We've got more great news! Our momentum is building. The Homebirth Safety Act now has two more co-sponsors - one from each side of the aisle - Representatives Mike Tryon (R) and Mike Boland (D). If they are your reps, please send them a thank you! If they are NOT your reps, please keep helping us build momentum by contacting your rep TODAY! Be absolutely sure to tell them about HB226's new co-sponsors. Then ask them to co-sponsor too!
While you're waiting for their return call, enjoy this fantastic article by Illinois Times journalist Amanda Robert. She follows the life of one Illinois midwife of 30 years ago and reports on the state of midwifery in Illinois over a 30 year span. The article can be found at this link:
http://www.illinoistimes.com/Springfield/article-7111-home-delivery.html
Once your rep does return your call, if they say anything but YES to co-sponsoring, send them a copy of this article.
Thanks for all you do!!!
Rachel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rachel Dolan Wickersham, CD(DONA), LCCE
president, Coalition for Illinois Midwifery
vice president, Illinois Council of Certified Professional Midwives
Jiandra@aol.com
630-750-9444
Friday, March 26, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
UPDATE - WE NEED A ROLL CALL!! HB226
UPDATE – WE NEED A ROLL CALL!!
HOMEBIRTH SAFETY ACT – HB226
Dear Home Birth and Midwifery Supporters,
It's time. We are pressing the entire House Floor for support. If you've been disappointed that your legislator has not been listed on previous action alerts, NOW is your time. We need a FULL ROLL CALL of the Illinois House of Representatives. We are asking each and every legislator to COSPONSOR HB226, the Homebirth Safety Act.
When you call, you may hear "the bill is dead". NOT TRUE. We’ve learned that no bill is ever truly dead until the general assembly actually adjourns and goes home for the summer. Because of your support and dedication thus far, our bill has life! Your work, targeting specific legislators, has created a "midwife" buzz in Springfield!! Now we need to keep it alive with strong, continuous ACTION.
But, because the “official” deadline for getting bills through committee has passed we have to be absolutely sure we have the votes necessary to pass the bill before putting everyone
(you, ourselves, our chief sponsor) through the process required to get a bill assigned to committee at this point in the session. Basically we have the next three weeks to work it all out.
This will require everyone’s help. We need constituents in each and every legislative district to write their legislator this week asking their legislator to co-sponsor the Homebirth Safety Act, HB226. This means not only must you write a letter but to truly help us get the head count, you must ask everyone you know who might be remotely supportive to write a letter too. We are going to make this as easy as possible by supplying the text of the letter (see below) but we need you to pass it along and follow up with your friends, family and anyone else who believes that women who choose homebirth, should have access to safe, nationally certified providers. Here is the letter:
Dear Representative
I’m writing today to ask you to co-sponsor HB226, the Homebirth Safety Act. Recent developments have given this bill new momentum. State Representative Beth Coulson, a legislator known for her expertise in healthcare issues and a long time opponent of the Homebirth Safety Act, has reviewed the latest changes in the bill - educational requirements added last year by the (now supportive) Illinois Society of Advance Practice Nurses - and has shifted her position. Representative Coulson now supports HB226.
The supporters of this issue are fairly confident that if we are able to count 60 votes on the House floor, we will be able to get the bill assigned to committee. So I am asking you to please co-sponsor the bill.
With the number of homebirths rising nationally (the CDC reports a 5% increase recently) and the number of Illinois counties with licensed providers remaining the same – still only 5 out of 102 counties covered - and with recent news that yet another home birth practice will soon no longer be attending home births, we are creating a recipe for disaster.
Every year in our state homebirth families have their babies without medical assistance, hire midwives from out of state, cross the border to give birth out-of-state, or hire underground midwives in their own communities. Having part of our maternity care system remain underground makes it much less safe and secure. Without regulation there is no assurance that a particular midwife is skilled. There is no smooth mechanism for transport and transfer of care if the woman needs to go to the hospital for a C-section. There is no easy way to get a birth certificate that is filled out properly. And there is no easy way to do the baby's blood test that screens for metabolic or genetically inherited disorders (such as cystic fibrosis). Failing to screen and treat certain disorders early on, can be devastating for baby’s health.
The Homebirth Safety Act, HB226 can remedy these issues in a way that our current system does not. Please support it by adding your name as a cosponsor. I await your reply and can be reached at _________________.
Sincerely….”
1) When sending this letter, you may add more text if you wish but please keep all of the text above if at all possible. Please send your rep a copy of this letter to both their Springfield and local addresses. You can find your rep’s name, address, fax number and sometimes email address by going to www.ilga.gov Click on legislator lookup and use your address to find your state Representative.
2) After sending the letter, please call your legislator’s secretary on Monday or Tuesday March29th or 30th. Say you are following up on your letter and wanted to know whether your rep will co-sponsor the bill or not. If the answer is no, ask if your rep will commit to voting yes for the bill if it makes it to the floor. If still no, ask for an appointment in the local office during the two weeks of legislative spring break, so that you can learn about their concerns and bring someone along who can possibly address their concerns.
If your rep says the bill is dead, politely let him/her know “The supporters of this issue are fairly confident that if we are able to count 60 votes on the House floor, we will be able to get the bill assigned to committee. So I am asking you to please co-sponsor the bill.”
3) Whatever your outcome, yes, no or meeting, please let us know via email to Jamie at charis490@gmail.com If you have a meeting we’ll try to send someone with you if at all possible.
4) REMEMBER YOUR REPRESENTATIVE WORKS FOR YOU! You pay his/her salary with your taxes. Do not be afraid to talk to them or ask for a meeting.
5) Forward this email to everyone you know who may be interested in helping homebirth mothers, babies and midwives. Follow up with your friends. See if they need help contacting their legislator. Also ask if they’ll allow us to add their email to our action alert list. If yes, please send their names, legislator names, and email addresses to Jamie at charis490@gmail.com
6) LAST BUT NOT LEAST – NOTHING SHOWS YOUR LEGISLATOR YOU CARE AS MUCH AS A TRIP TO SPRINGFIELD TO VISIT THEM THERE. IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED IN MAKING A DAY TRIP TO SPRINGFIELD TO VISIT THEIR LEGISLATORS THIS WEEK, PLEASE CONTACT OUR BOARD MEMBER TONEY CROSS. She will be in Springfield this Wednesday and Thursday and can help you navigate when you get there.
Please let Jamie know at the email address above if you intend to go to Springfield this week. She will connect you with Toney’s cell.
