Meet Virginia, a birth simulator aimed at preserving rural obstetrics

Having a baby in rural Minnesota is getting harder 

View in Browser | Listen Good morning, ❄️ A heavy dusting of snow overnight is making for a slick morning commute in the Twin Cities metro. Check road conditions if you are heading out this morning. Find the latest on Updraft. Meet Virginia, a birth simulator aimed at preserving rural obstetrics Virginia a life-like birth simulator that can replicate a wide range of birth scenarios from a cesarean section to a high-risk breech birth. The teaching tool is meant to address a vexing, vicious cycle in rural health care.   As young people leave small communities for urban areas, fewer babies are born. And that means there are fewer opportunities for doctors, nurses and other practitioners to keep up on the basic and essential skills needed to deliver babies. And when that happens, hospitals sometimes stop delivering babies altogether, says Dr. Charles Kendall, who has been in family medicine at the Cloquet hospital for nearly three decades. "A lot of doctors have given up [obstetrics], either because they retired or they don't want to do OB, or they don't want the risk involved," he said. "That's really put a crunch on the rural hospitals." [Read the story] What else we're watching: Russia invades Ukraine on many fronts.Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, unleashing airstrikes on cities and military bases and sending in troops and tanks from three sides in an attack that could rewrite the global post-Cold War security order. Ukraine's government pleaded for help as civilians piled into trains and cars to flee. Minnesotans gather to show solidarity with Ukrainians Minnesotans with family ties to Ukraine spent the initial hours after Russia's invasion of the country in a mix of shock, worry and anger as they tried to reach loved ones in the embattled nation. Elected officials across Minnesota's political spectrum called for a sharp and unified response. CDC expected to ease mask guidelines. The Biden administration will significantly loosen federal mask-wearing guidelines to protect against COVID-19 transmission on Friday, according to two people familiar with the matter, meaning most Americans will no longer be advised to wear masks in indoor public settings. Federal jury finds 3 ex-cops guilty on all counts.  Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao were on the scene of George Floyd's arrest May 25, 2020, as Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes. Thao, Kueng and Lane were convicted of failing to provide medical aid to Floyd. – Sara Porter, MPR News Did someone forward you this email? Subscribe today! SPONSOR   Connect With Us MPRnews.org MPRnews on iOS MPRnews on Android Podcasts from MPR News Did someone forward you this email? Subscribe today. Preference Center ❘ Unsubscribe You received this email because you subscribed or it was sent to you by a friend. This email was sent by: Minnesota Public Radio 480 Cedar Street Saint Paul, MN, 55101