Petition Tag - birth

WHAT IS CONTINUITY OF CARE??
- during pregnancy (antenatal care)
- during labour and birth (intrapartum care)
- after birth of your baby (postnatal care)

Seeing the same caregiver or small group of caregivers throughout pregnancy, labour and birth and afterwards is called continuity of care.

WHY PROVIDE CONTINUITY OF MIDWIFERY CARE?
Midwifery continuity models are popular with women, provide improved birth and satisfaction outcomes, are cost-effective and are common overseas. For these reasons Australian governments are committed to increasing women's access to these models as outlined in the National Maternity Services Plan and actioned by the Queensland Government with the commitment to provide 10% of public birth care in these models. Continuity models also have advantages in the development and retention of a skilled workforce which is responsive to day-to-day demand.

MIDWIFERY CONTINUITY MODELS
These models provide each woman with care from a known midwife/s, usually to 6 weeks postpartum. To meet the needs of women and be sustainable for midwives, continuity models are innovative and flexible in relation to place of care in widwives' working arrangements. Women with any level of complexity of care, and midwives consult and refer to guidelines and clinical need.

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Article II of the United States Constitution requires that any person elected to be the President must be a natural born citizen. The present occupant of that office, Barack Hussein Obama, failed to show an applicable form of documentation until April 27, 2011 when he produced a document purporting to establish his birthplace as Hawaii. Analyses of the document by a number of experts have shown that it probably is a forgery.

Prior to his election to the presidency, he claimed Kenya as his place of birth, and a biography published by a literary agency stated that he was born in Kenya. The biography remained unchanged for sixteen years. During a speech in Africa, his wife indicated that Kenya was his home country. Articles in Kenyan newspapers stated that he was born in Kenya.

A former mail carrier in Chicago testified under oath that the foreign student receiving financial support from the parents of William Ayers was Barack Obama. It is believed that during his student days, he traveled to Pakistan while in possession of an Indonesian passport. This would indicate Indonesian citizenship.

There is evidence that, as a child, Barack Obama attended school in Indonesia as Barry Soetoro, the surname of his stepfather.

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On Monday, a picture became circulated of a helpless infant dieing in water in a red bucket in a HOSPITAL in China. After the Chinese Birth Control Office injected poison into the pregnant woman to make her deliver the baby dead, it actually came out alive and started to cry.

The people responsible ripped the baby from its mother and threw it in a bucket, with water in it, to die. This is not going away and harm will come upon our world for this kind of atrocity continuing. Shame on the Chinese government for allowing this, and anyone else who condones this criminal, terrorist activity upon helpless infants.

I ask, and hold and hear by that those involved need to be held responsible, and put in a courtroom where they will be judged for their crimes by the great citizens of the common world. Thank you. Justice and the common man's concern for human life will prevail!

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Early cord clamping (ECC) is defined as any method by which the cord is manipulated to stop the flow of blood to the baby while it is still pulsating. This includes clamping, cutting, hand squeezing, tying or holding the baby too high or too low. An umbilical cord pulsates for between 7 mins for an unmedicated birth and up to 20 mins for a medicated birth.

In this time the full volume of blood the newborn infant requires is still passed from the placenta until it stops pulsating or until it turns white. Currently mainstream procedure is to immediately (within 30 seconds) clamp and cut the babys functioning cord. Whenever a pulsating umbilical cord is clamped, 20-60% of the baby's total blood volume is trapped inside the placenta. It will take over 6 months for the baby to replenish the volume of blood lost by early cord clamping.

Short cord, maternal haemorrhage, c-section, respiratory distress are just a few of the worthless reasons to clamp a cord. Even a baby in distress can be revived with the cord intact. All of the restricted umbilical cord problems are usually the result of drugs given during labour, including oxytocin, Pitocin, iv fluids, and pain medications, not a result of leaving the cord intact. The only situations in which a cord should be early clamped is when the cord has torn or with a placenta previa. Babies born via c-section can be delivered with their cord and placenta intact.

Multiples can also be delivered without risk of restricted umbilical cord problems. ECC is also routinely being done in some countries to get stem cell blood for banking (effectively taking those cells away from your baby when it needs it and possibly using for them at a later stage but mostly for other people). Restricted umbilical cord problems associated with anaemia are Autism, heart perforations, thyroid disorders, brain tumours, leukaemia, SIDS, hormonal imbalances and liver/kidney disease. When a baby requires to be resuscitated which is not that uncommon (1 in 16), the full volume of blood is required to ensure they are receiving the maximum dose of oxygenated blood.

As the blood travels into the baby's expanding lungs, once they become filled, the baby will feel its own signal to breathe and will do so with fully expanded lungs but it is usually procedure during "resuscitation" also to cut the cord, take the baby to a warming tray to make access easier for the attending midwifes, OBs etc which is not a necessity and is counterproductive. Please sign this petition in the hope that we can educate all birth attendants that early cord clamping is doing more harm than good and the practice should be abolished completely.