7) Finally, please consider donating. If we DO get our bill out of committee this year, we will desperately need our lobbyist. Right now we are working without him in order to continue working off last year’s fees. BUT WE MAY NEED HIM NEXT MONTH. Please donate. Give $5 if that’s all you can do. Please give more if you can. Plan to donate $5 next month and every month thereafter until the Homebirth Safety Act has passed.
Please visit http://illinoismidwifery.org and click on paypal or mail a check made out to CFIM (or Coalition for Illinois Midwifery) to:
CFIM c/o Vicki Johnson
6092 Torchlite Trail
Loves, Park, IL 61111
Or if you are a midwife, doula, massage therapist or other provider, please consider donating a small portion of each client fee. Check out Community Counts – Better Birth Initiative at http://communitycountsbetterbirth.wordpress.com/2010/01/
THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO! HOMEBIRTH MOTHERS, BABIES AND MIDWIVES IN ILLINIOS WILL BE SAFER BECAUSE OF YOU .
BEST WISHES,
THE COALITION FOR ILLINOIS MIDWIFERY
HOMEBIRTH SAFETY ACT – HB226
Dear Home Birth and Midwifery Supporters,
It's time. We are pressing the entire House Floor for support. If you've been disappointed that your legislator has not been listed on previous action alerts, NOW is your time. We need a FULL ROLL CALL of the Illinois House of Representatives. We are asking each and every legislator to COSPONSOR HB226, the Homebirth Safety Act.
When you call, you may hear "the bill is dead". NOT TRUE. We’ve learned that no bill is ever truly dead until the general assembly actually adjourns and goes home for the summer. Because of your support and dedication thus far, our bill has life! Your work, targeting specific legislators, has created a "midwife" buzz in Springfield!! Now we need to keep it alive with strong, continuous ACTION.
But, because the “official” deadline for getting bills through committee has passed we have to be absolutely sure we have the votes necessary to pass the bill before putting everyone
(you, ourselves, our chief sponsor) through the process required to get a bill assigned to committee at this point in the session. Basically we have the next three weeks to work it all out.
This will require everyone’s help. We need constituents in each and every legislative district to write their legislator this week asking their legislator to co-sponsor the Homebirth Safety Act, HB226. This means not only must you write a letter but to truly help us get the head count, you must ask everyone you know who might be remotely supportive to write a letter too. We are going to make this as easy as possible by supplying the text of the letter (see below) but we need you to pass it along and follow up with your friends, family and anyone else who believes that women who choose homebirth, should have access to safe, nationally certified providers. Here is the letter:
Dear Representative
I’m writing today to ask you to co-sponsor HB226, the Homebirth Safety Act. Recent developments have given this bill new momentum. State Representative Beth Coulson, a legislator known for her expertise in healthcare issues and a long time opponent of the Homebirth Safety Act, has reviewed the latest changes in the bill - educational requirements added last year by the (now supportive) Illinois Society of Advance Practice Nurses - and has shifted her position. Representative Coulson now supports HB226.
The supporters of this issue are fairly confident that if we are able to count 60 votes on the House floor, we will be able to get the bill assigned to committee. So I am asking you to please co-sponsor the bill.
With the number of homebirths rising nationally (the CDC reports a 5% increase recently) and the number of Illinois counties with licensed providers remaining the same – still only 5 out of 102 counties covered - and with recent news that yet another home birth practice will soon no longer be attending home births, we are creating a recipe for disaster.
Every year in our state homebirth families have their babies without medical assistance, hire midwives from out of state, cross the border to give birth out-of-state, or hire underground midwives in their own communities. Having part of our maternity care system remain underground makes it much less safe and secure. Without regulation there is no assurance that a particular midwife is skilled. There is no smooth mechanism for transport and transfer of care if the woman needs to go to the hospital for a C-section. There is no easy way to get a birth certificate that is filled out properly. And there is no easy way to do the baby's blood test that screens for metabolic or genetically inherited disorders (such as cystic fibrosis). Failing to screen and treat certain disorders early on, can be devastating for baby’s health.
The Homebirth Safety Act, HB226 can remedy these issues in a way that our current system does not. Please support it by adding your name as a cosponsor. I await your reply and can be reached at _________________.
Sincerely….”
1) When sending this letter, you may add more text if you wish but please keep all of the text above if at all possible. Please send your rep a copy of this letter to both their Springfield and local addresses. You can find your rep’s name, address, fax number and sometimes email address by going to www.ilga.gov Click on legislator lookup and use your address to find your state Representative.
2) After sending the letter, please call your legislator’s secretary on Monday or Tuesday March29th or 30th. Say you are following up on your letter and wanted to know whether your rep will co-sponsor the bill or not. If the answer is no, ask if your rep will commit to voting yes for the bill if it makes it to the floor. If still no, ask for an appointment in the local office during the two weeks of legislative spring break, so that you can learn about their concerns and bring someone along who can possibly address their concerns.
If your rep says the bill is dead, politely let him/her know “The supporters of this issue are fairly confident that if we are able to count 60 votes on the House floor, we will be able to get the bill assigned to committee. So I am asking you to please co-sponsor the bill.”
3) Whatever your outcome, yes, no or meeting, please let us know via email to Jamie at charis490@gmail.com If you have a meeting we’ll try to send someone with you if at all possible.
4) REMEMBER YOUR REPRESENTATIVE WORKS FOR YOU! You pay his/her salary with your taxes. Do not be afraid to talk to them or ask for a meeting.
5) Forward this email to everyone you know who may be interested in helping homebirth mothers, babies and midwives. Follow up with your friends. See if they need help contacting their legislator. Also ask if they’ll allow us to add their email to our action alert list. If yes, please send their names, legislator names, and email addresses to Jamie at charis490@gmail.com
6) LAST BUT NOT LEAST – NOTHING SHOWS YOUR LEGISLATOR YOU CARE AS MUCH AS A TRIP TO SPRINGFIELD TO VISIT THEM THERE. IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED IN MAKING A DAY TRIP TO SPRINGFIELD TO VISIT THEIR LEGISLATORS THIS WEEK, PLEASE CONTACT OUR BOARD MEMBER TONEY CROSS. She will be in Springfield this Wednesday and Thursday and can help you navigate when you get there.
Please let Jamie know at the email address above if you intend to go to Springfield this week. She will connect you with Toney’s cell.
7) Finally, please consider donating. If we DO get our bill out of committee this year, we will desperately need our lobbyist. Right now we are working without him in order to continue working off last year’s fees. BUT WE MAY NEED HIM NEXT MONTH. Please donate. Give $5 if that’s all you can do. Please give more if you can. Plan to donate $5 next month and every month thereafter until the Homebirth Safety Act has passed.
