said Tuesday it will limit approval for

It has clinics, a birthing center and training for health professionals. The midwives who run the program welcome vulnerable patients that other practices turn away, such as those who are uninsured or haven’t had prenatal care until late in pregnancy.About half the patients and much of the staff, including Joseph, are people of color. Research shows Black Americans are more likely to distrust the medical system than their white counterparts, but Joseph stresses building trust.

Jennie Joseph, back left, lead midwife and clinic director at the Commonsense Childbirth clinic talks with client Regine Baramore as husband Scott holds six-week-old daughter, Yahareice. (AP Photo/John Raoux)Jennie Joseph, back left, lead midwife and clinic director at the Commonsense Childbirth clinic talks with client Regine Baramore as husband Scott holds six-week-old daughter, Yahareice. (AP Photo/John Raoux)“We have these four tenets that go with my model: access, connection, knowledge and empowerment,” she said. Some patients “cry because they’ve never had that kind of care or respect.”

All of this, Joseph said, contributes to better outcomes. With thousands of patients over about 26 years, she and her colleagues have never had a maternal death.— which refers to the death of a woman from pregnancy or childbirth complications during or within 42 days of a pregnancy — generally has been rising in the U.S. About 700 women die each year, with another 60,000 suffering related injuries or severe complications.

A controversial study recently attributed the increase to a change in how they’re recorded: a “pregnancy checkbox” on death certificates recommended by the National Center for Health Statistics partly to fix an undercount. But the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and many doctors pushed back against

, which suggested the rate is about 10 in 100,000 live births. Some say the true rate may be somewhere in between — meaning it’s still higher than other wealthy nations.The ranch where she kept her horses, the historic Bob Williams Ranch on Cheney Trail, burned, she said. McKenzie lost her equipment but another ranch has said they’ll give her a saddle and bridle.

Suzanne Cassel evacuated Tuesday from Topanga with her two horses, a donkey named Oscar Nelson, four dogs and two cats. They rushed to nab a spot at a large animal emergency shelter at Pierce College, a community college in Woodlands Hills.Her horses are together in the shelter, while the dogs and cats are staying in the horse trailer. Her donkey, though, was feeling down in a stall by himself.

“He’s lonely, so I just went inside and sat in the stall with him for half an hour, and he liked that because nobody likes to be alone when you’re a herd animal,” she said.Buturovic, who runs the dog rescue shelter, took some of her canines to Harvilicz’s old hospital and others to a friend’s home in Venice.