The baby's umbilical cord should be left at the very minimum until the cord has stopped pulsating. Another 20mins in a birthing unit is not too much to ask. First DO NO HARM. Check out this link for further information http://www.givingbirthnaturally.com/restricted-umbilical-cord-problems.html

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We will present all World Leaders with the signatures plus the stories of adoptees to make them give every adoptee the right to know their heritage. Can you imagine looking in the mirror and not knowing who looks back at you or developing a serious illness and wondering if you had known your family history, it could have been treated earlier?

Can you imagine living your whole life asking who you are and being too scared to ask in case you offend someone? Help adoptees have the same human rights as any other human being - knowledge of their heritage.

Let's stop World Leaders brushing all this under the carpet and force them to change legislation that will help give adoptees back the lives they were born with.

We want sealed adoption files opened, lost information found in all countries and our heritage returned to us.

We want to stop being punished for something that was totally out of our control when we were babies. We accept no more guilt and ask that we be given open access to our documents and free DNA testing when it is asked for.

We want all these issues dealt with, but we need YOUR help. Please sign our petition so our plight can be brought to the attention of our World Leaders

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UPDATE: Winter 2010/ 2011

AIMS Ireland NO LONGER WISHES TO HOLD THE BILL until a further date. AIMS Ireland and many other birth groups have submitted amendments to sections 24 and 40 which enable a woman's and midwife's rights and autonomy. Please see the amendments supported by AIMSI and others here:

Factfile on why sections 24 and 40 need to be amended: http://aimsireland.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1291

14 Reasons to Amend sections 24 and 40: http://aimsireland.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1290

One Midwife, One Woman, One Birth: http://aimsireland.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1322

PLEASE TAKE 5 MINUTES TO CONTACT YOUR LOCAL TD'S, SENATORS, AND SPOKESPERSONS FOR HEALTH AND TELL THEM TO SUPPORT AMENDMENTS TO SECTIONS 24 AND 40!!

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UPDATE - November 3rd

Thank you to all the babies, women, men and midwives who came out for the picket at the Dáil this morning to witness this petition being handed over to Minister for Health!

The Bill goes against the Committee tomorrow.

We are expecting this to be a long journey. The ground is always shifting. Things are changing by the minute.

We are keeping the petition open - please continue to support this campaign and share this petition!

Contact AIMS Ireland chair@aimsireland.com for more information or find us on Facebook for updates.

UPDATE: November 5th
The Bill passed Committee stage in full yesterday morning. The meeting only lasted 1hr 45min and only Minister Harney, S O’Fearghail (chair), James Reilly, Margaret Conlon, Rory O’Hanlon, and Kathleen Lynch were present. No amendments relating to our concerns were discussed.

For current updates on the next stage of this campaign please refer to the AIMS Ireland website or facebook page.

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Please join us in signing this petition in order to protect the human rights of women and the professional autonomy of midwives.

This petition expresses the concerns of The Association for Improvements in the Maternity Services, Ireland (AIMS Ireland) and co-signing individuals/organisations regarding the consequences the proposed Nurses and Midwives Bill would have on home birth in Ireland and broader aspects of maternity care choices for women giving birth in Ireland.

Background; Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

The current situation which has been in place since September 2008 is that Independent Midwives, now known as Self Employed Community Midwives (SECMs), who agree to practice within the terms of the MOU and its schedules will have the care they offer home birth mothers covered by the State's Clinical Indemnity Scheme (CIS), operated by the State Claims Agency (SCA). This arrangement came about following the withdrawal of individual insurance cover for SECMs by the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO). The proposed new legislation, the Nurses and Midwives Bill 2010, will in effect make it illegal for a SECM to provide antenatal, intra-partum or post partum care if the pregnant woman’s circumstances do not meet criteria set by the MOU. Failure to comply with the new legislation will result in the criminalisation of midwives. Penalties for convictions range from €5,000 and/or 6 months imprisonment to a maximum fine of €160,000 and/or 10 yrs imprisonment.

Many of the women being excluded for home birth under the current MOU and proposed legislation are women who would have previously been able to avail of a home birth. The Home Birth Association of Ireland estimates that some 40% of women who have opted for a homebirth in Ireland in the past have done so because of a previous traumatic experience in a hospital setting. Most of these women will now be excluded.

We the undersigned highlight several key concerns in relation to the new legislation.

1. Human Rights and Autonomy for Women
2. Evidence-Based Recommendations from NICE
3. Professional Rights and Autonomy for Self Employed Community Midwives (SECMs)
4. Adverse Effects to the Current Maternity System

1. Human Rights and Autonomy for Women. The fundamental human right to bodily integrity is enshrined in Article 40.3.1 of Bunreacht na hEireann and in Article 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights. Under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, free and informed consent is the cornerstone of medical treatment. For consent to be free and informed, it must be based on information and choice, neither of which feature in the proposed legislation.

