The Miami Maternity Center Story – In Which Your Blogger is Grossed Out
Posted by Rachel on January 14, 2009
I have a very high tolerance for things most others would consider gross. But, oh, this story. It has taken me two days to get up the will to share it with you. Perhaps you shouldn’t even read any further. Here’s a website, Cute Overload, just in case you need it after.
Okay. Now you all know that I’m a supporter of midwifery. I think it’s a great option for many women, and that women should have choices of provider and setting for birth. However, I believe that informed choice and adherence to the agreed upon standards is also important. I expect honesty, and competence, and the following of basic infection control protocols.
On Christmas Eve, the FDA, Florida Department of Health, and Miami Dade Police Department’s Medical Crimes Unit raided the Miami Maternity Center, which was “suspected of providing unregulated non FDA approved capsules.” Said capsules were filled with dehydrated placenta, and women were given them as a tool to prevent postpartum depression.
And that’s completely fine, whatever you want to do with your own placenta. This use is obviously not well studied and not FDA-approved. The devil is in the alleged details, however:
The organs would be ground up all together inside of a coffee grinder and placed into gelatin capsules by MMC staff members. The ULA investigation also disclosed that as many as 10 to 15 placentas at a time were being placed in layers inside of the MMC dehydration machine creating a cross contamination hazard.
Oh, no. You can eat your own placenta all day long, but once women may be unknowingly consuming parts of *other* women’s placentas, that’s when I’m completely grossed out and disturbed by the alleged process. The mixing. The cross-contamination. Urgh.
I should very clearly state that I have no first-hand knowledge of the allegations and situation. I haven’t seen it for myself. I find it bizarre that 22 people were thought to be needed to raid a birth center, and wonder if that might have been a wee bit excessive. In another report, owner Shari Daniels is said to have claimed that placentas were saved for their owners, but were never made into capsules. Comments on various sites on this topic are all over the place, and are worth a look.
The Mommy Blawg has additional links to coverage of the situation. I think we’ll be hearing more about this in the future.
And, you know, don’t write off all birth centers because of these allegations. Just do your homework.
AnneMarie said
Please see my site http://www.miamibirth.info The site has public records, complaints, and articles from Shari Daniel’s past. I am hoping the truth will all come out in the open soon.
Former MMC Student
mrs spock said
I have a blog friend who just dehydrated her placenta for ingestion. But it was her own. I highly doubt anyone who felt OK about ingesting their own placenta would feel OK about ingesting one that had been in contact with someone else’s. Hello- HIV, HepB, HepC.
Concerned said
I am a midwife and am on the fence about the effectivness of placenta pills. That being said manu of my clients use them. However not only is this disgusting and dangerous, but it not the type of informed consent midwifery is based on. Some bloggers are arguing that all disease should be killed by the dehydration…who cares? It is the point tht they would do something so potentially dangerous without your knowledge.
CountryMidwife said
Oh, Dear. Most of us out here are doing a great job, please know that loyal readers!
I have *always* found it strange that Shari and her team always insist every woman gives birth in the exact same position. What and why and …. ???
You couldn’t pay me to be on TV – or subject my laboring moms to cameras, etc – but I definitely think TLC could have picked a more… gentle… model or midwifery.
Penina said
Im not sure what your talking about.. Shari is AMAZING! she gives free classes for weeks teaching all about getting ready for your baby..whether your in the Maternity Center or just dont want to pay for other classes.. she excepts everyone.. and with a happy heart! she also teaches A MILLION AND ONE DIFFERENT POSITIONS to give birth.. It may be easier or more comfortable for some women to give birth one way..but she doesnt reccommend anything specific.. at the Miami Maternity Center.. theyre all so open minded and willing to help you through everything!
