BirthNetwork NWA Speaks Out on the VBAC Ban

BirthNetwork was featured tonight on our local CBS Affiliate. Our monthly Parent Topic Nights feature various topics surrounding pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding. Tonight's topic was entitled "The Truth About Cesarean Section and VBAC."

Bring Back VBAC to NWA!

Here's another great development for normal, mother-friendly birth in Northwest Arkansas. A local mother has created a website dedicated to bringing VBAC back to our area as a viable and available option for women who have had a previous cesarean section.

Please check out www.bringbackvbac.org and speak out on the forum and blog dedicated to the specific issues surrounding VBAC bans in our local hospitals. Get involved! Send the link to all of your friends who have had a previous cesarean, and even those who haven't. We are all impacted when hospital and insurance company policies undermine the rights of birthing women.

www.bringbackvbac.org links

The Big Push Campaign-petitions, letters, direct mail, press releases, advertising, more details to come......
Get the Facts- read it for yourself. Links to groups, sites& articles concerning VBAC.
Get Connected- sign up to get newsletter & update e-mails concerning VBAC.
Speak Up- forum to discuss the VBAC issue, share advice,coordinate with other groups, and trade ideas.
Speak Out- "It Happened to Me" themed blog. Share your C-section/VBAC stories. Show how VBAC (or lack of)effects real women's lives. Tell your story & read stories from other women in our community.
Suggestion Box- What do you think? Have suggestions, ideas, good links? Let us know. Everyone's input is needed.
Help Out- Find out what groups are working on the VBAC issue in our area and how you can help. Sign up- email help@bringbackvbac.org

ICAN has arrived to NW Arkansas!

The International Cesarean Awareness Network, Inc. (ICAN) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve maternal-child health by preventing unnecessary cesareans through education, providing support for cesarean recovery, and promoting Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC). Visit our research based website, http://www.ican-online.net/

Join us on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 7:00PM for educational and support meetings at The Jones Center For Families, 922 East Emma Ave. Springdale, AR. Room #221. Scroll down to review our 2008 meeting schedule.Lap babies are welcome. Free childcare is available on site. Call Kid Plus at 756-8090 ext. 118 for reservations. For more information about our meetings, to subscribe or volunteer, contact alyNWAican@hotmail.comor call Aly at 479-251-8446 or Angela at (479) 443-2337.

Please consider becoming a subscriber to ICAN! Without support from our subscriber base, ICAN could not continue its efforts towards improving maternal-child health internationally and in our local community!

Volunteers are needed and appreciated!

2008 Meeting Schedule

Mar: Current VBAC Climate in NW Arkansas
Apr: *Open Forum
May: Choosing A Caregiver
Jun: Open Forum

Jul: Increase Potential For Normal Birthing
Aug: Open Forum

Sep: Uterine Dependability
Oct: Open Forum

Nov: Creating a Positive Birth Environment

Dec: Open Forum

* Open Forum nights provide a safe environment for sharing birth experiences, healing and questions.

Terra Tots Grand Opening and the "Round Up" Fundraiser

I just got back from the Terra Tots Grand Opening Sale! The place was literally packed while I was there. My congratulations to the owners, Bernice and Brian Hembree. The store is warm, cute, and exudes a feeling of living life in awareness and peace with the earth. I know, it sounds granola, but my husband and I got the feeling while we were there that eco-friendly is also very chic. Hey, we've made the decision to make the leap to cloth diapering!

Besides being good to the environment, Bernice and Brian are all about being good to their community as well. Watch this clip as Bernice describes the Terra Tots "Round Up" Fundraiser. Until the end of March, proceeds from this program will benefit BirthNetwork of Northwest Arkansas. Make sure you pay a visit to this remarkable little store!

Business of Being Born

Well, all of the receipts and thank you notes have been sent out, and I think life may get back down to normal after a very successful opening event for the BirthNetwork of Northwest Arkansas, a benefit screening of "The Business of Being Born." Click on the movie above to see a slide show of pictures from the event.

We would like to express our heartfelt appreciation to our local sponsors, Birthroot Midwifery, Café of Life Chiropractic Wellness Center, and Advocating Birth made the majority of our marketing, printing, and hosting of guests possible. Additionally we received 35 silent auction items from 26 birth or parenting-related businesses, which brought just over $1,000 in donations for our Transparency Project initiative.

We are proud to report that 248 people attended the screening, including many expectant parents and birth professionals. Before the screening, we held a VIP reception where we were able to make some great contacts with consumers and professionals enthusiastic about improving the awareness and availability of mother-friendly maternity care in Northwest Arkansas.

We were proud to host an excellent panel of local birth experts, which included doulas, midwives, childbirth educators, a family practice doctor, labor and delivery nurses, and parents who had experienced many kinds of birth, from homebirth to cesarean to VBAC. The panel did an excellent job of discussing the current state of maternity care in Northwest Arkansas.

We have received many notes of praise, gratitude, and enthusiasm about the evening and about our upcoming initiatives, including the Transparency Project and our series of free Parent Topic Nights. It is evident to us that there are many, many people here in Northwest Arkansas who care deeply about the way babies (and mothers) are born.