Please visit http://illinoismidwifery.org and click on paypal or mail a check made out to CFIM (or Coalition for Illinois Midwifery) to:
CFIM c/o Vicki Johnson
6092 Torchlite Trail
Loves, Park, IL 61111
Or if you are a midwife, doula, massage therapist or other provider, please consider donating a small portion of each client fee. Check out Community Counts – Better Birth Initiative at http://communitycountsbetterbirth.wordpress.com/2010/01/
THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO! HOMEBIRTH MOTHERS, BABIES AND MIDWIVES IN ILLINIOS WILL BE SAFER BECAUSE OF YOU .
BEST WISHES,
THE COALITION FOR ILLINOIS MIDWIFERY
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Great News!!
NEWS and ACTION ALERT!!! HOMEBIRTH SAFETY ACT House Bill 226 (HB226)
Dear Homebirth and Midwifery Supporters:
Great News!!! State Representative Beth Coulson, a long time opponent of the Homebirth Safety Act, has reviewed the latest changes in the bill (educational requirements added last year by the Illinois Society of Advance Practice Nurses) and has shifted her position. She now supports HB226.
Representative Coulson is known as a legislative expert on health care licensing. She was a lead sponsor on the Birth Center Bill. Her support for the Homebirth Safety Act may make a big difference in the outcome for this bill.
The bill remains in Rules for the moment but with this new level of support and with your help, we may be able to get a positive committee assignment. If we do, we could be as close as needing only one or two more votes to pass!
Here’s what you can do to help:
1) Find out who your legislator is. If you don’t know, go to www.ilga.gov Click on legislator lookup and use your address to find your state Representative. Find your rep and take note of their two phone numbers and their email address if they display one.
2) If your representative is on the list below, PLEASE CALL THEM in their Springfield office TODAY.
Ask them if they will support HB226 the Homebirth Safety Act if it should appear before them. If they say the bill is dead, let them know that we are yet hoping to have it assigned to one of the Healthcare committees and if (for argument’s sake) it DOES appear, how will they vote? (the truth is, nothing is ever absolutely impossible until the session is over)
3) If you’ve called before or if on your first call you manage to engage in discussion with your rep or their secretary, mention Rep Coulson’s change of heart. Mention the new CDC report that shows homebirth is increasing (you’ll find it attached to this alert). Mention also Amnesty International’s new campaign against maternal mortality specifically in the US where we fall behind 40 other countries, and that access to safe, nationally certified, REGULATED midwives is part of the key to reducing such shameful outcomes. Let your rep know Amnesty International has found that the excessive number of unnecessary cesareans in our country contributes to our maternal mortality rate. Certified Professional Midwives have only a 3% rate of c-section while the national rate is almost 33%. THE HEALTHCARE COST REDUCTION IN MATERNITY CARE WOULD BE PHENOMENAL AND OUR MOTHERS AND BABIES COULD BE HEALTHIER IF OUR STATE EMBRACED CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL MIDWIVES.
4) Report back to us. Please either hit reply to this email if you’re on a email distribution list, or better yet, send mail to Jamie at charis490@gmail.com letting us know what your rep said in the end. Hopefully you will be able to get him/her to give a clear yes or no on the bill. When you report back, we may give you information to call your rep back with or a few handouts to email to your rep along with your thank you for their time. Please help us with that follow up as it is usually very important.
5) Forward this email to everyone you know who may be interested in helping homebirth mothers, babies and midwives - especially those in the districts we are listing below. Follow up with your friends. See if they need help contacting their legislator. Also ask if they’ll allow us to add their email to our action alert list. If yes, please send their names, legislator names, and email addresses to Jamie at charis490@gmail.com
6) Once again, please consider donating. If we DO get our bill out of committee this year, we will desperately need our lobbyist. Right now we are working without him in order to continue working off last year’s fees. BUT WE MAY NEED HIM NEXT MONTH. Please donate. Give $5 if that’s all you can do. Please give more if you can. Plan to donate $5 next month and every month thereafter until the Homebirth Safety Act is through.
Please visit http://illinoismidwifery.org and click on paypal or mail a check made out to CFIM (or Coalition for Illinois Midwifery) to:
CFIM c/o Vicki Johnson
6092 Torchlite Trail
Loves, Park, IL 61111
Or if you are a midwife, doula, massage therapist or other provider, please consider donating a small portion of each client fee. Check out Community Counts – Better Birth Initiative at http://communitycountsbetterbirth.wordpress.com/2010/01/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HERE IS THE LIST OF REPRESENTATIVES WHO NEED THE ATTENTION MENTIONED IN THIS EMAIL. If your rep is not one this list, sit tight! If we get out of committee, there will be a lot you can do next week.
• Representative William Davis(D) (Riverdale, Dolton, Harvey, East Hazel Crest, Homewood, Robbins and Posen)
• Representative Robert Rita(D) (Calumet Park, Blue Island, Crestwood, Midlothian, and Oak Forest)
• Representative Jehan A. Gordon(D) (Peoria Area, Peoria Heights, West Peoria, Bartonville, Edwards, Norwood, Kickapoo, and Bellevue)
• Representative Elizabeth Hernandez(D) (Berwyn, Cicero)
• Representative David R. Leitch(R) (Peoria Area of Indiantown, Evans, Greene, Kickapoo, Trivoti, and Millbrook)
• Representative Randy Ramey,Jr.(R) (Bartlett, Carol Stream, and Hanover Park)
• Representative Angelo Saviano(R) (Bensenville, Elmwood Park, Franklin Park, North Lake, River Grove, Rosemont, and Schiller Park)
• Representative William Burns(D) (Bronzeville/Grand,Hyde Park,Kenwood,South Shore,Woodlawn, and the Loop)
• Representative Lisa Dugan (Kankakee, Monee, Peotone, Manteno, Pembroke, Beaver)
• Representative William Burns (Bronzeville/Grand, Hyde Park, Kenwood, South Shore, Woodlawn, Loop)
• Representative Greg Harris (Uptown, Ravenswood, Lincoln Square, North Center, Andersonville, Bowmanville)
• Representative Karen May (Bannockburn, Deerfield, Glencoe, Highland Park, Highwood, Lake Bluff, Lake Forest, Northbrook, Riverwoods)
• Esther Golar (Englewood, Back of the Yards, Bridgeport, Chicago Lawn, New City, Canaryville, Fuller Park)
• FOR Representatives Mary Flowers, Elizabeth Coulson, Ron Stephens and Matthew Boland – SEE BELOW
If your representative is Mary Flowers, please call her to thank her for her years of unwavering support of midwives. Let her know you hope to see the bill in committee this year and hope you can count upon her continued support.
