PAGE O6, WHflMY FREE PRESS, WEMNSDAy,. JANUARY 22, 992 The only Whîtby Newspaperowned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby residents! Published. every Wednesday by 677209 Ontario Imc. >>at 131 Brock St. N., Whitby, Ontario Li N 5S1 Phone-668-6111 To ronto Line 427-1834 Doug Anderson- Publisher Maurice Pither - Editor >ý Alexandra Martin - Production Manager 2nd Class Postal Rgsrto #05351 Need the connection To the Edîtor: 0opy 0f ltter ta Durham Centre MPP Drum mond White. R ls hard ta express the anger and frustration that 1 and my staff feel over hearinM the news that the ECE (Early Childhood Education) Gonnection will no longer ba funded into 1992. This letter is being sent in the hapes that you will reconsider this decisian and act an behaf aif ail early childhood educators, parents and children in Durham eon and brlng this Issue ta the attention ai tho"e people who Feds are. responsible for thé mess. To the Edîtor: There R is, folksl R is worldwide -- ur faltering economy has nothing ta do with the faderai government's policie8 0f high intarest rates (lower .iow courtesy Of the good old U.S.A.), a hlgher dollar, t he lovely GST, free trade,' etc. R is causecd by factors autslde aur baundaries -- so says his Egoship. Remamber the grand oratory a few years ago about the wonderful prospetsof prosperity with the reatae agreement? ht neyer maerialized,-- and aur pompous PM says wa now have ta 'meet the challenge' or 'fail ta meet R' this global challenqe). What hîs nibs Is referrlng ta is aur warkforce has ta lower aur standard 0f living ta 'third world standards ta be 'campetitive,' without, Of course, a carresponding lawering ai the few aitthe top. ht neyer ceases ta ýamaza me haw aur faderai govarnment continues ta blame averybody but themselvas for aur, country's dilemma. They alona are responsible for the mess we are in .- economically, constitut ionally, environmantally. Our aconomy is on the rebound, our PM says -- good oh. Back R Ùp and asic for a vote of confidence in yau -- if you have the guts ta call an elaction. Jlm McLean Ajax ONTARIO MARCH 0F DIMES have the responsibility and ablty ta reverse the decision ta disc ontinue future f unding. Gardon Street Children's Cottage Chidocare Centre is a non-profit day care centre set Up in 1988 by severai employee groups within. the Whitby Psychiaric Hospital. t is run by a valunteer board of directors. R has recently received $27,00 af wage enhancement f unding dirly due ta New, Democratic aty policies ta promote non-profit child care centres. The - ECE Connection consultants are being' used by most volunteer boards as theïr only -source of expertise and clevelapment. It seems contra- dictoy and f inancially irresponsible 0fte gavernment ta now be removing the funding from that resource. h seems ta me that this issue needs far more consideration than it has been given. At no other time has ft been more important that the child7care community have somewhere ta turn ta for prof essional advice and development. Board development is only ane of many services this excellent agency has ta offer; the need for the ECE Connection is not in doubt. It is inconceivable that its existence should be. Please, I beg you, on behaif of my own staff, board af directors, parents and children, help us ta bin th is issue ta the attention of those who can fi d the needed funds.* Christine Steovenson, ECE Supervisor To the Edîtar: I was pleased ta read about Whitby's New. Year baby., Since Whitby General Hospital has not yet implamented its birthing centre proposai, 'barn in Whitby' means born et home. And I beg ta differ with the views expressed by Dr., Alan Mclntyre (January 15, 1992) in his letter ta the editar. Certainly the article was not an in=ph discussion ai either miwfry care or home birth. These complex subjects have been quite wall covered in recent Puttîng a iÎd on taxes so th ' on Midwife's- response to letter To the Editor: There are a number of statements in Dr. Alan MLtntyre's letter (The Free Press, Jan. 15/92) with wh ich 1 disagree. Dr. Mclntyra statas that it has boan shown in Europe that home birth jeapardizes the fiewborn. In fact, in the Natherlands, 40 per cent of ail births take place In the home, and yet they have ana ai the lowest perinatai mortalfty rates in the world. They also have one of the lowest Cesarean rates in the world. (And a Dutch pelvis is the sanie size as anyone else's.) Numerous" published studies have compared planned home births and hospital births and found p? significant difference in death or injury rates. Some of those studies have indicated that those rates may bu less et home. The key is ta compare planned home births, as accidentai anas are more risky. Reputable studies that support the saiety of home birth include Darstra-Wijemg nani, Journal ai the Royal College of General Practitioners; Hazell, Birth and Family Journal; Hinds, Jaurnal of the American Medical Association; MehI, Journal ai Raproductive Medicine; Tew, British Journal ai Obstetrlcs and Gynecology; Tyson's Study of 1001 Toronto Home Births. In the recent 'Appropriata Use of Cesarean Section' document, produced by the Ministry of Haalth, statistics, are presentad that indicata the VBAC is ai no greater risk than other births. The Cesarean Birth Planning Committee, chaired by Dr. Kennath Milne, recommended that VBAC be graded as low risk. 1 feel that 1 must taka issue with Dr. Mclntyre's staternent that "this midwife is promnoting low-rsk pregnancy births at home.