Welcome to the Fall 2009 LCM Newsletter!

We are neither regular nor dependable with our newsletter, and never claimed to be!! Eventually, however, we send this out to keep in touch with all the families who have been gracious enough to invite us to attend their births or provide female health care to them. Thanks to YOU, LCM is doing fine, growing and changing as usual. Thank you for sending us your referrals; they are the lifeblood of our growth and we are continually grateful. We hope you're all having a healthy, happy autumn.

So, what's new at LCM?

As Usual-- We're Growing to Serve You!

Staff Updates

Reduced Hours for Anne

Last spring, our midwife Anne Cockerham, CNM,PhD, began working with Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing as the national coordinator for the Women's Health Course that trains many family-nurse practitioners and nurse-midwives. The good news is: she loves this work and really has a gift for educating nurse-midwives.

The bad news is: she can't do it all! In order to keep up with her students and faculty work, Anne will only be available to see patients on a limited basis. Her many fans and especially her gynecology patients will be glad to know that she can still see patients each week. She will not be on call for births, however, unless someone can figure out how to put more hours in a day, and more days in a week!

Welcome, Lisa Wiener!

Welcome, to Lisa Wiener, FNP, CNM! Our newest midwife, Lisa, will be orienting with us in the office and the hospital during the fall, and will start to attend births in early 2010. Lisa lives in Fairfax County, and most recently delivered babies at Providence Hospital for Women in D.C. She is also a Family Nurse Practitioner with 10 years experience! Lisa will work half-time for LCM and half-time for the Community Health Center in Manassas. We are delighted to have her join our team; she will be a great asset!

Lisa Wiener, FNP, CNM

Lisa earned her MSN as a Family Nurse Practitioner from George Mason University. After 12 years of working at an urgent care center she began providing care at a prenatal clinic in Woodbridge, Virginia where she fell in love with pregnant women and their babies and found her true passion. She was inspired to complete her Midwifery studies at Shenandoah University and received training in both urban hospital settings and the birth center environment.

She comes to us from Providence Hospital in Washington DC and feels that she has truly found her home.

Upcoming Events

Birth Matters Virginia Awards Dinner
Sunday, November 8, 1-5 pm
Renaissance Center, Richmond

*****FREEBIE! 2 FREE TICKETS! *****
FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED! As sponsors, LCM currently has 2 free tickets and no one to use them! Only obligation is to spend a little time at a table selling Midwives for Haiti Stuff! ) Call LCM if you'd like to use the LCM tickets. It's a very nice event!

This special annual event and awards dinner is held to honor special Virginians who have helped to increase safe birth options (i.e., increase midwifery, lower c/sections, etc.) in our state. LCM was the honored to receive this award in 2005, and we help sponsor the event each year. Held in Richmond this year, it is a very pleasant event, if you have time for a little drive down there--- wonderful food, silent auction of lots of family- and midwife-friendly items, an interesting speaker, and inspiration that birth options are improving in our state, little by little!

Check out the details at www.birthmattersva.org

(Also check out the winners of the video contest sponsored by Birth Matters! Wonderful stuff!)

New Moms Discussion Group: Baby Blues?

Mom's Discussion/Support Group for the Fourth Trimester
Friday, November 20, 2009
1 to 3:00pm
Moms, dads and babies welcome!

Come for open discussion/support group and to learn more about the post partum blues versus post partum depression during this group time with midwife Paula Senner and psychologist Stacy Baron.

Maximum: 10 moms
Please RSVP with LCM at 703-726-1300

The LCM Facebook Page is growing!

Please join our group Loudoun Community Midwives & Friends" and post something interesting to midwife-friendly families, on the wall or the discussion board.

2 favorite items there right now include an OB-GYN discussing how being more patient and waiting longer for labor to progress lead to less cesareans! He must have been hanging out with some midwives! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aEk--fIZAo

And, actor Taye Diggs telling the tale of how his wife delivered naturally with a midwife in a hospital: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNpAJX0a5Xs

Help! Advice of LCM's Friendly I.T.-folk Welcomed!

Needed: Referrals for Website Developers

LCM is interested in finding a local web developer to help renovate our website.

Perhaps you haven't noticed, but midwives are very good at health care and a little weak on the technology stuff. We've had a wonderful website designed that has been quite functional for several years, but are ready to "move up a notch" in sophistication and especially search engine optimization. We have a Request for Proposal written, and are interested in bids from people that YOU recommend to us!

We would like our developer to be:

• Local enough to come to visit our office
• Not one of our patients or a family member
• Someone our patients know and have done business with successfully

If you have a recommendation for us, please email it to wendydotson@comcast.net and we will send an RFP.