If your rep is Elizabeth Coulson, please call her to thank her for her new support for the Homebirth Safety Act.
If your representative is Matt Boland or Ron Stephens, call to thank them for their prior sponsorship. Let them know you hope to see the bill in committee this year and you hope you can count upon their continued support.
If you’ve read this far THANK YOU!!! Thank you ALL for caring about this cause. Believe that whatever you are doing, even if you’ve done it before, really matters – and you are making a difference for someone in the future who wants to have her babies safely at home.
Thank you and please keep your ears out for our next action alert.
Best wishes,
Rachel Dolan Wickersham
The Coalition for Illinois Midwifery
Dear Homebirth and Midwifery Supporters:
Great News!!! State Representative Beth Coulson, a long time opponent of the Homebirth Safety Act, has reviewed the latest changes in the bill (educational requirements added last year by the Illinois Society of Advance Practice Nurses) and has shifted her position. She now supports HB226.
Representative Coulson is known as a legislative expert on health care licensing. She was a lead sponsor on the Birth Center Bill. Her support for the Homebirth Safety Act may make a big difference in the outcome for this bill.
The bill remains in Rules for the moment but with this new level of support and with your help, we may be able to get a positive committee assignment. If we do, we could be as close as needing only one or two more votes to pass!
Here’s what you can do to help:
1) Find out who your legislator is. If you don’t know, go to www.ilga.gov Click on legislator lookup and use your address to find your state Representative. Find your rep and take note of their two phone numbers and their email address if they display one.
2) If your representative is on the list below, PLEASE CALL THEM in their Springfield office TODAY.
Ask them if they will support HB226 the Homebirth Safety Act if it should appear before them. If they say the bill is dead, let them know that we are yet hoping to have it assigned to one of the Healthcare committees and if (for argument’s sake) it DOES appear, how will they vote? (the truth is, nothing is ever absolutely impossible until the session is over)
3) If you’ve called before or if on your first call you manage to engage in discussion with your rep or their secretary, mention Rep Coulson’s change of heart. Mention the new CDC report that shows homebirth is increasing (you’ll find it attached to this alert). Mention also Amnesty International’s new campaign against maternal mortality specifically in the US where we fall behind 40 other countries, and that access to safe, nationally certified, REGULATED midwives is part of the key to reducing such shameful outcomes. Let your rep know Amnesty International has found that the excessive number of unnecessary cesareans in our country contributes to our maternal mortality rate. Certified Professional Midwives have only a 3% rate of c-section while the national rate is almost 33%. THE HEALTHCARE COST REDUCTION IN MATERNITY CARE WOULD BE PHENOMENAL AND OUR MOTHERS AND BABIES COULD BE HEALTHIER IF OUR STATE EMBRACED CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL MIDWIVES.
4) Report back to us. Please either hit reply to this email if you’re on a email distribution list, or better yet, send mail to Jamie at charis490@gmail.com letting us know what your rep said in the end. Hopefully you will be able to get him/her to give a clear yes or no on the bill. When you report back, we may give you information to call your rep back with or a few handouts to email to your rep along with your thank you for their time. Please help us with that follow up as it is usually very important.
5) Forward this email to everyone you know who may be interested in helping homebirth mothers, babies and midwives - especially those in the districts we are listing below. Follow up with your friends. See if they need help contacting their legislator. Also ask if they’ll allow us to add their email to our action alert list. If yes, please send their names, legislator names, and email addresses to Jamie at charis490@gmail.com
6) Once again, please consider donating. If we DO get our bill out of committee this year, we will desperately need our lobbyist. Right now we are working without him in order to continue working off last year’s fees. BUT WE MAY NEED HIM NEXT MONTH. Please donate. Give $5 if that’s all you can do. Please give more if you can. Plan to donate $5 next month and every month thereafter until the Homebirth Safety Act is through.
Please visit http://illinoismidwifery.org and click on paypal or mail a check made out to CFIM (or Coalition for Illinois Midwifery) to:
CFIM c/o Vicki Johnson
6092 Torchlite Trail
Loves, Park, IL 61111
Or if you are a midwife, doula, massage therapist or other provider, please consider donating a small portion of each client fee. Check out Community Counts – Better Birth Initiative at http://communitycountsbetterbirth.wordpress.com/2010/01/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HERE IS THE LIST OF REPRESENTATIVES WHO NEED THE ATTENTION MENTIONED IN THIS EMAIL. If your rep is not one this list, sit tight! If we get out of committee, there will be a lot you can do next week.
• Representative William Davis(D) (Riverdale, Dolton, Harvey, East Hazel Crest, Homewood, Robbins and Posen)
• Representative Robert Rita(D) (Calumet Park, Blue Island, Crestwood, Midlothian, and Oak Forest)
• Representative Jehan A. Gordon(D) (Peoria Area, Peoria Heights, West Peoria, Bartonville, Edwards, Norwood, Kickapoo, and Bellevue)
• Representative Elizabeth Hernandez(D) (Berwyn, Cicero)
• Representative David R. Leitch(R) (Peoria Area of Indiantown, Evans, Greene, Kickapoo, Trivoti, and Millbrook)
• Representative Randy Ramey,Jr.(R) (Bartlett, Carol Stream, and Hanover Park)
• Representative Angelo Saviano(R) (Bensenville, Elmwood Park, Franklin Park, North Lake, River Grove, Rosemont, and Schiller Park)
• Representative William Burns(D) (Bronzeville/Grand,Hyde Park,Kenwood,South Shore,Woodlawn, and the Loop)
• Representative Lisa Dugan (Kankakee, Monee, Peotone, Manteno, Pembroke, Beaver)
• Representative William Burns (Bronzeville/Grand, Hyde Park, Kenwood, South Shore, Woodlawn, Loop)
• Representative Greg Harris (Uptown, Ravenswood, Lincoln Square, North Center, Andersonville, Bowmanville)
• Representative Karen May (Bannockburn, Deerfield, Glencoe, Highland Park, Highwood, Lake Bluff, Lake Forest, Northbrook, Riverwoods)
• Esther Golar (Englewood, Back of the Yards, Bridgeport, Chicago Lawn, New City, Canaryville, Fuller Park)
• FOR Representatives Mary Flowers, Elizabeth Coulson, Ron Stephens and Matthew Boland – SEE BELOW
If your representative is Mary Flowers, please call her to thank her for her years of unwavering support of midwives. Let her know you hope to see the bill in committee this year and hope you can count upon her continued support.
