International Day of the Midwife Celebration

May 5th is the International Day of the Midwife, a day set aside in 1991 by the International Confederation of Midwives and observed in over 50 nations worldwide. In 1992, Florida Governor Lawton Chiles joined in this celebration by adding Florida to the growing list of states and countries that observe this day.

In honor of this day, the Sarasota chapter of Florida Friends of Midwives, a non-profit grassroots organization dedicated to promoting and supporting the practice of midwifery in Florida, is hosting a celebration at Sarasota’s Rosemary Court. The event will feature a documentary from student midwife Kati Triese, chronicling the history of western midwifery, as well as a special Cinco de Mayo tribute to the Mexican midwives who recently visited our community. Local restaurants Two Senoritas and Sangria Tapas Bar are generously donating Mexican fare. Admission is free to the public and local media is welcome and invited to attend.

Midwives have a long and valued history in Florida. The state first passed legislation to license direct-entry midwives in 1931, and the first Certified Nurse Midwife was licensed in Florida in 1970. Florida’s midwives have continued to tirelessly serve the families of Florida and to ensure the continued availability of safe, evidence-based birthing options for Florida’s families.

Harmony Miller is Licensed Midwife in Sarasota. For Miller, International Day of the Midwife is a special observance. “Every year, International Day of the Midwife reminds me to look beyond my community, my state, and even my country,” says Miller. Midwives provide care to the majority of the worlds’ families. To remember this broadens my world view. So much history, tradition, and care ties us all together. International Day of the Midwife reminds me to be grateful for the midwives of the past; their work made mine possible. On International Day of the Midwife, I am also reminded to be grateful to all the families that continue the tradition, one pregnancy at a time.”

About Florida Friends of Midwives:
Florida Friends of Midwives is a non-profit grassroots organization dedicated to promoting the Midwives Model of Care and supporting the practice of midwifery in Florida. Florida Friends of Midwives was formed to support midwives who offer safe, cost-effective, evidence based care to Florida's families. For more information, please visit www.flmidwifery.org.

Inner Visions Art Show Benefits Parkinson Disease

Sarasota’s Institute for Advanced Medicine Features Over Fifty Local Paintings
April 29, 2009 (Sarasota, Florida) – An art show and sale benefiting Parkinson Disease programs in Sarasota is being held now through May 16 at Sarasota Memorial’s Institute for Advanced Medicine (5880 Rand Boulevard). The show features works from four local women’s professional artist organizations: the National League of American Pen Women, Petticoat Painters of Sarasota, Women Contemporary Artists and the National Sumi-e Society. Member artists are selling 52 paintings ranging from $260 to $4,800. Thirty percent of each sale will be donated by the artists to the local Neuro Challenge Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization benefiting Parkinson Disease projects in Sarasota and surrounding communities.

Elizabeth Bornstein of the Sarasota Memorial Healing Arts Open Studio is an exhibitor at the Inner Visions art show, as well as a full time counselor in Oncology at Sarasota Memorial. “This exhibit reflects back to my belief in the healing power of creativity,” says Bornstein, who weaves artistic expression into her counseling practice. “This is a way of bringing together a number of groups in a collaborative effort.”

Many people living with Parkinson Disease report that painting and other creative endeavors temporarily relieve their symptoms. Several programs nationwide showcase the therapeutic value of creativity for Parkinson patients, such as The National Parkinson’s Disease Foundations’s Creativity and Parkinson’s Project. Irv Knowlen, local multimedia artist and Parkinson Disease survivor, says “The making of art is a process of experiment, discovery, and making choices. It can continue throughout your life as it has mine.”

Sarasota Memorial’s Institute for Advanced Medicine and the Neuro Challenge Foundation are proud to celebrate artists supporting Parkinson Disease research through this special exhibit at The Inner Visions Art Show.About The Neuro Challenge Foundation: The Neuro Challenge Foundation, led by Physician Advisor and Sarasota Neurologist Dean P. Sutherland, M.D., Ph.D., and Foundation President Doreen Sutherland, is dedicated to the fight against Parkinson Disease. The Foundation, operated entirely through volunteer time and charitable donations, maintains a full-service, state-of-the-art Parkinson Disease Center in Sarasota, Florida. At the Center, patients and families can receive free surgical and non-surgical treatments, counseling, health and fitness advice, home services and more. The Center offers a level of care that rivals major university medical centers. Patients seen at the Parkinson Disease Center have access to the latest information, medications, surgeries, diagnostic tests, rehabilitation services and alternative therapies. As a result, the reputation of the Center has grown by leaps and bounds, extending to the entire state of Florida and beyond.

Choosing a Birth Care Provider?

The Birth Survey Now Offers Access to Reviews of Local Maternity Care Providers and Facilities

April 28th, 2009 —CIMS, the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services, a group working toward transparency in maternity care, today announced that consumer survey results rating health care providers and birth facilities are now available online at www.thebirthsurvey.com.