Midwives for Haiti Update

Growth & Success of Program

In March of this year, I took a trip to Haiti as a volunteer for nonprofit charity Midwives for Haiti. Lots of our LCM community supported the trip with generous donations and followed the story on my blog haitibabies.blogspot.com. Your interest and support has meant so much to me, and I've remained very attached and passionate about this project. So, I'm going back!

So, what is new in this project designed to save the lives of birthing women in Haiti by training Haitian midwives? -- LOTS!

• Class #2 which we started in March, is graduating. Several of the brand-new midwives are already hired. Two will move to the coastal town of Jacmel and staff a small prenatal clinic and birth-center. Two others will be working out of mobile clinics, traveling by truck on a regular basis to 2 parishes in rural Haiti that have never had any prenatal care before this time.
• Class #3 has 12 qualified students ready to go, starting in November.
• M4H has hired a second Haitian nurse-midwife to help with the teaching.
• Small and some larger grants have been given by several foundations that want to partner with us in this important work!
• American midwives are still making monthly trips to oversee and support the program.
• My 25-year old son Stephen Dotson will accompany this next trip, to collect interviews and film, then edit it for a promotional and You-tube use!

"What kind of Help is Needed?"

Transporting items to Haiti in our luggage is proving to be challenging and expensive, so we are limiting what we carry in our luggage. We do have specific needs, though.

To see a list of things I can take, or to learn how to send a contribution, see the post of Weds. Nov. 4, 2009-"Algebra Problem" at http://haitibabies.blogspot.com and please know I have continual gratitude for the multifaceted kindness and support I receive. Thank you from the heart....

Wendy and Midwives for Haiti
http://haitibabies.blogspot.com

Holiday Time: Coming Soon!

We love when our client families send us Holiday cards and baby photos!

For Holiday community service, this year, LCM will sponsor a collection to benefit the needy in our community, in memory of Margie's sister, Mary Pettys.

"THE JINGLE BELLE PROJECT"

Holiday gift collection for the needy families of Loudoun County

On Feb 12, 2009 Continental flight #3407 crashed outside of Buffalo. All 51 passengers and crew were killed.

Mary Belle Pettys (Margie Brandquist's sister) was a passenger on that flight. Belle, as she was known by her family, was one of ten children. She was a champion of the underserved and a faithful member of her beloved Catholic Church. In her honor, we are collecting holiday gifts for the less fortunate of Loudoun County. New, unwrapped gifts including toys, clothing, hats, gloves and gift cards are welcomed. We will be donating the items to St. Johns Catholic Church in Leesburg for distribution to those in need.

Collections will continue till Dec 5th. Help us honor Mary and all who were lost on that cold, February night.

Remember.....Every time a "belle" rings, an angel gets her wings.

Gratefully,

Margie Brandquist and the entire Pettys family

Also for Holidays! -- coming soon!

Janie Stockton, of the True Studio, also famous for the beautiful family photos in the LCM office -- is offering a Free Shoot for Holiday Cards!

On Nov 15th, from 10am-5pm at LCM Office; Watch email list and Facebook for details, coming soon!!

Clinical FAQ's: FLU Season

Flu Season is of course upon us, and you've likely had update emails or seen our Facebook Group posts to keep you updated.

And here is the short version of "FLU Info for Fall 2009":

• Handwashing, handwashing, handwashing!
• Use tissues, cover any coughs, and do not go in public if having flu symptoms
• Fever, sore throat, body aches and cough, are hallmark flu symptoms. (A cold or runny nose is not.)
• CDC recommends vaccination for seasonal flu and H1N1 flu for pregnant women and caregivers of babies 6 months and younger.
• LCM has seasonal flu vaccine and regular shipments of H1N1 vaccine.
• Pregnant women should not receive the "nasal spray" vaccine.
• Call your primary physician or LCM if you are pregnant and have flu symptoms. Pregnant women are being hit harder than non-pregnant women. It is recommended pregnant women take Tamiflu as early as possible after H1N1 onset.
• LCM will send out email, website, and Facebook posts when H1N1 vaccine is available
• LCM has removed the toys from the office to cut down on virus transmission. If you need to bring your children to the office, please bring along a toy from home.
  
  

Helpful Links

On Visitor Restrictions at the Birthing Inn
http://inova.org/patient-and-visitor-information/facilities/visitor-restrictions.jsp

For more Flu Info and updates
http://inova.org/healthcare-services/flu/swine-flu.jsp

Thank you all...

For keeping in touch with us

For sending us referrals

For your continued support of midwives and the Midwives model of Care

For your Friendship and Kindness

YOU are why we do what we do!

--Midwives and Staff at LCM