* ln Iact, this midwife does nat 'pramate' any particular place or type of birth. 1 do provide information. My,. clients are encauraged ta borrow from my library af over 160 taxtbooks, genaral books, jo*urnals and periodicals, audio and videa tapes. 1 do share my. axperience and opinion, but 1 also encourage them ta consuit ayn they choase. includingosttrc lans. Throughout the course of the client's cara, de0isions are discussed, shared and f inalized by the client. 1 support thair choices and provide assistance ta the best 0f my knowledge and silîl. 1 consider my clients ta b. intelligent adulfs capable of evaluating ,information *and expr essing th.eir needs. ýI, want-,. them ta deliver Wherever is-safest and, moat appropriata for t hem. 1 fully support any woman's choica ta have her baby in theý hospital, as 1 support a woman's choice to have her baby at home. - 1 feel that the Zielanka family has as much right ta celebrate the birth'0f their New'Year's baby. as do hospital families. In f act, f Whitby had a ýbirthing centre, Christopher, Zielonka wouldn't have been the only baby- born in, Wýhitb on New Vears, and likely would nt haveê beenthe flrst, and his birth., would have gonie unnoticed'by the press. Peggy C. Cannon" Mldwlfe manths with the passing, aio legislation recognizing midwifery in Ontario. Perhaps it was marely what it seemed: a laok et the choica made by ana family, naithar advocatinig that as the anly choica nor condamning it as irrespansibla. I sea the issue here as ana 0f consumer choice. Here in Ontario, as in tha rest ai Canada, thora are no licensed midwives, athough the legisation promises that we will sea midwifery as a sali-ragulati-ng profession (not anly in supervised and controllad circumstancas within the hospital) in the near future. When a client hires-a midwife, a kay part af their relationship involvas signing an wlniormed choica agreeffient.w Risks and benefits 'ara clearly understood wall in advance af the birth but the end decision and ultimata rasponsibility rests with the parents. Is R not alsa, commanplace for hospitals ta hava patientssign a similar document aefra.surgery, including Casarean section? Every birthplace carnies its- own speciai risks. As mldwlves were not aliowed ta accompany mothers ta' A jax-Pickaring et the time of My latest, birth, choosing this birthplaca (for VBAC or any birth), meant doing without the support of a midwif e, something that is vary important ta many birthing women and is, in fact, well-documentad as having a 'positive, 'normalizing, affect. 1 wauld lika toithank the Whitby Free Press for its non-judgmental covarage, of this controversial item. Loulse koopmans Whltby Homne birth: A father's point of view To the Edîtor: As a new father, 1 arn amazed thaï your'recant article about the home birth of the Zielonka iamily could avoka the scathing reaction I hava raad in thea attar you publishad from Dr. Alan Mclntyre. Home births are daiinitely an emnotional topic, and, as an abstatrician, Dr. Mclntyra has the rig ht and the axperience ta hold a strong opinion about this issue. His medical dagrea, hawever, doas rot allow him any icanse ta passtha type ai thîrd' party j udg ment ha has made abut .mudwite Peggy Cannon. Unfartunataly, ln his enthusiasm ta cast Peggy Cannon as some form ai criminal, Dr. Mclntyre has completely overloaked the ft that the blrth locatdion Is- the parnts' choice, and the Zielonka famly seem vary happy wth the cholce they have made. I command Peggy-Cannon for the courage she h as, dislayed in supportinâ thesa parens when the medicalcom muniity atan -do's rot. Parhaps the real exarnination manths aga. 1 hava, howevar, sean Dr. Mclntyre and others should' the. Incredible rewards a à home. maeis on- our medical systeni. birth offers the mother an baby, Our haspitals stilI do not pravide and have > no 'trouble, the, atmospharae or support a recmmanding home biths as an' mother needs ta, concentrate on acceptable birth aternative. I1 only the very difficuht task of bringlng a wish that the energy-oai sameone baby Into this warld. Interruptions, like Dr. Mclntyre could be dirwed medical Interventions and at solving the reel problems in our, insensitivity contrive ta force hospitais, rathar than lookinq for parens to t a the home as a sarneone ta burn t his imaginay Vas, I do recogriza tha risks ai a home birth-decision, since My Bob Aaftonen son also was born et home seeýofio, Whftlt~ Birth issue is one of. 'consumer1 choicey LA AMARCHE DES DIX SOUS DE L'ONTARIO -------------