Citing problems with insurance coverage and insurers reluctance to pay for birthing center births despite the savings of about 50% from the cost of a hospital birth these 2 centers were forced to close. The midwife running the 2 centers, Barbara Bechtel, also stated that the insurers demanded an obstetrician be her backup rather than the family medicine doctor she had been relying on. She could not find cooperation from the local obstetric community and so this option for mothers is no longer available. There was no mention of problems with bad outcomes to justify the noncooperation. But is it hard to figure out why? See the full article at the link below. Dr. F
http://www.indystar.com/article/20110430/LOCAL1804/104300333/Only-2-state-licensed-birthing-centers-Central-Indiana-close?odyssey=nav%7Chead
Welcome to DR. STU'S BLOG. Along with my podcast at www.drstuspodcast.com it is here that I post my thoughts on a variety of topics on the birthing world. Advocacy for true informed consent and respect for individual autonomy are the basis for the musings you will read here. I hope you enjoy while you learn and I encourage you to comment. Please check out www.birthinginstincts.com for information on home birthing with an obstetrician and my latest news and updates.
Barbara Bechtel, the midwife operating the Expectations center closed after significant and protracted litigation following the intrapartum death of a baby in her care in 2003. Bechtel lost on appeal in 2010 on her argument that the bereaved parents could not sue over the death since the baby had died before she was born. She was also sanctioned in 2012 for abandoning thousands of patient records when she left the state in 2011.
ReplyDelete"There were attempts to resuscitate Skyleigh for twenty-five minutes, but it became evident that the infant died while Brown was in labor and that the fetal heart rate monitor, which had indicated a heart rate, was actually registering Brown's heart rate. An examination of the umbilical cord and placenta revealed “a large thrombus midway in the cord.” Id. at 270. An autopsy revealed no abnormalities in Skyleigh." - See more at: http://caselaw.findlaw.com/in-court-of-appeals/1533168.html#sthash.vtTvIXDM.dpuf
http://pendleton-gazette.com/nurse-midwifes-license-suspended-after-abandoning-patient-records/
Skyleigh's grave
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=36127459
She should be eleven years old.
Bechtel is alive and well and has opened up shop in Brooklyn.http://dahliamidwifery.wordpress.com/