The CIMS Transparency in Maternity Care Project: The Birth Survey is the first ever consumer ratings website dedicated solely to providing feedback on obstetricians, midwives, hospitals, birth centers, and home birth services. The consumer reviews include overall ratings and recommendations for birth facilities and care providers, and also a seven-item set of questions on providers’ interpersonal and communication skills, facility intervention rates, and information on finding good care. A national average of ratings is also displayed to provide comparison with individual ratings.

“While consumers have long been sharing information online about products and services, more data was available for the purchase of a digital camera than had ever been available to women as consumers of maternity care. The Birth Survey directly addresses that information deficit,” said Robin Elise Weiss, LCCE, author of The Complete Illustrated Guide to Pregnancy and member of The Birth Survey Committee.

The Birth Survey is a user-friendly, free Website where mothers who have given birth within the last three years can provide detailed, anonymous feedback about their experiences. The survey questions are based upon the Mother Friendly Childbirth Initiative, an evidence-based model of high quality maternity care. Additionally, the interpersonal and communication questions are based upon an AHRQ survey, which represents a well known set of questions currently used by doctors and hospitals.

More than 17,500 ratings for providers and 6,500 ratings for facilities have been submitted since the national launch six months ago. Now, parents-to-be can retrieve the pooled reporting on local providers and facilities.

The national averages of the consumer feedback collected indicate that midwives were rated more highly than the physicians. For example, 58 percent of respondents would recommend their doctors to family and friends, compared to 90 percent who would recommend their midwives. Across all providers, 77 percent of women reported that they had their questions answered completely, and 73 percent felt they were as free as they wanted to be in making their own decisions about their care. Averages, however, varied widely between individual providers.

The Website ratings pages also provide links to hospital and birth center obstetric intervention rates, such as c-section, for facilities in nine states. This information is part of The Birth Survey’s nationwide campaign to make facility-level intervention data available to the public. This kind of public reporting supports informed choice and fosters transparency, which improves outcomes.

Consistent with a new series of government Public Service announcements that encourage consumers to get involved in their health care and ask questions of their care providers, The Birth Survey offers links to information on how to choose and evaluate providers, including the “CIMS Ten Questions to Ask.” By offering more than a conventional five-star rating, The Birth Survey offers information that is vital for women to make more informed decisions.

“A woman who looks at a list of names from her insurance company is often choosing a provider on nothing but blind luck. Where and with whom to give birth are important health care decisions. Research shows that both provider and location have a significant impact on birth outcomes. CIMS wants expectant parents to ask questions of their providers and facilities, and have access to more information about their local options,” said Elan McAllister, founder of Choices in Childbirth in New York City and Co-chair of the The Birth Survey committee.

The Birth Survey is an ongoing project. In the summer of 2009, free-text responses will be displayed on the website, and in 2010, detailed information on patients’ experiences with prenatal, labor, birth and postpartum care will be added to the website as searchable custom reports.For more about The Birth Survey, to view intervention data for each state, the survey results, or to take the survey, log on to www.thebirthsurvey.com.

About the Transparency in Maternity Care Project: The Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS) through the Transparency in Maternity Care Project developed The Birth Survey so families can share information, learn about the choices and birth experiences of others, and view data on hospital and birth center intervention rates and practices. It is also designed to help providers and facilities improve the quality and transparency of their care. At the heart of the project is an on-going online consumer survey that asks women to provide feedback about their pregnancy and birth care specific to the particular doctor, midwife, hospital or birth center that served them. Responses are made available online to other women in their community who are deciding where and with whom to birth. Paired with this experiential data, are official statistics from state departments- of-health listing obstetrical intervention rates at the facility level.

About the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services: The Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS) is a coalition of individuals and national organizations with concern for the care and well-being of mothers, babies, and families. Our mission is to promote a wellness model of maternity care that will improve birth outcomes and substantially reduce costs. This evidence-based mother-, baby-, and family-friendly model focuses on prevention and wellness as the alternatives to high-cost screening, diagnosis, and treatment programs. For more information, log on to www.motherfriendly.org.

Concrete Countertops, Etc. Now Lighter, Stronger, Faster with GFRC Training

April 28, 2009 (Sarasota, Florida) – Jake Brady, owner of the Sarasota based company Concrete Countertops, Etc., recently completed a two day course at the Concrete Countertop Institute in Raleigh, North Carolina. The session offered complete training in design and installation of Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete (GFRC), allowing Concrete Countertops, Etc. the ability to create light, strong, concrete applications in unlimited shapes, and in record time.

The Concrete Countertop Institute GFRC course offers training in Portland cement substitution and ultra-fast UV sealants, resulting in 28-day strength in just one day, and a 62% reduction in carbon footprint. These technologies allow concrete artisans such as Jake Brady to increase production and create a lighter weight, more durable product. “The training I received at the Concrete Countertop Institute will allow me to produce custom fabricated concrete products for customers in as little as six days, as opposed to the fourteen days previously needed,” says Brady. “The ability to create a greater volume of concrete products in a shorter period of time eliminates the immediate need for expanded shop space as business continues to grow."

In addition to the GFRC training, Jake received advanced education in mix designs, glass fiber and acrylic polymer, and efficient equipment for application of both spray and premix concrete. The course also included new finishing techniques and use of increased recycled content.