Stop reading all this crap you see on the computer.. because until you experince an actual birth from beginning to end with Shari Daniels.. you really should have nothing to say at all! She’s delieverd over 11,000 beautiful healthy babies in her lifetime.. and counting.. Shari Daniels may be a bit tough but she does it out of love and only wants the best for you and your baby! I dont see any bad things written about hospitals.. like how theyre beginning to become very lazy to actually deliver a baby naturally.. this week alone in my community 4 mothers gave birth 3 in a hospital and one with Shari in the Maternity Center.. the 3 all had C sections.. and the one with Shari.. was natural and the baby was fine!
Shari has really done a wonderful job im so happy to be giving birth in her center.. with her by my side!
CountryMidwife said
Meant “model OF midwifery”
student midwife said
As a student midwife at the Miami Maternity Center I can say I dried and ground placentas. I Never saw them stacked, they are also ground separately. I did not put them into the capsules but gave the powder to the mom. This is the truth from someone who has seen the process with her own eyes.
Recent grad said
To Student Midwife, you may be able to say that, but you know for a fact that the powder was placed in capsules, and other students admitted to it already on public blogs! Many former patients have admitted to it as well, on public blogs.
I can’t swear on the efficacy of the use of ground placenta, but I can say that processing pills, without cleaning the equipment (ie dehydrator or grinder) between uses does cross contaminate!
I think the best thing the students can do is to stop blogging… the lies will come back to bite you in the arse!
Disappointed said
I must say, the level of hate I have seen on some of these blogs toward Shari Daniels and the Miami Maternity Center is quite appalling not only because of the caustic remarks but because the most hateful things are being said by midwives or student midwives. Aren’t midwives supposed to be the ones who give more loving care to the women and families they assist? If so, why can’t they show more love and support toward each other? Especially if they’re getting information about alleged act from 3rd parties, the internet, etc.
As a former student of Shari Daniels, I have seen and taken part in the process of placenta dehydration. I, myself, have cleaned and sterilized the dehydrator trays, etc. And while I understand the concern for public safety, it seems to me that some of the comments being made on various blogs are not really about that but are simply a campaign to tear down one of the most experienced and intelligent midwives in the country. And some of the ones spear-heading that campaign may have learned at Shari’s feet but they will never possess her passion, grit, or determination. She may not be the easiest to like, but she’s a damn good midwife.
Rachel said
Disappointed – I’m not keeping up with all blog coverage of this, but I am aware that there have been claims in comments elsewhere both supporting and denying the capsule activity at the Center. I wonder why it is you think there is a “campaign to tear down” Daniels specifically, in all seriousness. Who would need to wage such a campaign, and what would they stand to benefit? I’m honestly curious, because I have seen a few comments along those lines from people who seem to believe the allegations are some sort of conspiracy against Daniels.
Recent grad said
Rachel… there is no conspiracy against Ms. Daniels, as some of the bloggers would have you believe. After getting out from under the control of Ms. Daniels, you actually begin to realize how dangerous some of her acts really are and that if you let birth progress on it’s own, you don’t need to fundal pressure or suck babies out without a mother’s knowledge or consent! Even as a student, you know these things, but you are desperate to become a midwife. One of the ways that Ms. Daniels keeps her students under her control is by not charging tuition to her program. Since the other schools are so expensive, and the MDC program has been unstable and now closed, you keep your mouth shut and pray you make it to the end!
Some former students have reached out and spoken with her about her actions, asking her to stop doing illegal things like fundal pressure and assisted deliveries with vacuum extractors, and she doesn’t, instead she badgers you, calls you names, puts you down in front of the rest of the students and staff and sometimes clients, and makes you feel like you have no idea what you are talking about… why would you question her? She does this and gets away with it because she is Shari, because she believes that she is untouchable by the agencies that are SUPPOSE to be protecting the health and welfare of mother’s and babies in the state. And you know what, so far she HAS been untouchable. She B.S.’s her way out of every situation with the state and they buy it. Now a baby has died, unnecessarily. The family will not sit back and let this one go, and many former students are coming forward to support this family and make sure this doesn’t happen to another family.
