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back, and wipe out the mouth. That is what I had always seen, so I figured that’s just what you do. My friend wanted to delay cord clamping here, and the doctor said that he couldn’t because it created a liability conflict, whereas if you have a natural birth, clamping can be delayed.” Birth hospitals don’t allow for immediate contact between mother and child for breast-feeding, Schusheim said. “In the midwifery model of care, they encourage immediate skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby. It helps regulate the baby’s heartbeat and it assists in breast-feeding,” Schusheim said, adding, “Another struggle here is that women who have C-sections are not allowed to nurse because again they are again being told it is a liability.” Of the births of her two children
Nayeli and Finn, Schusheim said,” I was able to deliver my babies on my own terms based on the information that the midwife gave me. Both times I used a birth pool, which was the difference between no pain and extreme pain. Women have been giving birth in water for hundreds of years. I think it is just an instinctual thing we do.” “As an advocate, having done it twice at home, and having met so many women that say, ‘How do you do that? I want to do that. My doctor told me that I couldn’t do that.’ It’s apparent that we need more support in Laredo for natural birth,” she said, adding, “As women, we need to demand that these services be available to us. I am really hoping that this will be the beginning of a conversation that will eventually lead to having a birth center in our hospitals, so women can have the best of both worlds.”
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Continued FROM page 21 bring in new programs, but it is also important to continue the good work that Judge Martinez has established. He is leaving a legacy behind that is important to maintain.” The candidate would like to continue Martinez’s efforts at deferred adjudication and providing constituents with the option of community service in lieu if fines, as well as his work with the Real Education Attitude and Leadership (REAL) Mission program. “I learned about the REAL Mission program before I even wanted to run. I have a friend whose daughter went through the program. She learned so much and through the program decided to pursue being a Border Patrol agent. So absolutely, I want to continue supporting it because I saw how it impacted a student’s life,” she said. Del Rio is married to assistant Webb District Attorney Philip Del Rio. She has worked on projects with
the Laredo Webb County Bar Association, Communities in School, and Voz de Niños. Del Rio serves as a board member of the Laredo Asian Association whose mission is to educate the community about Asian culture and heritage while providing scholarships to LCC and TAMIU students. “Asian culture, like the Hispanic culture — there is a lot of respect for our elders and you do what you can to support them and spend as much time with them,” she said, adding, “We think it is important to encourage Asian studies to make our students globally competitive.” Del Rio said she will devote herself as JP to finding innovative solutions to any and all problems and will turn to state and federal grants to establish new programs. “This fast-growing community needs someone that is prepared and has the tools and the education to serve,” said Del Rio. — LareDOS Staff
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