Humanizing Birth: A Global Grassroots Movement
(Note: This talk takes 15-20 minutes.)
Participants will be able to:
- describe similarities and differences among normal birth advocacy organizations worldwide
- describe factors that lead to forming an organization
- list activities and strategies used to further the promotion and protection of normal birth
- list obstacles to progress
The Illusion of Choice in Childbirth
Participants will be able to:
- list factors that interfere with a woman's ability to make free maternity care choices
- develop strategies that can help overcome those obstacles
Induction: Patience Is a Virtue
Participants will be able to:
- explain the steep rise in inductions
- evaluate the risks versus benefits of inducing labor for four common indications
- assess the safety and efficacy of various cervical ripening and induction techniques
Labor Doulas: Mothering the Mother
Participants will be able to:
- describe what services labor doulas provide
- list the physiological and emotional benefits of doula care
- explain why other potential sources of labor support (baby's father, medical staff, female relatives or friends) may not replace doula care
- allay common concerns couples have about having a labor doula at the birth
Limitations of Evidence-Based Medicine
Participants will be able to:
- list advantages of evidence-based medicine over other methods of determining best practice
- describe limitations and weaknesses inherent in concepts of evidence-based medicine
- list limitations and weaknesses of medical research as it relates to maternity care
- select evidence sources that correct for those weaknesses
- implement strategies that avoid those weaknesses
Mother-Friendly Care Vs. Obstetric Management: How Beliefs Determine Care
(Note: This is a 2-hr seminar intended for a college women's studies class in which participants will have watched the PBS documentary Born in the USA ahead of time. I will provide the documentary videotape. There is also supplemental reading.)
Participants will be able to:
- compare and contrast styles of care in hospital vs free-standing birth center vs home birth
- determine which care practices are in line with evidence-based principles of Mother-Friendly care
- describe the biases about women and childbirth that form the underpinnings of the obstetric belief system
- explain how these biases lead to practices that are not in accordance with the best research and the interests of mothers and babies
- explain how these biases can lead to violations of women's right to autonomy and to coercive and abusive treatment
- choose a birth practitioner and a place of birth where they or their partners can obtain safe, satisfying maternity care
Protecting the Pelvic Floor During Birth: The Bottom Line
Participants will be able to:
- refute the argument that vaginal birth per se poses a major threat to the strength and integrity of the pelvic floor and anal sphincter
- list causes of pelvic floor injury and weakness occuring during vaginal birth and throughout life
- advise women on how best to protect their pelvic floors during vaginal birth
- advise women on how to prevent and relieve symptoms arising from weakness and injury
Optimal Birth: Myths, Evidence, Reality
Participants will be able to:
- define optimal birth
- rebut myths about what constitutes optimal birth and how to achieve it
- list strategies for achieving optimal birth
- access policy statements and documents useful when advocating for change
The Safety of Out-of-Hospital Birth
Participants will be able to:
- defend the safety of home birth as documented in the medical research
- defend the safety of free-standing birth centers as documented in the medical research
- dispute the argument that the hospital is the safest place to have a baby
- debate factors that may increase the risk of out-of-hospital birth
Unnatural Childbirth: Obstetric Management and Undisturbed Birth
(Note: This is a two hour seminar intended for a college women's studies class in which participants will have watched the PBS documentary Born in the USA ahead of time. I will provide the documentary videotape. There is also supplemental reading.)
Participants will be able to:
- compare and contrast styles of care in hospital vs free-standing birth center vs home birth
- determine which care practices are in line with evidence-based principles of care
- describe the biases about women and childbirth that form the underpinnings of the obstetric belief system
- explain how these biases lead to practices that are not in accordance with the best research and the interests of mothers and babies
- list ways in which these biases can distort and corrupt the obstetric research
The VBAC Dilemma: What Does The Evidence Tell Us?
Participants will be able to:
- refute arguments that VBAC poses undue risk compared with elective repeat cesarean
- refute the current ACOG recommendation that safe VBAC requires hospital staffing beyond that required for other laboring women
- explain what is driving the obstetric campaign to curtail VBAC
- compare the potential harms of VBAC versus elective repeat cesarean
- list reasons given for refusing VBAC that aren't supported by the research
- advise women on VBAC management practices not supported by the research