There is no conspiracy, just a responsible need to police ourselves and stop being fearful of a midwife that as been breaking the rules for far too many years. Midwifery law in Florida is already being looked at closely, we don’t need people like Ms. Daniels, tearing it down and ruining it for the rest of the mother’s and babies who deserve to choose where to SAFELY and with whom to have their baby! There are many of us practicing safe home birth and birth center birth here in south Florida.
These complaints haven’t come from one or two people… they’ve come from many. And now that it’s been made public that the investigation has been ongoing for almost a year, more former students and clients have come out of the woodwork, there is safety in numbers, girls, it’s OK to speak out… I have and several of my colleagues have and it’s been liberating! The best thing any of us can do is to cooperate with the investigators and be truthful. We owe it to the mom’s we cared for in the past and the women and their babies of the future!
To speak truthfully about the making of placenta pills at the Miami Maternity Center you can contact:
Special Agent Kriplean
US Food and Drug Administration
Office of Criminal Investigations
Miami Field Office(954) 476-5400
To speak to an investigator about other illegal activities that you’ve witnessed at MMC (fundal pressure, vacuum extraction, Dahlia practicing midwifery) contact:
MIAMI
Doral Center
Manchester Bldg., 1-M101
8355 NW 53rd St.
Miami, FL 33166
Telephone: (305) 470-5800
or call 1-877-HALT-ULA and ask for the person investigating, Shari Daniels, Dahlia Porter and the Miami Maternity Center.
To those pioneers who so bravely paved the way a couple of years ago by filing the initial complaint, good for you! Your ethics and morals are outstanding! Your persistence is finally paying off! To those of you that have since come forward… good for you… I hope this is a time of healing for you! To those of you who continue defending Ms. Daniels, we know it’s in your best interest… we know that you want to continue to be students, we understand, we were there, in your shoes, not too long ago! Hopefully, there will be other options available to you and you will see how wonderful true holistic midwifery is.
Let’s keep midwifery a safe alternative to the highly managed obstetrics… practice wisely and safely and within the boundaries of the law!
student midwife said
O.K. so I really had not wanted to get caught up in any of the negativity surrounding all the blogs and accusations. My hope is to only speak about what I know not what I think and do it with integrity. So to respond to RECENT GRADUATE
you said that I know for a fact that placenta was placed in pills. I do not know that. what I was told is I was not to place placentas in pills so I did not nor did I see anyone doing that.No student or midwife has talked to me and ever said they placed placenta in pill.I have cleaned the dehydrator and coffee grinder myself and NEVER stacked any placentas.
Second you stated that Shari believes she is untouchable, I understand the need to be heard and express your feelings but really,you not only know what I do or do not know and you know what shari believes even about herself that is quite alot of information.
how do you know that, has Shari told you that or is it like my case where you assume?
Also I seriously question your motives if you saw things that you did not agree with and things you claim are illegal why would you stay and participate for three years?
If you were and are so disgusted I think you would have left and not continued.
You also stated many people are complaining what is many? a few? half dozen? a dozen? several dozen? This woman has been a midwife for 30 some years and delivered thousands of babies do you really believe that every person, every profession, every personal relationship has some percentage of someone being dissatisfied?
I am not here to sing the praises of Shari Daniels. I KNOW she is not perfect.she is strong willed and can be very bossy and at times rude(this has been my personal experience with her)But on the other hand she has a TIRELESS DEVOTION to her mothers and students.
I guess what I am saying is I,you, we may or may not like her or agree with her.we don’t have to see or speak to her if we don’t want to, we can even hate her but what I think is a grave mistake is to JUDGE her. Do any of us have that much insight that we can know what someone else is thinking and doing?
You have said this is not a conspiracy than what is it? if some one wants to complain than they should if there has been a violation that person has every right to speak up for their self but posting on web sites talking about things you think you know like what others think or do is wrong and hurtful.
Personally I don’t know if you have been at MMC or not but if you were you really should have spoken up then, keeping you concerns to yourself until you got what you needed speaks volumes.