2. Evidence-Based Recommendations from NICE

The Irish maternity system, the MOU and the proposed Nurses and Midwives Bill 2010 purport to follow internationally recognised best practice and the recommendations of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in the UK. These evidence-based standards state explicitly that women should be offered the choice of planning birth at home, in a midwife-led unit, or in an obstetric-led unit (NCCWCH, 2007). Further, NICE adds "The woman should be fully involved in planning her birth setting so that care is flexible and tailored to meet her needs and those of her baby."

The right to make an informed decision with regard to care and place of birth is central to the concept of “woman-centred care”. The NICE guidelines have been developed with the aim of providing guidance to assist in the decision making process around appropriate treatments for specific conditions. In relation to planning place of birth, a number of tables are provided which outline conditions or situations which either “suggest planned birth at an obstetric unit” or "indicate a woman should be assessed on an individual basis" taking into account her history and current pregnancy.

These guidelines clearly state that while women who fall into these tables are considered at higher risk, and suggest that birth take place at an obstetric unit; this is a recommendation, not a command. Crucially, the NICE guidelines propose that regardless of clinical opinion, the final decision be left with the individual woman so long as she is fully informed of her increased risk at home in these instances.

Yet, the current MOU, raised to statutory footing by the proposed Nurses and Midwives Bill, excludes from home birth all women with conditions or situations listed in the NICE tables. The MOU intends to adopt these tables as un-negotiable exclusion criteria, which flies in the face of the evidence-based NICE recommendations.

Under the proposed legislation, women will be excluded from making an informed choice on place of birth if they fall outside extremely tight criteria. The new legislation, while appearing to only affect the small percentage of women in Ireland who choose to birth at home, will actually set the precedent in Irish legislation for all women’s rights to make informed choices in childbirth.

3. Professional Rights and Autonomy for Self Employed Community Midwives

In order for SECMs to practice in Ireland with insurance, they must sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the HSE. Through the Clinical Indemnity Scheme, the midwife’s practice (not the midwife) is insured; so long as (s)he follows the criteria in the MOU. SECM’s who choose to practice outside of the MOU criteria or who fail to transfer women who suddenly fall outside the criteria are subjected to either a fine or prison, or both. For example, if a SECM attends a woman in labour whose waters have been gone for more than 24hrs and the midwife fails to transfer to hospital even though there is no danger to the mother or baby (or if the woman refuses to go in to hospital), the midwife faces financial fines or prison time under the MOU. AIMS Ireland and Co Signatories recognise SECMs and the profession of midwifery as an autonomous and highly skilled profession. We believe that midwives are the experts of normal birth and that midwives must retain their professional autonomy in order to meet the needs of their clients in the community.

4. Adverse Effects to the Current Maternity System

The maternity services face significant challenges in the current context. The number of births registered in 2009 was 74,278 (CSO, 2010), and figures for 2010 reveal similarly high figures. There is widespread fragmentation of the maternity care services, which includes huge variability in the type and standard of care available to women, a lack of continuity of care, poor communication between healthcare professionals and women in their care, and underfunded, overcrowded, understaffed centralized care units. In addition, recent scandals within the maternity services including the scans misdiagnosis scandal, have resulted in the erosion of women’s trust in a system which has let them down repeatedly, through systemic failures on the part of the HSE.

The Irish system gives women very little choice, childbirth in Ireland is highly medicalised, and fails dramatically to be cost efficient and cope well with Ireland’s high birth rate. It is our belief that further impediments on birth choices and care options through the current employment of exclusion criteria in the MOU and proposed legislation in the Midwives Bill will put further stress on an already failing system.

Home Birth and Midwife-Led Care are the recommended care options for the majority of women.

A Home Birth and Midwife-Led Service means:

 Saving money and bed days.

 Preventing over-crowding and securing more time with consultants for women who choose or need consultant led care.

 providing evidence based and safe care.

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As an Angel parent the support I received from the staff within the NHS when I lost my son was very limited. I left the hospital with a handle full of leaflets, my son's hand & foot prints and a card to contact a counsellor. If I so wanted to.But most of all I left the hospital with empty arms.

Information to the other professionals involved in my care was not forwarded on. Which caused me even more upset. When they called to offer their congratulations on the birth of my baby.

This needs to stop and more thought and care needs to go into this area. This could be done by talking to parents that have lost children.

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Some birth mothers and birth families report that having a closed adoption makes the grieving process more difficult because there is a lack of information on the child’s well-being.

Also, since there is no opportunity to communicate with the child about why you placed him or her for adoption, it may be easier for feelings of guilt to develop.

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My name is Dani Atkins and I am one of 4 surviving children of Ronald Edward Atkins and Clancyna Marie Atkins. On January 26, 2008 my father was killed in a tragic car accident that took place only 2 minutes away from my home. My parents had been married for 30 years at the time of the accident without separation. As I have been assisting my mother with putting together various lawsuits and claims against several different persons, insurance companies, and even the Los Angeles Police Department regarding several acts of negligence and dishonor surrounding my father's death, I have come across a disturbing piece of information that I, being a 24 year old African American person am appauled. My father having been born on April 9, 1955, has a birth certificate that identifies his color and race as being "NEGRO." My grandmother, Eloise Marie Harrison having been born on April 4, 1933 has a birth certificate that identifies her color and race as being "NEGRO". My mother, who is still alive, Clancyna Marie Atkins born on September 4, 1956 has a birth certificate that identifies her color and race as being "NEGRO" as well.