If your rep is Elizabeth Coulson, please call her to thank her for her new support for the Homebirth Safety Act.
If your representative is Matt Boland or Ron Stephens, call to thank them for their prior sponsorship. Let them know you hope to see the bill in committee this year and you hope you can count upon their continued support.
If you’ve read this far THANK YOU!!! Thank you ALL for caring about this cause. Believe that whatever you are doing, even if you’ve done it before, really matters – and you are making a difference for someone in the future who wants to have her babies safely at home.
Thank you and please keep your ears out for our next action alert.
Best wishes,
Rachel Dolan Wickersham
The Coalition for Illinois Midwifery
Sunday, September 27, 2009
CDC finds cesarean section triples newborn deaths
In a recent Associated Content Article, CDC Says Cesarean Triples Neonatal Death Risk, Misha Safranski reports on a sadly expected outcome to a large study about the risks of cesarean section surgery for the babies it is supposed to save.
The study was well-designed (of course, this is the CDC!) and only looked comparable low risk pregnancies that resulted in either cesarean section or vaginal delivery.
Compare a triple death rate for cesarean section with home birth, which has been shown to be equally safe to hospital birth, and one has to wonder when the state of Illinois will license certified professional midwives to help women across the entire state access safe care for home birth. If women can choose surgery which puts her infant as such greater risk, why can't women hire certified professional midwives for a safer choice?
Bear in mind that this article doesn't even address the drastically increased risks for second, third or high order cesarean sections.
The study was well-designed (of course, this is the CDC!) and only looked comparable low risk pregnancies that resulted in either cesarean section or vaginal delivery.
Even more astounding than the simple fact that cesarean section raises the risk of infant death - regardless of the reason the cesarean was performed - is that even when the researchers adjusted for sociodemographic, medical and congenital factors, and removed infants with APGARs under 4, the risk of death was only reduced "moderately". A stark difference in the death rates between cesarean born infants and vaginally born infants remained even with no medical explanation.
Compare a triple death rate for cesarean section with home birth, which has been shown to be equally safe to hospital birth, and one has to wonder when the state of Illinois will license certified professional midwives to help women across the entire state access safe care for home birth. If women can choose surgery which puts her infant as such greater risk, why can't women hire certified professional midwives for a safer choice?
Bear in mind that this article doesn't even address the drastically increased risks for second, third or high order cesarean sections.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Cindy Crawford on Home Birth
Dear Cindy,
I saw your lovely video about how you came to home birth during your first pregnancy at http://www.mybestbirth.com. I'm so grateful that you are willing to open up your private life like that to help other women. It is this generosity to which I am appealing now for home birth mothers and babies in Illinois.
Your home state of Illinois needs you! Did you know that in your home state, Illinois, nearly 3/4 of the state has no -- zero -- access to legal home birth providers?
After years of heated legislative debate and negotiations the midwifery community came to terms with the state's nursing groups, lined up a crackerjack team to present evidence at a legislative hearing, only to have the doctors' lobby groups put politcal pressure and use hardball tactics to squash efforts to license Certified Professional Midwives in Illinois.
Apparently Illinois is a land of beauties (we knew that already, right?). Bo Derek was a huge hit at the state capitol when she showed up in Springfield to lobby the Illinois General Assembly against the horse meat industry. We think that you, too, Cindy could bring some much needed attention to this important issue!
So if your reading this, please come to Illinois in November 2009 or early 2010 to help home birth families accross Illinois have access to legal midwives!
Thanks so much for any assistance you can offer us in this struggle!
Colette
I saw your lovely video about how you came to home birth during your first pregnancy at http://www.mybestbirth.com. I'm so grateful that you are willing to open up your private life like that to help other women. It is this generosity to which I am appealing now for home birth mothers and babies in Illinois.
Your home state of Illinois needs you! Did you know that in your home state, Illinois, nearly 3/4 of the state has no -- zero -- access to legal home birth providers?
After years of heated legislative debate and negotiations the midwifery community came to terms with the state's nursing groups, lined up a crackerjack team to present evidence at a legislative hearing, only to have the doctors' lobby groups put politcal pressure and use hardball tactics to squash efforts to license Certified Professional Midwives in Illinois.
Apparently Illinois is a land of beauties (we knew that already, right?). Bo Derek was a huge hit at the state capitol when she showed up in Springfield to lobby the Illinois General Assembly against the horse meat industry. We think that you, too, Cindy could bring some much needed attention to this important issue!
So if your reading this, please come to Illinois in November 2009 or early 2010 to help home birth families accross Illinois have access to legal midwives!
Thanks so much for any assistance you can offer us in this struggle!
Colette
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
What if ... the buzz on social networks
There is a buzz beginning on major social netowrking sites like facebook and twitter that is growing with the news of a toddler flu death in Texas.
What if I go into labor, and the hospital is full of flu patients? What if hospitals become overrun with contagious carriers of a deadly virus? Who has the specialized portable equipment and knows how to help women give birth safely without all the risky drugs that most American hospital staffs rely on? Obstetricians do not understand natural childbirth nor how to help women avoid the need for risky pain relief. If we want our babies to be truly safe during epidemics, the answer is clearly making sure that those midwives who are certified in home birth can serve moms and babies.
The H1-N1 flu has many in the birth community collectively thinking, saying or typing ... "we told you so!"
With nearly half the country failing to license certified professional midwives, our nation's experts in low-tech out-of hospital birth, we are left to wonder: who will care for women giving birth in times of disaster? Do we really want our most vulnerable and precious newborn babies coming into this world where sick people are being housed?
“Thankfully, the hospital where the toddler died doesn’t provide obstetric services. But if the flu continues to spread at predicted levels, it’s just a matter of time before healthy mothers and newborns are going to start getting exposed. It’s absolutely critical that we begin recruiting Certified Professional Midwives to our local, regional and national disaster preparedness plans,” stated Katherine Prown of the national Big Push Campaign, which advocates independent, legal practice for certified professional midwives and nurse-midwives alike. "It was only reported later that the child was treated in a children's hospital, but that's no comfort when a woman is in labor and hears a vague new report about flu in her area."