I like all midifery students and midwives want nothing more that to dedicate my life to helping women,I am so passionate and excited about being aloud to fulfill my dreams at MMC on a weekly basis I see mothers that I personally help with every aspect of their care and I couldn’t do it with out MMC
Thank you
P.S.
FACTS ARE THE ENEMY OF TRUTH
past MMC patient said
Recent Grad,
I feel so let down by your post.
“To those pioneers who so bravely paved the way a couple of years ago by filing the initial complaint, good for you! ”
Really? I was showing up for appointments and placing my trust in you and you were hiding information you knew might put me at risk? I’m so happy that you feel liberated for finally coming out. Me, I feel robbed and let down that you turned a blind eye to unsafe practices. You owed it to us as patients to alert proper authority to unsafe practices. I question your own dedication to midwifery. Shame on you.
Complaintant #2 said
For more info about MMC and Shari Daniels goto http://www.miamibirth.info. There is a pattern emerging. Keep your minds, eyes and ears open.
Happy Mom said
I had both of my children at the Miami Maternity Center, and it was a very positive experience. I researched other midwives and made an educated decision. To anyone who doesn’t think there is a conspiracy out there, not just against Shari Daniels but against all lay midwives, you need to WAKE UP! I am MARRIED to a physician. The physicians are the ones who want to stop midwives from practicing. They either don’t want their business taken away, or they are so uninformed that they believe that hospital births are safer than births with a trained midwife.
Lisa said
I had a beautiful waterbirth at the Miami Maternity Center in March 2007. I cannot say enough good things about my experience there. Shari has a strong personality, so it’s not surprising that she rubs some people the wrong way. But the truth is that she provides an incredibly valuable service to the community. I wish that every woman could have the kind of birth that I did. It was the most incredible experience of my life and I will always be grateful to Shari, the midwives and students who helped me birth my baby the way I wanted to. I’m very sad that Shari is having to deal with the gestapo tactics of the federal government. Perhaps they should focus more on the dangerous, interventionist practices of the mainstream obstetrical profession which result in the ridiculously high cesaerean rate.
Concerned Mommy said
Recent Grad, thank you for stating that fundal pressure is illegal.. I was searching for that info.. I think many moms do not know what that is and why it is illegal.. they may have had it and had no idea it was a problem – like me.. so maybe you can explain it to them- since you can express it from experience.
thank you for the info. To all mommy’s with a good experience at MMC, I am very happy for you..everyone has not been so lucky.
I trust balance will be restored somehow.. I just hope Shari’s actions do not put all midwives at risk in Florida.
Recent grad said
Dear Concerned Mommy and others… Fundal pressure is where the care provider exerts tremendous pressure from the top of your uterus (the fundus) to get the baby out.
Many, many problems can occur with this procedure, and it is ILLEGAL to do this in a birth center.
One of the problems that can be caused by exerting too much pressure on the fundus is a RUPTURED UTERUS, another problem is it can cause SHOULDER DYSTOCIA, resulting in permanent damage or death to your baby.
It was my experience at the MMC that almost 50% of all babies were fundal pressured out. This is a disgusting statistic, and I found that most midwives OUTSIDE of MMC have either NEVER had a situation that required fundal pressure or MAY have done it once, in an extreme emergency.
The other problem there is the use of vacuum extraction which is also ILLEGAL. The use of fundal pressure AND vacuum extraction, greatly increases the chance of DEATH, as evidenced in October at MMC.
As others have stated, if your family was asked to leave the room, while “you rested”, and within 5-10 minutes, your baby was coming out and Shari was yelling to your family… “Hurry, you’ll miss the birth”… chances are your baby was vacuumed extracted ILLEGALLY from your body. The sickest part of this is the lack of Informed Consent… the patient’s eyes are covered and it is done without you even realizing what Shari is doing to you… SICK.