And I am quite sure there are thousands if not millions of other African American people dead or alive who have been identified on paper at birth as being "NEGRO" I am absolutely disgusted that the United States of America even in 2009 have not made an attempt to make right this defamation of character in administering all new birth certificates to those who have died as well as those still living to identify these HUMAN PEOPLE with dignity and respect. I am passionately committed to make my fathers name wholly reflect the honorable father, husband, and man that he was and the fact that his life was not even given an opportunity to start before he was branded on United States of America paper as being a "NEGRO" is a disgrace and a shame on America.

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Barak Hussein Obama may not even be a US citizen! He definitely is not Constitutionally qualified to be President of the United States. By his own admission, his father was a British citizen under allegiance to the British crown, this alone makes Obama disqualified!

Please know the facts, this is not a Right Wing Extremist fantasy issue, there are serious questions that must be addressed & Obama has spent over $1 million on three legal teams to keep his $20 birth certificate sealed from public view.. Why would he do this? Don't you have to show your Birth Certificate to get a job or a driver's license? Don't you have to send for your college transcripts to prove your educational qualifications? Don't we all have equal protection and or opportunity? Why is he able to avoid the requirements?

Congressional action was held to assure that John McCain born to Military parents serving our country abroad was a citizen, yet Obama was never vetted! Why?

I will say again what I’ve said for the last two years; Obama is not lawfully qualified to be president regardless of where he was born. Even if Obama by some chance was born in Hawaii he was still born a British Subject just as John McCain was born a U.S. Citizen even though he was born in another country.

Obama's father was a British Subject when Obama was born and subject to British law.

Read more here: http://legalwatch.blogtownhall.com/
Even if he was born in Hawaii as claimed Obama is not lawfully qualified to be President.

Also; here is another Great link to see for your self just what is going on here... We are getting Hi-Jacked by this Illegal Street THUG.

http://starboard.blogtownhall.com/2008/12/10/an_open_letter_to_the_electors_of_the_electoral_college.thtml

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This petition came about due to my experiences having a baby with care from the NHS and my sister having a baby with care in Australia. The differences between the two are immense, my own personal experiences with midwives is awful and I am collecting accounts from people of their experiences having a baby on the NHS, if you can help me with this please email birthexperiences@live.co.uk

The changes i would like to see are:-

- more awareness of pre-natal and post-natal depression with counselling sessions freely available for all women in pregnancy and after birth.

- Consistent care during pregnancy with more adequate pre-natal classes.

- Private rooms for all mothers and their partners in labour and after labour during the hospital stay.

- Improved after-care i.e- in Australia they have the baby in a nursery for the first night and transfer you to a midwife run hotel for 4 days after an uncomplicated birth.

- More access to alternative therapies to make labour a less 'medical' ordeal.

I consulted a homeopath who prescribed caullophyllum which greatly improved my labour, i think these kind of services should be available on the NHS.

Pregnancy and Labour are a very precious time in a woman's life and i don't think women are being treated with the care and consideration they should be.

I aim to have my petition signed by as many people as possible and have as many birth experiences as possible to send to the government and highlight the issues women face when having children today, we deserve more.

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Introduction: A caseload model of midwifery occurs when each midwife carries a caseload whereby he/she is responsible for a particular woman’s care during pregnancy, labour, birth and in the early weeks after the baby is born (Page et al 2000).

The woman has a known carer throughout her pregnancy, and also becomes familiar with other midwives in the same group practice who may be on call during her labour. The midwife is available in a flexible 24 hour schedule, with time rostered off call in consultation with other midwives in her group.

Typically one midwife will have a primary caseload of approximately 35-40 women per year, providing care through all stages of pregnancy, birthing and postnatal. This primary midwife also is the “back up” for approx the same number of women for other midwives in her group practice.

Fore more details, see Midwifery: Models of Care - Implementation Guide, available at http://www.health.qld.gov.au/ocno/content/middy_models.pdf

There is a group of midwives at Nambour Hospital who are very keen to move towards these changes. Anne Moore, who wrote the above guide, and who has previously implemented case-load midwifery at the Mater Hospital in Brisbane, now works here on the Sunshine Coast, and is available to lead & support the implementation of these changes at Nambour Hospital.

What we need is for the executives and the directors of the Nambour Hospital Board to realise is that this is precisely what we as consumers want.

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We now know that much of the data pointing to negative cesarean birth outcomes largely relates to emergency surgeries and planned surgeries performed for medical reasons; the risks for a healthy woman planning surgery are less severe and not demonstrably greater than attempted vaginal delivery for women planning small families. Nor are major fetal risks demonstrably greater when delivered at 39-40 weeks.

Similarly, it is also increasingly evident that planned cesarean finances are not equal to emergency procedures (the costs of which largely belong with the planned vaginal deliveries' account), and that a more exact calculation of planned vaginal delivery and planned cesarean delivery cost and outcomes would be useful.

