Jennifer Jagger is out to make giving birth a little bit easier - or, at least, the preparation for it.
Jagger, a Nursing graduate student, co-edited the newly launched Philadelphia Guide to a Healthy Birth.
Published by Choices in Childbirth - a non-profit consumer advocacy group that educates the public about women's rights and options in childbirth - the Guide lists 155 female-friendly practitioners, all of whom have been referred by mothers and midwives.
They span all aspects of maternity care, including midwifery care, acupuncture and nutrition.
"I found that, as a person working with pregnant women, a lot of my referrals for chiropractic care, physical therapists or childbirth educators were through word of mouth," Jagger said. "Women often didn't know where to go for certain aspects of care. [They] didn't feel like they had enough information."
The guide comes at a particularly crucial point in time for mothers-to-be in Philadelphia. Labor and delivery units have been closing recently in the city as a result of an increase in medical malpractice insurance rates, pushing up maternity care expenses.
Rising malpractice insurance rates is of particular pertinence to obstetricians because they are often sued, Nursing professor William McCool said.
This has led to a significant change in the focus of maternity care.
"Care for women who are about to give birth has shifted from a family- and mother-centered system to a hospital, insurance and obstetrician-centered model of care," Jagger said.
"People sometimes refer to it as a factory birth where you go into the hospital and you get the care that is given to you as opposed to an individualized care," she added.
The guide is a sequel to one published by Choices in Childbirth in New York in 2006.
They are distributed free of charge in locations frequented by pregnant women and families, such as obstetricians' offices, community centers and fitness centers.
Through the guide, Jagger hopes to stimulate women to think about their choices in childbirth and to let them know that they have choices.
"Women in America often spend more time researching a car that they are going to buy, a house that they are going to buy or any other major purchase than pregnancy or giving birth," McCool said.
"Groups like Choices in Childbirth can go a long way to educate women about what this process is and how to best handle it," he added.
Practitioners listed in the guide are also enthusiastic about the publication.
"I think it's an excellent resource for all care providers and families seeking providers supporting healthy ways of living and healthy ways of birthing," midwife Elizabeth Soskin said. "It's a wonderful publication."