Prown's thoughts are echoed by many birth advocates like Jacque Shannon-McNulty, a childbirth educator, doula who is also with the groupChicago Commuity Midwives posted a link to a USA Today article about the 91 cases confirmed in the U.S, along with her own comment:
The Coalition's president, Michelle Breen, MHS, is driven not only by data and science but also common sense:
Do you have a pithy comment or profound statement? Post it here! Blog about it. Facebook it or Tweat! Let's make sure that the proven safe solution of certified professional midwives is recognized and utilized!
What if I go into labor, and the hospital is full of flu patients? What if hospitals become overrun with contagious carriers of a deadly virus? Who has the specialized portable equipment and knows how to help women give birth safely without all the risky drugs that most American hospital staffs rely on? Obstetricians do not understand natural childbirth nor how to help women avoid the need for risky pain relief. If we want our babies to be truly safe during epidemics, the answer is clearly making sure that those midwives who are certified in home birth can serve moms and babies.
The H1-N1 flu has many in the birth community collectively thinking, saying or typing ... "we told you so!"
With nearly half the country failing to license certified professional midwives, our nation's experts in low-tech out-of hospital birth, we are left to wonder: who will care for women giving birth in times of disaster? Do we really want our most vulnerable and precious newborn babies coming into this world where sick people are being housed?
“Thankfully, the hospital where the toddler died doesn’t provide obstetric services. But if the flu continues to spread at predicted levels, it’s just a matter of time before healthy mothers and newborns are going to start getting exposed. It’s absolutely critical that we begin recruiting Certified Professional Midwives to our local, regional and national disaster preparedness plans,” stated Katherine Prown of the national Big Push Campaign, which advocates independent, legal practice for certified professional midwives and nurse-midwives alike. "It was only reported later that the child was treated in a children's hospital, but that's no comfort when a woman is in labor and hears a vague new report about flu in her area."
Prown's thoughts are echoed by many birth advocates like Jacque Shannon-McNulty, a childbirth educator, doula who is also with the groupChicago Commuity Midwives posted a link to a USA Today article about the 91 cases confirmed in the U.S, along with her own comment:
Healthy moms and babies need special protections in place for birth during a flu pandemic. We need to ensure that these women and their babies have safe out of hospital birth options available to minimize the risks of swine flu transmission to vulnerable, healthy populations. What's the best way to minimize needless neonatal deaths from a flu pandemic? Keep healthy moms and new babies away from sick people and the virulent flu viruses flooding the hospitals. It's a simple, cost-effective and appropriate measure. Moms are already thinking about this- our elected officials need to be proactive here, protect these moms and babies and pass the Homebirth Safety Act as soon as possible.
The Coalition's president, Michelle Breen, MHS, is driven not only by data and science but also common sense:
"The Chicago area could have about 90 cases of swine flu in the next three weeks". ([quoting National Public Radio} How long will it take for the General Assembly to pass the Home Birth Safety Act?
Shouldn't Illinois do everything possible to increase the number of licensed home birth experts so that families can decide about place of birth and associated risks?
Do you have a pithy comment or profound statement? Post it here! Blog about it. Facebook it or Tweat! Let's make sure that the proven safe solution of certified professional midwives is recognized and utilized!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Worried about the flu?
Let your state representative know. Concerns about hospitals being inaccessible or too dangerous for healthy birthing women, we see this as yet another reason to license certified professional midwives and include them in disaster preparedness planning.
Visit Illinois State Board of Elections (click on By Address) to look up who your state representative is. Call your Illinois state representative's office TODAY and ask the best way to send this press release (email, fax if you can, or snail mail), and then let us know what you did!
Include a small hand-written note asking (or thanking) them for their support. If your rep is a republican, you can include a quick statement that, even if this flu scare turns out to be nothing, this is just one more reason that Medical lobbying groups should NOT be steering public policy and interfering with your family's childbirth decisions.
Send Colette Bernard a facebook message or email me at birthnews@earthlink.net. Tell us any small detail of what happened so we can keep track!
Big Push Flu Press Release
Visit Illinois State Board of Elections (click on By Address) to look up who your state representative is. Call your Illinois state representative's office TODAY and ask the best way to send this press release (email, fax if you can, or snail mail), and then let us know what you did!
Include a small hand-written note asking (or thanking) them for their support. If your rep is a republican, you can include a quick statement that, even if this flu scare turns out to be nothing, this is just one more reason that Medical lobbying groups should NOT be steering public policy and interfering with your family's childbirth decisions.
Send Colette Bernard a facebook message or email me at birthnews@earthlink.net. Tell us any small detail of what happened so we can keep track!
Big Push Flu Press Release
Sunday, April 19, 2009
SPRINGFIELD HEARING (first 30 minutes)
Our hearing has a real buzz surrounding it in Springfield ... still! Now you can see the first thirty minutes and witness the travesty of the Illinois House Health Care Availability Access Committee voting this legislation down! This video was shot with a small, hand-held camera and was not mic'd up to the microphones, so be prepared to put your listening cap on! Also, you can hear all the families waiting, Our supporters filled the room and spilled out into the hallway. Lobbyists and other legislators came to witness this hearing, and anyone present could not comprehend why anyone would vote against this desperately needed piece of legislation.
We would like to thank the following legislators for their especially strong support for licensing midwives:
Senator Bill Haine
Represetnative Julie Hamos
Represetnative Mary Flowers
House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie
Represetnative Daniel Burke
Senator Martin Sandoval
Senate President John J. Cullerton
Representative Paul Froehlich
Representative Toni Berrios
Senator Willie Delgao
House Assistant Majority Leader Joseph Lyons
House Assistant Majority Leader Jack McGuire
House Assistant Minority Leader Ron Stephens
Senator Pamela Althoff
Representative Mike Tryon
Reprsentative Luis Arroyo
House Deputy Majority Leader Art Turner
Senator Donne Trotter
Representative Deborah Mell, and
Representative Eddie Washington
We would like to thank the following legislators for their especially strong support for licensing midwives:
Senator Bill Haine
Represetnative Julie Hamos
Represetnative Mary Flowers
House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie
Represetnative Daniel Burke
Senator Martin Sandoval
Senate President John J. Cullerton
Representative Paul Froehlich
Representative Toni Berrios
Senator Willie Delgao
House Assistant Majority Leader Joseph Lyons
House Assistant Majority Leader Jack McGuire
House Assistant Minority Leader Ron Stephens
Senator Pamela Althoff
Representative Mike Tryon
Reprsentative Luis Arroyo
House Deputy Majority Leader Art Turner
Senator Donne Trotter
Representative Deborah Mell, and
Representative Eddie Washington
Monday, March 30, 2009
Greetings home birth supporters:
We have an exciting update from Springfield!