Just as there are women who choose to deliver their babies at home, there are also women at the other end of the choice spectrum for whom planned surgery is their preferred birth plan, and increasingly, obstetricians are supporting their choice. However, many public health groups, insurance companies and individual hospitals - preoccupied with reducing a rising national cesarean rate linked more to increasing maternal age, incidence of obesity and repeat cesareans than to maternal request - are discouraging and even refusing cesarean choice.

Contrary to some of the more negative media interpretations, these women are not seeking to schedule surgery around their pedicures and manicures (it's an insult to women and indeed the doctors who deliver their babies to suggest that), but rather to ensure (in their opinion) the safest outcome for their babies and themselves. For some, there is no medical indication (they have simply evaluated the risks and benefits of both vaginal and cesarean delivery and chosen the potential outcomes most acceptable to them), while for others, they may be diagnosed with tokophobia or have endured a previous traumatic delivery.

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Ok, so I'm not trying to preach to the world that ingesting animals is wrong....

By my own choice I try to eat meat as little as possible, due to some graphic
and
violent videos I've seen on how cruel Food Manufacturing Workers, are to the
animals that we do eat. To each their own.... right?

However, what really bothers me, is that now the FDA has approved cloning of
meats and allowing Biotech Firms, such as Viagen and Trans Ova Genetics of
Sioux Center, the 2 major firms in the U.S. involved, to integrate meats and
milk from these genetically identical cattle and other livestock, into our grocery
stores and restaurants, without having to label them???!!!!! Yes, we know
FastFood Restaurants are bad for us, but at least we are informed of their risks,
and we have the choice to eat it or not..... when this cloned meat, milk and its
byproducts (which includes, cheese, yogurt, icecream... and the many other
products derived or which include milk as an ingredient) are being allowed to be
intermingled with the real?

Astronomically, it really limits what we can knowingly or "safely," purchase or
ingest. I mean yes, there is always organic, however realistically, that is not as
easily accessible or affordable to the majority of the nation, which pretty much
leaves many with no choice.

Even as a very sporadic meat eater, I have a huge problem with this cloned
meat infiltration approved by the FDA. I have many friends and family, people
whom I care about and love that eat meat almost everyday.... I do not have a
problem with anyone choosing to eat meat, but I have a problem that they no
longer have a choice in where their meat comes from. And even, if I'm not
talking about "meat" itself, milk and the other byproducts are a staple in the
diet of many people in this country.

Cloned animals such as "Dolly the Sheep,"died prematurely of severe lung
disease and also suffered from arthritis at an unexpectedly early age.... and
even few cloned babies that appear to be normal at birth, we will have to wait
up to 20 years to make sure they are not going to have problems later, ie)
growing old too fast. Even a string of "healthy" clones produced, there is a
likelyhood that many clones born in the future may have severe medical
problems, as everytime a clone is made, it is like "throwing the dice." And yet,
that is what these Biotech Firms and the FDA are claiming is safe for us to put
into our system.

Though we may not see the possible effects of this in our generation, it breaks
my heart to even think about what birth defects, diseases and such, may
plague our generations to come.

And one also has to wonder..... why are we cloning meat to eat? Cloning is
actually is expensive and an extensive and time-consuming procedure, have we
injected and feed our livestock so many chemicals, anti-biotics, and hormones
that they are no longer able to reproduce on their own? It's not even so much
that my concern is that humans seem like they playing god, but in my opinion,
it seem very much like we keep sweeping the effects of us tampering with
nature under the rug and pretending that in our own little secretly, health
harming world, is nothing more than "perfect" and medically and technologically
advanced, instead of trying to solve the real problems.

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The average cost of birth control and safe sex methods in Canada for womyn over 21 is $25-50 a month. I believe that the cost of birth control is the reason that unplanned pregnancies have risen among womyn below the poverty line by 30% in the last 3 years. This is a ridiculously high number that allows the cycle of poverty to continue, and get more vicious.

Right now, there is a rise in Sexually Transmitted Infections. Between 1997 and 2004 Chlamydia rose by 70%, Gonorrhea by 80%, and Syphilis by 908% in Canada. This is likely due to the cost of condoms, and inaccessibility of free condoms in places such as bars.

References:

http://www.kidshealth.org/teen/sexual-health/comtraception

http://www.worldproutassembly.org

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060119/sexual_infections_060119?s_name=&no_ads=

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Being a mum of 2, my firstborn son was born by elective caesarean due to lack of midwifery support. He was breech from 30 weeks+ and it was left too late for an ECV (turning of the baby) to work.
It was due to this midwifes late referal that the ECV failed, and the caesarean was pushed upon me.

There should be more support for women to labour naturally, even if caesarean is needed the woman should at least go into labour first. Breech births are heard of and is possible yet i was practically forced to make the caesarean choice.

