Friday, February 6, 1987AThe Battalion/Page 7
Warped
by Scott McCullar
Waldo
by Kevin Thomas
H£ WANTS TO
LEARN MORE
ABOUT THE WORLD,
30 HE'S SIGNING
UP FOR COLLEGE
CLASSES'
WHY, THATi WONDERFUL 1 .
MAYBE HE'LL TAKE
SOME SCIENCE COURSES.
'HUMAN SEXUALITY"
CLASS IS FULL/
MAYBE HE'LL
JAKE PHILOSOPHY
TO STUDY OUR
EXISTENCE/
yeah; he wants
TO SEE WHAT
LIFE (5 ALL
ABOUT/
Official: Proposals fall short
of halting delivery dangers
Course not enough to train lay midwives
HARLINGEN (AP) — Legislative
proposals that would require mid
iwives to undergo minimal instruc-
|tion fall short of eliminating the dan-
ers of untrained people delivering
abies, a public health official says.
The Rio Grande Valley, with one
lof the nation’s highest birth rates
ind one of the youngest population
nedians, is one of the country’s
jpoorest regions. As a result, officials
jsay, a large number of midwives
erves a population of about 500,000
an the U.S. side of the border.
That number could be closer to 1
llion considering the number of
Mexican women wno cross the bor
der just to give birth in the United
States, and who also are dependent
pon lay midwives, said Dr. Charles
Yilson, medical director of the Hi
dalgo County Health Department.
Children born in the U.S. are auto-
atkally citizens.
Holly Scholles, executive director
[if the Association of Texas Mid-
dves, said one-fourth to one-third
pf the 400 lay midwives in Texas
practice in the Rio Grande Valley.
According to Wilson, anyone can
practice midwifery now by register
ing with a county clerk and paying a
»25 fee. He said the Legislature ap-
cars to be sidestepping the real is-
|ue of licensing midwives with bills
’iat solve only part of the problem.
Sen. Bill Sarpalius, D-Canyon, in-
oduced a bill this week that would
lequire lay midwives to attend train
ing courses by the Texas Depart
ment of Health.
Scholles said the course provides
introductory information that is in
sufficient to train lay midwives.
“It’s very basic,” sne said. “It’s not
an obstetrics or midwifery textbook
at all.”
Scholles said her association in
stead supports a bill to be introduced
‘7f’s fine if they want to al
low them to administer
eyedrops, but where is the
training.... You can allow
someone to fry chicken,
but if they don’t know
how to cook, they’ll proba
bly bum it. ”
— Dr. Charles Wilson, Hi
dalgo Health Department
medical director
by Sen. Hector Uribe, D-
Brownsville, that would authorize
mid wives to be certified in cardio-
{ mlmonary resuscitation and to per-
orm newborn screening tests.
Load health departments would
be required to provide medical and
laboratory support services to mid-
wives’ patients, Uribe said.
The bill would require midwives
identify themselves to the state
health department yearly and would
allow them to administer state-re-
3 uired prenatal blood tests and eye-
rops to newborns that prevent in
fection.
“It’s fine if they want to allow
them to administer eyedrops, but
where is the training for them — if
they don’t know how to it or when to
do it,” Wilson said. “You can allow
someone to fry chicken, but if they
don’t know how to cook, they’ll
probably bum it.”
Wilson said training and licensing
should be required and violators
should be prosecuted.
Wilson said lay midwives in the
Rio Grande Valley receive between
$250 and $500 for delivering a baby
— compared with the $3,000 cost of
an obstetrician’s prenatal care and a
hospital delivery.
Risks associated with untrained
midwives include fetal brain dam
age, postpartum hemorrhaging that
could threaten the mother’s life, and
infections to the mother or baby,
Wilson said.
Most midwives in the Rio Grande
Valley are women who have no more
experience or training than what
they receive delivering babies in
their homes or in the patient’s home,
and others are Mexican doctors who
can’t make a living in Mexico, so
S ractice as midwives in the United
tates, Wilson said.
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A DREAM SALE YOU HAVE
LONG A WAITED! DON’T MISS IT.
Feb. 6,7 (Fri/Sat) 8am-6pm
At Ramada Hotel (Room 1206)
410 S. Texas Ave., College Station
Phone: 696-4242
BLUE BRIDGE ASSOCIATES, INC.
P.O. Box 550514 Dallas, TX 75355-0514
A pianist
with
PIZZAZZ!
Paul Hersh
The New York Herald Tribune praised him as a "’pianist of exceptional stature..musician
of impeccable taste”. Paul Hersh, master pianist, will be featured in concert by the
University Chamber Series Friday, February 6 in Rudder Theatre at 8 p.m.
Hersh has been lauded as an extraordinary musician in music circles coast to coast and
abroad. Experience his dynamic masters’ of the ivory keyboard as he performs
Beethoven’s last three sonatas. This concert is a must for all piano music lovers!
The University Chamber Series Is a new concert series devoted entirely to classical music
spousored by the College of Liberal Arts, the Department of Philosophy and Humanities
in cooperation with the MSC Opera and Performing Arts Society.
Tickets for the February 6 performance are on sale at the MSC Box Office. VISA and
MasterCard accepted. Order yours today.
The.
University Chamber Series
Call 845-1234.