Last Thursday, Tonesha Cross and I traveled to Springfield to lobby the bill and let House members know that Senator Haine and Representative Hamos are still committed to continue working the issue. We touched base with several legislators including Edward Acevedo, Mike Boland, Anazette Collins, Barbara Flynn Currie (who was delightful), Kenneth Dunkin, Mary Flowers, LaShawn Ford, Esther Golar, Greg Harris, Cynthia Soto, Betsy Hannig and others.
The morning began by distributing fliers to house members and checking in with a few of our cosponsors who have not yet signed on to the current bill.
We were excited to do some initial coalition building with other groups. We were even able to lobby the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, who were happy to be working with us thanks to Governor Quinn's support of our issue.
We also met with Senator Haine. He is pleased with our new talking point that legislators who vote against the Home Birth Safety Act are contributing to the harm of mothers and babies. He feels that now is the time for us to begin focusing more on the risks inherent in hospital birth that are completely avoided at home. Senator Haine informed us that he is determined to pass this bill and is going to start lobbying himself even harder in the House. (yay!)
Because the House had an extra long session, we found a little time to sit in the gallery, so I could point out several dozen legislators to Toney, explain their positions on our bill. We also were able to observe some of the personality and political dynamics involved in the legislature. There was vigorous debate, so we really got to see them in action.
While there, we picked up an audio disc of the March 3, 2009 Health Care Availability Access Committee Debate, or hearing. Senator Haine has charged us with producing a two to three page flier full of quotes from the hearing with the highlights -- by the middle of this week.
At the end of the day, we had a very long talk with Representative Will Davis. He was very interested and asked a large number of detailed questions. Our biggest surprise of the day came when Rep. Davis informed us that State Senator Toi Hutchinson (Chicago Heights) had her children at home! (We have already followed up with her office and have a tentative appointment scheduled.)
Following our "after hours" talk with Rep. Davis, we walked around in half-dark offices passing out another set of fliers for legislators to receive Friday morning.
All in all, it was an extremely productive day. As you can see, contrary to a couple of new reports that were written immediately following our hearing, our bill is far from dead! We really need to ramp up our presence in Springfield to continue to promote it. Senator Haine is fully committed to seeing our bill pass, but to continue this effort we need more money in order to be effective.
Together we can do this! If each of us does what we can, no matter how big or small, we will be able to be in Springfield with a steady presence. We will be able to continue to distribute high quality materials to legislators. We will be able to retain our lobbyist, who is our eyes and ears and a vital part of the equation!
We hope that each and every one of you is taking part in our TEN FOR TEN campaign. Find ten friends who will each donate $10 for the Coalition. It's helpful if you collect it and send it in to the Coalition for them. Many times our friends are well-meaning but taking the final step of actually sending the contribution will slip our minds. So if you can collect your friends' donations and send them in, we can really make a lot of headway quickly. (Truly can't think of ten friends to ask? Don't worry about it! Just do what you can!)
Also please keep planning your local fundraisers large and small. Remember that Mother's Day is coming up. Any weekend in May would be a good time to have a mothers & midwives pancake breakfast, bake sale or spaghetti dinner. You can have a father's day bbq or brunch. A car wash, freedom picnic or ice cream social is great in July. Please think about what you can do in the future, and let us know! Provide us with the details of anything you plan, and we'll post it on our blog, our new google calendar, and facebook to help promote your efforts.
To donate on-line via PayPal visit
http://illinoismidwifery.blogspot.com/2009/02/make-donation-to-coalition.html
or send a check made out to CFIM to:
Vicki Johnson, Treasurer
6092 Torchlite Trl.
Loves Park, IL 61111
Thank you!
Colette
We have an exciting update from Springfield!
Last Thursday, Tonesha Cross and I traveled to Springfield to lobby the bill and let House members know that Senator Haine and Representative Hamos are still committed to continue working the issue. We touched base with several legislators including Edward Acevedo, Mike Boland, Anazette Collins, Barbara Flynn Currie (who was delightful), Kenneth Dunkin, Mary Flowers, LaShawn Ford, Esther Golar, Greg Harris, Cynthia Soto, Betsy Hannig and others.
The morning began by distributing fliers to house members and checking in with a few of our cosponsors who have not yet signed on to the current bill.
We were excited to do some initial coalition building with other groups. We were even able to lobby the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, who were happy to be working with us thanks to Governor Quinn's support of our issue.
We also met with Senator Haine. He is pleased with our new talking point that legislators who vote against the Home Birth Safety Act are contributing to the harm of mothers and babies. He feels that now is the time for us to begin focusing more on the risks inherent in hospital birth that are completely avoided at home. Senator Haine informed us that he is determined to pass this bill and is going to start lobbying himself even harder in the House. (yay!)
Because the House had an extra long session, we found a little time to sit in the gallery, so I could point out several dozen legislators to Toney, explain their positions on our bill. We also were able to observe some of the personality and political dynamics involved in the legislature. There was vigorous debate, so we really got to see them in action.
While there, we picked up an audio disc of the March 3, 2009 Health Care Availability Access Committee Debate, or hearing. Senator Haine has charged us with producing a two to three page flier full of quotes from the hearing with the highlights -- by the middle of this week.
At the end of the day, we had a very long talk with Representative Will Davis. He was very interested and asked a large number of detailed questions. Our biggest surprise of the day came when Rep. Davis informed us that State Senator Toi Hutchinson (Chicago Heights) had her children at home! (We have already followed up with her office and have a tentative appointment scheduled.)
Following our "after hours" talk with Rep. Davis, we walked around in half-dark offices passing out another set of fliers for legislators to receive Friday morning.
All in all, it was an extremely productive day. As you can see, contrary to a couple of new reports that were written immediately following our hearing, our bill is far from dead! We really need to ramp up our presence in Springfield to continue to promote it. Senator Haine is fully committed to seeing our bill pass, but to continue this effort we need more money in order to be effective.
Together we can do this! If each of us does what we can, no matter how big or small, we will be able to be in Springfield with a steady presence. We will be able to continue to distribute high quality materials to legislators. We will be able to retain our lobbyist, who is our eyes and ears and a vital part of the equation!
We hope that each and every one of you is taking part in our TEN FOR TEN campaign. Find ten friends who will each donate $10 for the Coalition. It's helpful if you collect it and send it in to the Coalition for them. Many times our friends are well-meaning but taking the final step of actually sending the contribution will slip our minds. So if you can collect your friends' donations and send them in, we can really make a lot of headway quickly. (Truly can't think of ten friends to ask? Don't worry about it! Just do what you can!)