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Attention:

I. We all in this room, as free thinking adults, though diverse in age and circumstance, have at least one thing in common: the ability to choose. But as children our choices were made for us. We depended on and trusted our parents to make the right choices and to provide us with the most basic necessities of life, such as food, shelter, security and most of all love and affection. But some children don’t have parents that are capable of making appropriate choices and who don’t provide those basic necessities, and as a result, might live in poverty.

II. Poverty indirectly, and sometimes directly, influences depression, crime, neglect and abuse: emotional, physical and/or sexual.

BODY:

Need:
I. Every day children are born into this world. Unfortunately, these babies don’t choose to be born. Sometimes they are brought into this world by irresponsible parents, drug addicted parents, teen parents and sometimes, mentally incapable parents.

II. Domestic violence: A mother physically expressing frustration on a child, or a child witnessing his father beat his mother; this is all under the domestic violence umbrella. Reported on the California Department of Justice web site (3), there were a total of 48,000 calls related to domestic violence made to 911 in Los Angeles County in 2004.

III. Children in Los Angeles County and all over the United States face a number of unthinkable issues because of incompetent parenting. On the Los Angeles County Department of Children’s & Family Services web site (2) Fact Sheet of 2005, of all child related emergency care, a staggering 28 % were due to child neglect. Second on that list was physical abuse at 19%.

IV. Sometimes children are born unwanted. According to child abandonment facts in California found on ‘Welcome to California’, California’s Official Governmental website (4), as of October 2006, Updated November 7th, 162 newborns were surrendered in California under the “Safe Haven law”. This law allows the parent to legally surrender custody of a child, within three days of birth, without fear of prosecution. Yet another 139 newborns were found alive after illegal abandonment.

V. Abandonment and rejection go hand in hand. According to the DCFS in 2005, 21,248 children were living in out-of-home placement; in other words- Foster care. Some of the lucky ones were living in relative homes. Every year a larger percentage of children are placed in their grandparents because incompetent parenting, in 2005 it was roughly 45%. But how about the unreported cases. I am an example of an unreported case.

VI. According to the Unites States Census Bureau (1) population estimate of 2005, there where 2,732,000 children (-18) living in Los Angels County alone and of those, 484,000 lived below poverty level. (As an example of what was defined as ‘poverty’, a mother and child with a max income of $13,000 was considered impoverished in that 2005 Census.)

VII. According to the Committee for economic Development (5), children are becoming an ever smaller proportion of the American population. They warn that unless preventative ‘investments’ are made in early childhood; our future labor force will be disproportionately poor, uneducated and untrained. This is evident and can be seen on the California Department of Education website (6). It charts 23,760 teens in Los Angeles County to have dropped out of high school.

Satisfaction:

I. The problem exists in that our society believes that children are the property of their biological parents who have full custody until that child is damaged by abuse or neglect. Once a child is ‘damaged‘, that is when the child is protected under child abuse and neglect laws and warrants an intervention by Social Services. Only then will a child be ward of the state and placed in an alternative home or foster care.

II. The problem lies in that we’re are trying to solve and combat massive established problems rather then preventing them. But what kind of ‘Investments’ must be made?
A. Free of abuse and oppression.
B. Access to equal opportunities to develop their life’s potential.
C. Develop affectionate attachments to their parents and other family members.
D. Biological puberty must not be a mark for parental maturity.

III. A large percentage of biological parents are in the best position to represent the interest of their children and provide the best possible for them. But we need to move beyond that and stop viewing our children as property. Parenthood is a privilege, not a right.

IV. We need to hold parents accountable for being competent parents rather then forcing children to bare incompetence until they show signs of damage. Parental licensing will validate parental rights and refocus public policy in supporting competent parenting. Responsibility will fall on a parent to demonstrate competence in parenting rather then the state proving unfitness after damage to a child occurs (this is how it is now). Because the parent will be responsible for the rearing of their children, there will be little government intervention.

Visualization:

I. Parental licensing will not distinguish between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ parenting or attempt to change parenting styles. It will only exclude those obviously unqualified. It is not a birth control measure.

II. Establishing procedures for parental licensing will entail little more administrative structure then those involving, marriage licensing or birth registration. One might make a comparison to obtaining a drivers license.

III. The criteria for obtaining a parental license would be a basic credentialing process that must be obtained by each parent for each child.
a. Parent must be able to be responsible for one’s own life before being able to care for another. The varied age should be about 18 years with completion if a high school education or equivalent .Provisional licenses are available for those under 18.
b. To pledge to care for and nurture the child and refrain from abuse and neglect. If broken, license will be revoked, fine or punishment.
c. Basic knowledge of child rearing.

IV. Parenting licenses will stimulate the development of family life education, and the mass impact would likely discourage premature pregnancy and marriage because it will reinforce the gravity of child rearing responsibilities.

V. There are many ways of prediction parental competence through evaluations as it is with adoption today.

VI. If the state required all parents to become licensed before or upon the birth of a child, child abuse and neglect could be avoided.

