Oooh, so many exciting things happening in the world of midwifery and reproductive health these days…here are a few that are on my radar:

• ACNM’s Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health publishes a new study that examines the outcomes of birth in free-standing birth centers in the US, from 2007-2010. Over 15,ooo participants were included, the results are striking: only 6% of women birthing in these centers had cesarean births. 6%! Read the rest of the study results here. Rebekah Dekker, over at Evidence-Based Birth, gives a good summary of what the results mean. Science and Sensibility blogger Amy Romano also discusses this study in an interview with one of the authors.

• Speaking of Amy Romano, I’m finally starting to delve into the new book she’s co-authored with Henci Goer, Optimal Care in Childbirth. To be honest, I found Goer’s previous book “The Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth” a bit problematic in tone and assumptions (as if the rest of us don’t think? What?). But this book is geared towards midwives, doctors, and nurses, so I’m hoping that I won’t find it so off-putting. Well, except the price. Even on Kindle, it was pretty expensive. More thoughts to follow.

• Follow up on ACNM’s recent policy statement on trans-inclusive midwifery care: Guest post on Science and Sensibility exploring working with gender variant families by CNM Simon Adriane Ellis, one of the key participants in the drafting of ACNM’s statement. My favorite quote?

If someone asks you why you choose to do birth work, what do you say? Many of us would say that we are passionate about serving women, that we value women’s bodies and autonomy and we honor the journey to motherhood. Which is fantastic! We should! But what if your pregnant client doesn’t happen to identify as a woman? Does that change anything about the importance of their journey to parenthood? Does it make their birth experience less authentic and worthy of support? Of course not.

• This thoughtful piece by high school senior Hannah Weintraub on the generational divide in the reproductive justice movement. There’s been lots of talk lately about how millenials just don’t appreciate the work of our mothers in keeping abortion safe and legal (which, by the way, I find ridiculously incorrect)…but this piece is great because it’s actually written by a young person.

• Finally, in Oregon, my home state, the potential shift to mandatory licensure for direct-entry midwives is a big issues in the community right now. I happened to post about it on Facebook late last year, a journalist friend saw it, and she jumped on the lead, which resulted in this article in the Lund Report yesterday. Courtney also discusses the on-going push for continued and increased OHP funding of home birth.

Happy reading!