And to PAST MMC PATIENT… you have every right to be disappointed in all of us. You did trust us and we stupidly turned a blind eye to what Shari was doing so that we could be midwives. Any student that did this is in the wrong, and I APOLOGIZE. I pray for forgiveness everyday. I can’t make any excuses for it, because they are worthless excuses, but felt right at the time. I hope you can forgive those of us who let you down!
To any of you that have concerns about your birth… OR were treated ILLEGALLY BY DAHLIA PORTER, presuming she was a midwife, when she wasn’t… please contact:
Chad Piotrowski at: ChadPiotrowski@MiamiSAO.com
He is the State Atty that is prosecuting Dahlia Porter for practicing midwifery without a license.
You can also contact:
To speak to an investigator about other illegal activities that you’ve witnessed at MMC (fundal pressure, vacuum extraction, Dahlia practicing midwifery) contact:
MIAMI
Doral Center
Manchester Bldg., 1-M101
8355 NW 53rd St.
Miami, FL 33166
Telephone: (305) 470-5800
or call 1-877-HALT-ULA and ask for the person investigating, Shari Daniels, Dahlia Porter and the Miami Maternity Center. THE LEAD INVESTIGATOR’S NAME IS LISA.
If you have rec’d potentially contaminated placenta pills, you can contact:
Special Agent Kriplean
US Food and Drug Administration
Office of Criminal Investigations
Miami Field Office(954) 476-5400
All we can do is hope that Shari’s actions, and the actions of the other midwives that work at MMC do not make the rest of us look badly. There are MANY, MANY wonderful midwives in the State of Florida. There are OTHER wonderful birthing centers in the area… Hollywood Birth Center and A Birth Center. Check out ALL your options!
marcia said
I had a beautiful birth at the Miami Maternity Center. It was a wonderful experience. Shari and all the staff took excellent care of me and my family. I only have good things about my experience at the Miami Maternity Center. All this negative publicity and charges are nothing more than the hate and rage of people who didn’t have the talent, learning capacity and compassion required to become a midwife, and the conspiracy of the federal government and the FDA to protect the interest of doctors and the pharmaceutical industry
anonymous said
Nice try Maria…. Although are government may be quite corrupt, the reason that the federal government finally became involved in this case is due to the fact that the number of complaints and amount of information pouring in regarding the Miami Maternity Center and Shari Daniels was overwhelming-they would have been negligent to not pay attention and act on all of the information that was received! I to was a patient at MMC and two weeks before my due date I received a call from the Florida Department of Health regarding the fact that the midwife the I had been seeing was unlicensed. I don’t care how talented you are I want you to have the proper license to oversee my prenatal care and labor and delivery. If Shari and her staff are so talented and have such great learning capacities why can’t they play by the rules and have the appropriate credentials to practice. I left the practice and had my son with licensed midwives who practice within the scope of the law-best decision I ever made. For those of you who have drank the Kool-Aid and still believe how wonderful Shari Daniels is please continue to live your life with your head buried in the sand and choose not to look at cold hard facts-not conspiracy theories. I hope and pray that you have safe pregnacies and deliveries and that you or your child do not become another fatality of Shari Daniels and her staff.
Judy said
I gave birth at the Miami Maternity Center and I DID receive placenta pills .
Kali said
I just want to know if despite all the allegations would any of the former grads or current students reccommend the International School of Midwifery to anyone?
MomTFH said
Kali, it really depends on who you talk to. I think anyone who has been there can agree it is a grueling program, regardless of the allegations. There is no tuition, while many other schools charge thousands of dollars. But, in exchange, you are expected to clean toilets, mop floors, do laundry, clean ceiling fans, etc. Sometimes (often) at 3 in the morning, and/or after being at a birth and up for 30 hours straight. There is a high volume at the birth center and lots of wonderful moms and babies. You have to precept and catch there. You are not just attending classes, but doing overnights, on call shifts and clinic shifts almost immediately. It is difficult to hold down a job while attending the program, but some students manage to.
Shari, as you can see, if a controversial personality, to say the least. If you haven’t seen House of Babies on the Discovery Health Channel, check it out. It was filmed there. It will give you something of an idea what it is like.
