W-B Area CTC goes remote-only to Oct. 19 due to COVID-19

Kyrgyz president declares new state of emergency

Covid certainly has narrowed our entertainment options. Movies, concerts, plays, performances of all types along with museums and exhibits are all on hold. We&rsquo;ve relied on outdoor activities alone or in small groups and socializing within our &ldquo;bubbles&rdquo; to maintain some psychological equilibrium in this challenging time. Many of us have also tried &ldquo;binge watching,&rdquo; that is going through several (many? all?) episodes of a TV series in one or a few binges.
				My wife Mary and I have become attached to a British series &ldquo;Call the Midwife.&rdquo; This well produced series is filled with fascinating characters in challenging circumstances in a poor dockside neighborhood of London in the 1960s &#8230; all revolving around a group of nuns and lay nurses committed to midwifery.
				The management of pregnancy and childbirth has changed in many ways since the 1960s, but we shouldn&rsquo;t lose sight of the many things that have not, including the important role of midwives.
				Last week, Oct. 4-10, was National Midwifery Week, and in recognition of that observance, I&rsquo;d like to honor some of the most important practitioners in women&rsquo;s health.
				Today, certified nurse midwives (CNMs) are registered nurses with a bachelor&rsquo;s degree in nursing and a master&rsquo;s degree in midwifery. To become certified, they must pass a national certification examination.
				Regardless of your skill or field, that&rsquo;s a lot of schooling, and to successfully earn those degrees takes an impressive amount of dedication and focus. Midwives are highly trained and educated medical professionals who can provide a wide range of healthcare services and consultations to women and their families.
				Certified nurse midwives can provide:
				&#8226; Prenatal care
				&#8226; Delivery and postnatal care
				&#8226; Birth control
				&#8226; Routine wellness care
				&#8226; Annual exams
				&#8226; PAP smears
				&#8226; Breast exams
				&#8226; Hormone therapy
				The wellness care offered by midwives covers gynecological care for women from adolescence through menopause, including annual exams and screenings. CNMs are fully licensed to prescribe medication, including pain medication and birth control. They can also order lab tests, diagnose conditions and provide patient counseling.
				And midwives do not solely care for mothers during home births. In fact, according to 2014 data from the National Center for Health Statistics, more than 94 percent of births attended by CNMs occur in hospitals.
				When they are delivering babies, or consulting on a birth, CNMs are healthcare partners, working with patients on birth plans based on the individual&rsquo;s unique needs and wishes. Those wishes may include relaxation methods and, if desired, IV or epidural medications. If changes to the birth plan become necessary or wanted, midwives educate patients about different options and available resources.
				In progressive models of care, CNMs work directly with obstetrician/gynecologists (OB/GYNs), nurses and nurse practitioners, dietitians and maternal-fetal medicine specialists to offer a holistic approach to delivery with the piece of mind of advanced, hospital-based care.
				Midwives offer a personal touch to birth planning and labor and delivery and can see those plans through to fruition in most low-risk births. Their OB/GYN partners can step in if plans change and a surgical procedure is needed to keep mom and baby safe and healthy.
				This model of care, which puts expectant mothers and their wishes fist &mdash; establishing trusting relationships between CNMs and patients but also having the flexibility to adapt to changes in birth plans or emergency needs &mdash; is at the core of the childbirth Center at Geisinger Community Medical Center in Scranton.
				On Oct. 11 the center celebrated its first full year delivering babies in Scranton. Despite the novel coronavirus pandemic reaching our communities just six months into that tenure, the providers at the Childbirth Center have delivered more than 450 babies in their first year, most of whom were delivered by midwives.
				The center is designed for low-risk pregnancies and features spacious suites tailored for labor, delivery and recovery, birthing balls and benches and hydrotherapy tubs, as well as a variety of other pain-management options, including epidurals and nitrous oxide.
				So, today, I&rsquo;d like to take a moment to thank midwives everywhere. Your dedication to taking care of families is an honorable calling of the highest degree and you bring children into the world with compassion, understanding and great expertise.
				Now, excuse me. Mary and I are starting season 8.

Midwives are more than delivery pros