ABOUT CONCRETE COUNTERTOPS, ETC.: Established in 2008, Concrete Countertops, Etc. is an innovative concrete design and installation studio in Sarasota, Florida. In step with the very latest in concrete and LEED certification requirements, owner Jake Brady takes pride in his commitment to ecological responsibility and creative and elegant surface technology. Concrete Countertops, Etc. offers a unique technique, sustainable mix design, and philosophy that can satisfy the unique vision of his discerning clientele. The surfaces created by Concrete Countertops, Etc. are beautiful and long lasting, and play a vital role in reducing the burden on our nation’s landfills.

Ashley's Launches Green Initiative

SARASOTA, FL (April 22, 2009) -- In conjunction with its 10th Anniversary celebration and Earth Day, Ashley's Food Delivery has announced the launch of a new Green Initiative, an effort designed to reduce and offset the multi-restaurant delivery services's ecological footprint.

The Green Initiative begins with Ashley's new Plant-a-Tree Program. For every order placed, Ashley’s Food will plant a tree with Trees for the Future, a non-profit organization that plants trees in developing countries around the world. “This equates to over 12,000 trees planted per year - enough to eliminate the annual carbon emissions of approximately 30 typical American cars, year after year,” said co-owner Liz Sniegocki, who is heading up the Ashley’s Green Initiative.

In addition to planting trees, Ashley’s Food is making an effort to save trees as well. “Over the past 10 years, as our business has grown, so have the size of & demand for our printed menu guides. We recognize larger books, printed in higher quantities, equals higher paper consumption,” says Sniegocki. As an eco-friendly alternative, the company now offers an electronic menu guide. “On our website, customers can view individual restaurant menus or request an electronic menu guide via email, as well as place an order for delivery,” says Sniegocki. “Additionally, customers who order online receive an electronic receipt, allowing for an entirely paperless transaction.”

The Ashley’s Food Green Initiative also includes a education program focused on improving delivery professionals’ vehicle fuel-economy, the implementation of sustainable green business practices aimed at reducing paper consumption & increasing recycling efforts, and the development of an outreach program that will assist partner restaurants in choosing eco-friendly to-go packaging.

“We’re taking a close look at our operations across the board to determine ways we can reduce waste, conserve natural resources and operate in the most environmentally-responsible manner,” says Sniegocki. To support the efforts of their Green Initiative, Ashley’s Food Delivery is striving to achieve certification in the Sarasota County Green Business Partnership during 2009.

About Ashley’s Food Delivery: The area’s only multi-restaurant delivery service, Ashley’s Food Delivery partners with over 35 restaurants in Sarasota and Bradenton to deliver everything from home-cooked, comfort food to elegant, gourmet dining. Ashley’s Food offers residential & corporate meal delivery, drop-off catering services and gift basket delivery. The service is open for lunch delivery Monday through Friday (Sarasota only) and dinner delivery every day. For more information, call 953-FOOD or visit www.AshleysFood.com.

Parkinson Awareness Month Health Fair April 21st

April is Parkinson Awareness Month. In recognition, Sarasota Memorial Hospital has partnered with the Neuro Challenge Foundation to host a fun and informal ‘Spring Fling’ Health Fair on Tuesday, April 21, from 9:30 am to noon at Sarasota Memorial’s Institute for Advanced Medicine (5880 Rand Boulevard).

This informative open house, which includes a complimentary breakfast, invites patients, caregivers, healthcare providers and the community to meet committed and caring professionals who offer the best local resources and services available for Parkinson patients and families.

Facilities and services available to tour at the open house include the Neuro Challenge Parkinson Clinic, offering multidisciplinary services and customized comprehensive care; SMH Parkinson Out Patient Rehabilitation Services, offering one-on-one physical, occupational, and speech therapy; the state-of-the-art Health Plex Fitness Center; the Parkinson Wellness Club and Caregiver Connection, offering positive and rewarding monthly educational programs for ongoing motivation and support; and the SMH Integrated Medicine Program, offering easy and affordable ways to benefit from treatments like pool therapy, gentle yoga, therapeutic massage, aikido, acupuncture, and more. Special guests at the Health Fair will be local Parkinson Disease expert, Dean P. Sutherland, MD, PhD and Dr. Bernard Sutherland, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s eight years ago.

The Neuro Challenge Foundation, led by Physician Advisor and Sarasota Neurologist Dean P. Sutherland, M.D., Ph.D., and Foundation President Doreen Sutherland, is dedicated to the fight against Parkinson Disease. The Foundation, operated entirely through volunteer time and charitable donations, maintains a full-service, state-of-the-art Parkinson Disease Center in Sarasota, Florida . At the Center, patients and families can receive free surgical and non-surgical treatments, counseling, health and fitness advice, home services and more. The Center offers a level of care that rivals major university medical centers. Patients seen at the Parkinson Disease Center have access to the latest information, medications, surgeries, diagnostic tests, rehabilitation services and alternative therapies. As a result, the reputation of the Center has grown by leaps and bounds, extending to the entire state of Florida and beyond.