Student Midwife said
Kali,
I am a student Midwife in the program now. Momtfh’s comments are acurate. The program requires…
Commitment, Dedication, Passion and a Deep belief that birth works. It truley does work. Every person at the birth center works tirelessly for every Mom in our care. We offer a 24/7 emergency phone and no question is to small. Every birth is special to us. I highly recommened that you come in and see for yourself. I beleive the most important thing a woman can do is to EDUCATE herself.
I have a couple questions myself, If the center is so dangerous for mothers and babies why are we still open? I mean to quote anonymous “The federal goverment became involved because of the # of complaints and the amount of information pouring in” Really???
Again we are still open.
The Kool- aid remark is just so hateful. I consider myself an intellegent woman with integrity and would never do anything to harm anyone no matter who told me to. I would also never sit back and watch someone else harm another person.
I hope this helps, Good luck
Nicolle said
I gave birth to my beautiful healthy daughter in October 2008.
I became a patient there around the 30th week of my pregnancy since I could not find an OB who would agree to allow me a natural birth without medications so long as the baby and I were doing well. The first OB asked me “If [labor] takes more than 4 hours are you going to pay me $350 per extra hour?” since Medicaid apparently doesn’t pay as much as regular insurance I guess. The second OB had the receptionist call me the day after my first vist with him to tell me to find another doctor.
I researched my options and intervied midwives, took the tour at the maternity center and decided that’s where I’d have my baby. Shari is tough and intimidating at times but I researched everything I was told and at least in my opinion Shari is someone who knows what shes doing. She was very concerned with my well-being, Between her and the other midwives and students I was very well taken care of. I was given much more time and attention than any OB was going to give me.
My labor lasted 31 hours. Cary was with me at the beginning and Pamela was there with me a little over 24 hours from the time I came back to the time I went home. She had help from others during the labor and I had about 4 midwives, including Shari and Pamela, with me when I finally gave birth. It wasn’t the water birth I had thought I would have because my baby decided to make things a little difficult by putting her hand on her head but when I was allowed to push she came out in just 3mins! When she was most of the way out I was told to reach down and pull her the rest of the way out and straight onto my chest. My baby was absolutely perfect. 8lbs 14oz 21in long!
I had family with me from the time I got there at 9pm to 730pm the next day, my mom took pictures and my sister video taped. The only time I didn’t have family in the room was after I gave birth, had my baby in my arms and everything had started to calm down.
They took amazing care of both me and my baby – the 10 or so weeks pre-natal, 26+ hours of labor that I was at the center, birth, and for the 6 weeks post-partum
I still go every month for the Milk and Cookies event and everyone is still super nice and caring.
They do their best to answer any questions.
IF I decide to have another baby in the future I won’t bother with the OBs…If I’m still in Miami I’ll go straight to the Miami Maternity center, if not I’ll call for a referal.
So anyways, now that I’m done with my praises…
I did receive a baggy with my ground up placenta which I decided to just keep like I kept the baby’s umbilical stump… not so big on eatting my organs…. =/
Marinkina said
1 п. “Не имей сто друзей, а имей сто шекелей” тоже хорошо рифмуется
8 п. Ты никогда не потеряешь работу. Когда закончатся фотографии можно размещать рисунки (да хоть бы и конкурс объявить на лучший рисунок Одри (-:), аппликации и фотографии поделок из пластилина…
9 п. Сто пудов !
Tammy Jones said
I visited the MMC at 26 weeks pregnant with a dream of delivering my baby VBAC. I took a tour of the MMC and talked to Dahlia and Shari. At the end of my visit I was sure that I would deliver my baby at the MMC and had renewed hope that is was possible for me to have a natural birth. Seventeen weeks later, I gave birth to a healthy baby boy (9 lbs. 13 oz.). My birth was a life changing experience. Words fall short of expressing my deep gratitude to Shari and the staff of the MMC for their hard work and dedication to making my VBAC a success.