VII. What are some objections to licensing?
a. Restrict individual freedoms: child abuse and neglect are not freedoms. We all have the right to be free of cruel and unusual punishment.
b. Tool for racism: Children and neglect/abuse prevention is the issue, not racism. There will be set criteria, rules and regulations to follow. Anyone wanting to discriminate will not be able to.
c. Lessen governmental aid for needy families: according to ‘The Third Branch’, a news letter of the federal courts cost of incarceration per inmate estimates to be about $46,000 annually. Compare that to the $13000 poverty threshold of a mother and child scenario in my intro. If less money were spent on incarnating adults that are so because of abuse and neglect in their childhood, more money will be available for public assistance, well fare and even social security.

Action:

I. Every day children are abuse neglected, abandoned and rejected. This is currently perpetuated by the way our children and family services are set up. We need to make a change in our views about parent hood and steep up to take responsibility for our actions. Laws, ideologies and values must be changed about child rights. They are not property, but our future.

II. We must petition to change our California legislator. California is a trend setter, and all other states will follow if these changes are made. Soon all of California will be in accordance to these new laws.

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Petition for the Reform of the Department of Family and Protective Services.

This Petition has been drafted and put together for the Purpose of forcing those in Officials Positions to ADDRESS and Appropriately deal with the issues surrounding the ABUSE of Parents, Families, and their Children by the very Governmental Agency designed and originally established to protect children, help, aide, and serve Families in need.

TOO MANY innocent families have already been destroyed for the financial gains of this greedy self-suiting Governmental Agency and it is long past the time for this ABUSE to STOP.

After reading the Petition, we are confident that you will AGREE that these ARE very needed changes, whether or not you or your family has been personally affected by a case with CPS (Child Protective Services).

If there were no real need for these such changes, then this Petition would have never been prepared for "your" support.

Please proceed now to the Petition.

THANK YOU~!

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In many parts of the world, sex ratio is artificially skewed in favor of boy children. Recently, the number of males has increased and the number of females has decreased in China, India, Pakistan, and South Korea.

In many cases, girl children are so devalued that they are abandoned or killed at birth. Female, infanticide-the intentional killing of girl babies-has been widely documented in China and India, and is believed to be common in other Asian countries. Current technology allows women to know the gender of their fetuses before birth, and in many parts of the world, female fetuses are several times more likely to be aborted.

If they are allowed to live, girl children often receive little food and no health care or education-all of which are violations of girls' human rights. Because girls are less often educated than boys, two-thirds of the worlds illiterate adults are women. In many countries girls are more likely to become ill, but less likely to be taken to a doctor than their male counterparts. Discrimination against girl children manifests itself in a variety of more subtle ways as well. In some cultures, for example, although girl children may not be denied an education, they often receive less attention in school and are steered into stereotypical areas of study.

Discrimination against girl children is so deeply ingrained on an international level that it was nearly left out to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The convention was nearly opened for signature in 1990 containing only male pronouns: "she" and "her" had to be added at the last minute. Given this, it is perhaps not surprising that the convention often does not speak to the needs of girl children. For example, it does not address female genital mutilation, son preference, or early marriage-practices that impact girls more than boys.

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Please sign this petition if, like me, you were awed and inspired by the film genius that was Birth and you believe that Anna's story is not over. Birth changed my life and I feel that Anna's
journey has just begun. My take on the film was that the young Sean really was Anna's husband. He obviously needed to steal the letters to conceal them because Anna was his true love and he never wanted her to find out about
his infidelities.

Their relationship had just climaxed when the film dramatically ended with Anna crying to the ocean, thinking of the mistake she had just made in marrying Joseph and wanting to jump in in a fit of madness fueled by her love for the young Sean.

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February 20, 2004

The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology has released a statement which addresses the ethics of decision making regarding elective, or on-demand, cesarean surgery.

ACOG notes in the statement that although a number of factors influence such decision making, ultimately the decision will come down to the patients concerns and the physicians understanding of the procedures risks and benefits.

However, ACOG also states that it is unclear whether or not a patient has the right to have a surgical procedure when there is no evidence to support the procedure, and makes no statement regarding a physicians responsibility to specifically inform the patient of the benefits of not having the procedure.

Meanwhile, the CDC reports that the cesarean rate has risen to 26.1%, the VBAC rate has dropped 23%, and maternal and newborn mortality rates are on the rise, due to the frequent complications associated with cesarean surgery.

Women are not being given the whole story when it comes to the safety and benefits of a vaginal birth for them and their baby. To see the statement, and these rates:
http://www.acog.org/from_home/publications/press_releases/nr10-31-03-1.cfm
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/releases/03news/lowbirth.htm

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The average new mother is kicked out of the hospital after 48 hours; yet, the typical recovery time is 6 weeks. During this time, many women still have to run their household. This includes things like grocery shopping, newborn check-ups, and post-natal doctor visits. Women are expected to park in regular spaces and trek through a crowded parking lot. Parking in handicapped spaces would ease a new mother's recovery.

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Supporting Congressman Charlie Norwood's view on the displaying of the phrase, "In God We Trust" and his stand against partial-birth abortion. We also support his strong faith.

