Grassroots Network Message 603007
CPM2000 Study 2nd Most Popular BJM article in 2005!
Dear Friends,
Researchers Ken Johnson and Betty-Anne Daviss forwarded the press release below – great news that their study on Certified Professional Midwife-attended home births has received so much attention!
For those of you who are new to this list, you may be interested in CfM’s fact sheet summarizing the results reported in this article at http://www.cfmidwifery.org/pdf/CPM2000.pdf. The fact sheet also includes the URL where you can read and download the article on-line for free.
Sincerely,
Susan Hodges “gatekeeper”
==============================================
Press Release: March 9, 2006
Home Birth Makes the Hit Parade in British Medical Journal
Home birth appears to be the second most popular subject for readers of the British Medical Journal (BMJ), second only to treatments for heart disease. The BMJ has just released its 2005 annual top 10 list of articles receiving the most attention on the web in the first week after publication.
(http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/preview_aboutsite/top-ten2005.shtml)
“Outcomes of planned home births with certified professional midwives: large prospective study in North America”, published last June 18th, 2005, was the third most popular article among several hundred published in the BMJ in the year 2005.
Given that only a minority of women in developed countries choose home births, why is it that such an unlikely topic should hold such a prominent position in one of the most prestigious medical journals in the world? The study is, in fact, timely. As home birthers are statistically among the more educated in developed countries, this study – the largest prospective home birth study ever published – provides a scholarly juxtaposition to birth conducted in the standard medical system.
In spite of such interest in natural birth, randomized controlled trials are also presently being formulated to study whether or not outcomes are better if cesareans are conducted on all women regardless of indication. The push in this direction could not be farther from the unassisted vaginal birth that many women still deliberately choose. While there is a movement to render vaginal birth an “extreme sport,” it is still preferred by many women in order to have more control and engage in a normal biological function that women have performed for centuries.
The BMJ editors one paragraph summary succinctly describes the research:
Giving birth: home can be better than hospital
For women with low risk pregnancies in North America, giving birth at home bears similar risks of intrapartum and neonatal mortality as giving birth in hospital, but planned home births are associated with lower rates of medical interventions. In a prospective cohort study, Johnson and Daviss (p 1416) evaluated the safety of home births involving certified midwives in 5418 women who intended to give birth at home when labour began. The study participants experienced substantially lower rates of epidurals, episiotomies, forceps deliveries, vacuum extractions, and caesarean sections than women with low risk pregnancies who gave birth in hospital.
In the last 12 days of June, 6,500 different users accessed the article on the web and in July an additional 2,500 different users. Interest has been sustained since then – 1,250 to 2,000 different users have gone to the article each month since then. The abstract has been accessed more than 7,000 times, the full text HTML over 25,000 times and over 6,200 copies of the article have been downloaded as a PDF. In total the article has been accessed in some form almost 40,000 times since publication.
The article and 24 letters to the editor (rapid responses) from around the world are available FREE OF CHARGE at BMJ.com. Go to past issues, choose June 18, 2005 and look under “This Week in the BMJ” to see the summary from the editors and 5 of the letters to the editor from places as far away as India. Go to the papers section of that issue to download a copy of the paper and read 19 other letters to the editor (below the article).
The authors can be contacted for comment or interview at Ken_LCDC_Johnson@phac-aspc.gc.ca , (613) 957 0339 or Betty-Anne@rogers.com , (613) 730 0282.
Other BMJ facts:
709,000 unique users go to the BMJ website every month; monthly page impressions: 6,763,200
The print version of the BMJ goes out to 107,000 subscribers in Britain and 15,500 subscribers internationally
Local editions of the BMJ (in the local language) are published in China, Greece, the Middle East, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Romania, South East Asia, Turkey, and West Africa.
Data:
In the initial week after publication, the CPM2000 article here were the stats for “hits”
Outcomes of planned home births with certified professional midwives: large prospective study in North America. Kenneth C Johnson, Betty-Anne Daviss. BMJ 2005;330:1416, doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7505.1416 [Abstract]2211 [Abridged text]699 [Abridged PDF]230 [Full text]7681 [PDF]2549
(http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/hitparade/20050618.shtml#PAPERS)
=================================================================
SHARE WITH OTHERS IN YOUR AREA!
Feel free to forward the Grassroots Network messages to others who might be interested!
HOW TO JOIN THE GRASSROOTS NETWORK LIST
Visit the Citizens for Midwifery website at www.cfmidwifery.org .
Scroll to the bottom of the page and enter your e-mail address. It's that simple!
GET INVOLVED!
Are you interested in volunteering with some dynamic women in a supportive environment?
Help CfM promote the Midwives Model of Care!
We have many ways to get more involved ~ committees, state and regional representatives,
and smaller tasks that will help CfM grow stronger and become more effective.
Get in touch with us!
=================================================================