Hypodermic needles found on the streets
I am a lifelong resident of Oneonta, and remember back when things were a lot simpler. Today, as I walk my dog, I am shocked and disgusted at the number of hypodermic needles I see lying on our streets! What has this town come to?
LJ Thomson
Oneonta
Write to Bassett to keep midwifery care
If you have given birth with the assistance of a midwife or you intend to one day, please write a letter to Bassett Healthcare to express your support of its midwifery practice.
A letter sent out to current patients informed us that it is moving toward a "hospitalist" model, which means we no longer have midwifery care 24 hours a day.
The fundamental approach and philosophy that has sustained Bassett's Birthing Center for over 20 years has slowly been devalued. Over the last year, Bassett has lost seven midwives. Today, there are only three. Why are we losing such a valuable piece of our community? Bassett's administration needs to hear why this hurts women.
In 2009, Bassett had some of the best statistics in New York state. Bassett ranked in the top 10 for New York hospitals with the lowest C-Section rate. Only 2.4 percent of laboring women received an episiotomy. Bellevue had a 5.5 percent episiotomy rate and a 30 percent C-Section rate. St. Luke's had a 25 percent episiotomy rate and a 39.7 percent C-Section rate. Many women come to Bassett to have a midwife and avoid this. I picked a midwife and Bassett because of these superb services, which I feel are now being taken away from me and women of my community.
We need to be more vocal about our concerns.
If you have not given birth yet or if you have surpassed that time in your life, if you care about the future of birthing in America and returning to a more-holistic and-self-empowering approach to birth for women, write to Bassett's administration and express your dissatisfaction with this change.
Show your support of the midwives who work tirelessly for women all over the world! Let Bassett know … we want midwives at our births!
Lisa Elwood-Farber
Middleville