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Safe Haven Laws were enacted to stop parents who have concealed their pregnancies from giving birth alone and from discarding the newborn in a dumpster or other dangerous place. There are many names for Safe Haven including Safe Place, Baby Moses Law, Safe Arms for Newborns, Safe Delivery, etc. The children who are abandoned have no way of learning their history when the parent drops them off as they are not required to leave their name or history. If you agree or disagree with this law, leave your name and comments on this difficult issue.

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California still has one of the highest teen birth rates in the nation. This results in serious implications for the teens, tax payers, their children and the community. 22% of teens giving birth in California had given birth previously. Up to 80% of parenting and pregnant teens drop out of high schooland aquire less skills to be self-sufficient. The majority of teen parents depend on welfare. Unemployment rates are high for teen parents. Medical complications, due to their age, and poor prenatal care are contributing to the high cost of our health care system.

Billions of dollars in State and Federal money is spent on teen pregnancy related issues.

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Please refer to similar petitions concerning this matter.

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Hunters are set to defy protests and slaughter more than a quarter of a million seals to supply an international trade in furs and health supplements that will soon target Britain's shops.

Sealers are set to defy international protests by clubbing shooting more animals than they have for decades, leaving the Atlantic sea ice off Newfoundland stained red.

The Canadian government has issued licences to shoot or club to death 275,000 harp seals, almost all pups only two weeks old.

The massacre has returned with a vengeance in the past four years following 20 years of strict controls imposed after protests. The two-week-old pups are prized for their soft white fur.

The hunters have vowed to proceed despite the fact that the seal population has already been devastated by global warming, which has melted the ice floes on which the mammals give birth. The lack of ice means that the seals have been forced to give birth in the water, where their pups drown.

Worldwide horror at the hunt led to a boycott of seal fur by most fashion houses and the European Union imposed a ban on certain seal products. To appease animal welfare actitivists, the sealers now try to kill the animals first by shooting them with high-powered rifles, but always carry a club to smash the skulls of any seals that are still alive. However, one group of international vets found that four out of five sealers do not check whether seals are dead before skinning them.

After years of being taboo, seal fur is making a comeback. Last year the Louis Vuitton collection shown in Paris featured coats,tunics and pinafore dresses made from sealskin. Donatella Versace recently featured sealskin in her first collection.

The number of seals being killed has quadrupled in the past four years, and Canadian government scientists estimate the population is declining again by about 1 per cent a year. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans' own documents assert that these forms of commercial trade encourage illegal sealing.

Seal hunting is clearly an industry from another century, and should have been relegated to the history books.

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My son, Shane, was born with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH). CDH is a birth defect that occurs when the diaphragm does not fully form allowing the abdominal organs to enter into the chest cavity, preventing the lungs from growing. I had an ultrasound at 8 weeks and then another at 8 and a half months. The ultrasound was performed, and they said everything was OK but wouldn't give us any pictures until they gave in to my begging a few weeks later- only to give a picture of Shane's backside. An ultrasound at 8 months gestation on a baby who had virtually no left diaphragm, the majority of his abdominal organs in his chest, 2 heart murmurs, and a displaced heart, and they claimed they saw nothing.

When we requested Shane's medical records a few years later, there it was in black and white on the technician's note- "Stomach missing." They knew something was wrong and never told us, never did more testing, never referred us to a specialist. If we had known, had time to research, we never would have allowed Shane to be treated at the facility that he was transferred to after birth, a hospital with an extremely low CDH survival rate. If we had known, Shane wouldn't have been subjected to the trauma of a transfer and wouldn't have been delivered at a hospital that didn't even have a pediatrician in the building because it was after 5:00 p.m and he wouldn't have suffered many severe complications. Shane died in 1999 at age 6 and a half as a result of these complications. They had no right to withold information that could have saved my son's life.

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My son, Shane, was born with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH). CDH is a birth defect that occurs when the diaphragm does not fully form allowing the abdominal organs to enter into the chest cavity, preventing the lungs from growing. I had an ultrasound at 8 weeks and then another at 8 and a half months. The ultrasound was performed, and they said everything was OK but wouldn't give us any pictures until they gave in to my begging a few weeks later- only to give a picture of Shane's backside. An ultrasound at 8 months gestation on a baby who had virtually no left diaphragm, the majority of his abdominal organs in his chest, 2 heart murmurs, and a displaced heart, and they claimed they saw nothing. When we requested Shane's medical records a few years later, there it was in black and white on the technician's note- "Stomach missing." They knew something was wrong and never told us, never did more testing, never referred us to a specialist. If we had known, had time to research, we never would have allowed Shane to be treated at the facility that he was transferred to after birth, a hospital with an extremely low CDH survival rate. If we had known, Shane wouldn't have been subjected to the trauma of a transfer and wouldn't have been delivered at a hospital that didn't even have a pediatrician in the building because it was after 5:00 p.m and he wouldn't have suffered many severe complications. Shane died in 1999 at age 6 and a half as a result of these complications. In the United States, ultrasound technicians do not have to be certified and there is no standards or laws on who can/cannot perform ultrasounds.

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