Region 1  (Far North)

Representative: Kendra Scarlett, Bonners Ferry

Greetings from the far north! Summer is here! It goes by so quickly so I am savoring every minute of this nice weather. It’s been very hot, so my gardens are enjoying this hot weather as well.

Denise Midstokke, from Pend Oreille Midwifery recently returned from her journeys abroad. She spent 6 months in Kenya working in a small village doing births, and providing all kinds of medical care. In April she left Kenya and traveled to Germany where she awaited the birth of her 1^st granddaughter. Congratulations Denise! I guess that means you are really a “granny” midwife now! And welcome home dear friend—we missed you!

While Denise was away, Barb and Emily continued to provide excellent care to women and their families in the Sandpoint area. Emily continues to work towards her goal of becoming a CPM, and will be sitting for the exam next Feb.

Womancare Midwifery in Bonners Ferry has had a relatively quiet summer birth wise. The end of summer and fall shall be much busier for us.  Barb, however, had a very busy spring and early summer in the Sandpoint practice. She is transitioning out of the Sandpoint practice now that is Denise is back.

She continues to be actively involved on the legislative committee, as well as be our commander in chief of the IMC. Barb and I plan on meeting with our legislators in August to bring them up to speed with our legislative efforts. There is always something to keep us busy!!!!!

Barb and I are pleased to announce that we have a new apprentice who will begin working with us this week! Julie Tobin is a mother of 3 beautiful children. Like many of us, Julie was inspired to pursue Midwifery because of her own birth experiences, and wants to help empower other women in making their birth a positive and fulfilling experience. Barb and I are excited about bringing Julie into our practice. Welcome Julie!!!

Dayspring Midwifery in Hayden continues to be very busy. They have 60 women in their care at this time and did 25 births last quarter. This week they had 4 babies in 4 days! Inga said they are really enjoying all their births, and are pleased that they have only had 2 transports this year.

Dayspring has made some staffing changes this past spring as well. Suzie Nielson is now the office manager and continues to do massage therapy at Dayspring as well. Also, new to Dayspring is Theresa. Theresa is a cardiac nurse who is now assisting Inga at births. Welcome Theresa!

In April Dayspring bought the birthing supply company Birth and Beyond. Casey, Daysprings former office manager, is now managing that business and is doing a wonderful job! Birth and Beyond offers complete birthing supplies, custom birth kits for midwives as well as midwifery texts, and birth related books, and DVD’s. “We can definitely beat the leading supply companies on just about everything,” Inga commented. You can visit them at their website: www.birthsupplies.com, or call them toll free at: 1-888-683-2678.

Region 1 midwife Cathy Weston will be heading to Senegal in West Africa this fall to work at the African Birth Collective. The African Birth collective is a non-profit organization that has grown out of the need for greater safety and empowerment of women in their birth experiences, and a desire to bridge the gap between traditional and modern midwifery in small villages in Senegal. The organization is comprised of international midwives, doulas, and birth activists that rely on donated supplies, equipment and funds to supply clinics that have little or no supplies themselves. The ABC offers opportunities for student midwives to get their birth numbers, as well as prenatals, post-partums, and well woman health care. Cathy will be going as a supervising midwife. She will be supervising 4 student midwives and 2 doulas during her 3 week stay. Cathy said they do an average of 80 births/month at the main clinic. As the area has a high rate of malaria, many of the women have problems with placenta previa. There is also a very high rate of birth and infant mortality (as high as 70% in some villages) due to complications from malaria. Cathy is looking forward to this adventure and will share her experiences with us in the next newsletter. Good luck Cathy, and blessings to you on your journey. If you are interested in learning more about the African Birth Project you can visit their website at: www.africanbirthcollective.org

One last note from Region 1, we continue to meet quarterly for Peer Review, and monthly for our study group. We have also been busy planning the annual IMC Conference which will be held at Camp Lutherhaven on beautiful Lake Coeur d’Alene. Please see the enclosed brochure for more information. We hope to see you all there. It’s hard to beat North Idaho weather in September!!!

Happy Summer to All--Kendra

 
Region 2 (Middle Idaho)

Representative:  Nancy Draznin, Genesee

Cathy Ward reports being very busy. She’s enjoying reading Optimal Foetal Positioning and highly recommends it.  Sherry Reiner has had a relaxing summer and was waiting on a mom in early labor when I spoke to her. Up here in the Moscow area May and June were busy for both me and Noel, but things have slowed down in July. I have one mom due soon, and then it picks up in the fall. 

Our study groups have been informative and enjoyable. In May I presented what I learned about breastfeeding from my lactation counselor training. In June Lisa Williams taught about the complete blood count and what those values mean. We have another study group meeting coming up at Kristin Eggleston’s scheduled for August 6^th.

Sue Strueble has been in the Philippines these last few weeks. She’s due back in early August and we are all anxious to hear about her experiences.  Lisa Williams has completed her ALACE Labor Assistant certification. Congratulations to Lisa.  I am looking forward to teaching another ALACE Labor Assistant Training in Twin Falls in August.  I hope to see some readers of this newsletter there.

I think that sums it up for us in Region 2. I hope to see you at the conference in September.

Region 3 (Southwest)

Representative: Jean Boone, McCall

After a busy first half, things have slowed down in the McCall area.  I’ve had some first-hand observation in the difference between rural and city midwifery practices.  I was able to help Teresa and Paula at Treasure Valley Midwives in Boise by filling in while they each took vacations in Europe (lucky ladies!).  My eyes get wider every time I step into their busy birth center.  My experience culminated at the end of June, with 3 babies born on the 30^th!  It was all hands on deck from 10:30 Friday night until 2:30 Sunday morning.  Yahoo!  I am grateful for the Treasure Valley Midwives Birth Center experience and grateful for the much slower pace of my own rural practice.  Thank you to Shelley for sharing 2 epic births with me; she is the epitome of the heart and hands needed to do the work we do.

Treasure Valley Midwives welcomes Carol Birdzell.  She will be working with Paula, Teresa, & Shelley while she completes clinical requirements for her midwifery degree from Seattle Midwifery School.

John Knickerbocker is in need of attending a peer review.  Please contact him at (208) 740-9499.

I look forward to hearing from you and/or meeting you at this years IMC conference.