Also please keep planning your local fundraisers large and small. Remember that Mother's Day is coming up. Any weekend in May would be a good time to have a mothers & midwives pancake breakfast, bake sale or spaghetti dinner. You can have a father's day bbq or brunch. A car wash, freedom picnic or ice cream social is great in July. Please think about what you can do in the future, and let us know! Provide us with the details of anything you plan, and we'll post it on our blog, our new google calendar, and facebook to help promote your efforts.
To donate on-line via PayPal visit
http://illinoismidwifery.blogspot.com/2009/02/make-donation-to-coalition.html
or send a check made out to CFIM to:
Vicki Johnson, Treasurer
6092 Torchlite Trl.
Loves Park, IL 61111
Thank you!
Colette
Friday, March 27, 2009
Urbana Garage and Plant Sale for Mothers and Midwives May 1 & 2
URBANA, IL -- Garage and Plant Sale to support HB 226, the Home Birth Safety Act. Help families who choose to birth at home have access to licensed midwives.
May 1st and 2nd 8am-2pm
706 E. Fairlawn, Urbana IL
DONATE ITEMS TO THE SALE (50/50 see below)
Do your spring cleaning, get good deals, and support something you believe in!
Help by letting your friends and family know of the sale, volunteering to help, donating items beforhand or coming to the sale to purchase gently used items and plants.
RIGHT NOW WE NEED SELLERS!
Anyone can sell items and we will do all the advertising, set up, clean up, etc. Household and children's items (no big appliances) can be dropped off at 706 E. Fairlawn on April 28-30 from 4-6:30. Half the proceeds go to support the Bill, you keep the other half. You can price items yourself or you can leave that to us.
After noon on Saturday everything is 1/2 price or less. Anything not picked up by 1pm on Sunday gets donated to a local agency.
If you wish to sell plants, want to help with the sale, or have any other questions call Sarah at 217-384-0429. Thank you!
Warmly,
Sarah Stalzer Arcoleo
Thursday, March 19, 2009
In which we keep going despite what we thought!
Dear Illinois Home Birth Supporters:
We just heard news from our very own Senator Haine and Representative Hamos that they want to keep working on our bill this session to see if we can still move it! This just proves that we don't need a roller coaster, because the political process is much more surprising, with all sorts of twists and turns.
Procedurally, there are ways to work around the deadline, and our legislators and lobbyist can navigate those details. What we must do is to continue to meet with our own state representatives and keep asking them to commit to a yes vote! So ... we are going to start working things more politically instead of trying to have evidence-based discussions, and we will be going back down to Springfield starting next week. Also, we will be developing new talking points for you to use when contacting your own state rep.
We will know a lot more details after talking more with our sponsors, but I wanted to let everyone know that, despite the bitter disappointment we experienced earlier this month in the hearing, the bill is alive and kickin'!
This development also means we will have to continue to pay our lobbyist, and we are already three months behind with him, so we have to ask you if you want us to continue. Do you want midwives to be licensed in Illinois? We know your generosity has come through in a big way for us in the past, and we are asking you again to support our work in Springfield on your behalf.
TEN FOR TEN
That is why we are launching a new fundraising campaign called Ten for Ten! We are asking you to please ask at least 10 of your family and friends to donate $10 each to the Coalition. Even if some people turn you down, you can still help a lot by collecting $10 donations from as many people as you can!
Think of the power of us banding together and refusing to let the money and power of organized medicine continue to push us around! Think if everyone reading this found ten friends to give $10 each. That, alone, would get us all caught up with our lobbyist, and will help us begin to pay him for April. We know a lot of you have friends who might not share your passion for midwives and home birth, but at least want you to have legal access to a qualified provider. This is a great way that they can help without having to invest a lot of time (or even money).
You can send a donation to the Coalition for Illinois Midwifery via PayPal by visiting our blog http://illinoismidwifery.blogspot.com/2009/02/make-donation-to-coalition.html and clicking on the Donate button.
Or make your check to CFIM and mail it to:
Vicki Johnson, Treasure
6092 Torchlite Trl.
Loves Park, IL 61111
Thank you for your continued support!
Colette
The Coalition for Illinois Midwifery is a lobbying entity in the state of Illinois; therefore your donations are not tax deductible but still support a very important cause.
We just heard news from our very own Senator Haine and Representative Hamos that they want to keep working on our bill this session to see if we can still move it! This just proves that we don't need a roller coaster, because the political process is much more surprising, with all sorts of twists and turns.
Procedurally, there are ways to work around the deadline, and our legislators and lobbyist can navigate those details. What we must do is to continue to meet with our own state representatives and keep asking them to commit to a yes vote! So ... we are going to start working things more politically instead of trying to have evidence-based discussions, and we will be going back down to Springfield starting next week. Also, we will be developing new talking points for you to use when contacting your own state rep.
We will know a lot more details after talking more with our sponsors, but I wanted to let everyone know that, despite the bitter disappointment we experienced earlier this month in the hearing, the bill is alive and kickin'!
This development also means we will have to continue to pay our lobbyist, and we are already three months behind with him, so we have to ask you if you want us to continue. Do you want midwives to be licensed in Illinois? We know your generosity has come through in a big way for us in the past, and we are asking you again to support our work in Springfield on your behalf.
TEN FOR TEN
That is why we are launching a new fundraising campaign called Ten for Ten! We are asking you to please ask at least 10 of your family and friends to donate $10 each to the Coalition. Even if some people turn you down, you can still help a lot by collecting $10 donations from as many people as you can!
Think of the power of us banding together and refusing to let the money and power of organized medicine continue to push us around! Think if everyone reading this found ten friends to give $10 each. That, alone, would get us all caught up with our lobbyist, and will help us begin to pay him for April. We know a lot of you have friends who might not share your passion for midwives and home birth, but at least want you to have legal access to a qualified provider. This is a great way that they can help without having to invest a lot of time (or even money).
You can send a donation to the Coalition for Illinois Midwifery via PayPal by visiting our blog http://illinoismidwifery.blogspot.com/2009/02/make-donation-to-coalition.html and clicking on the Donate button.
Or make your check to CFIM and mail it to:
Vicki Johnson, Treasure
6092 Torchlite Trl.
Loves Park, IL 61111
Thank you for your continued support!
Colette
The Coalition for Illinois Midwifery is a lobbying entity in the state of Illinois; therefore your donations are not tax deductible but still support a very important cause.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Results of HB 226 House Hearing
Click on the picture to see the official
Illinois General Assembly Bill Status Page
After what was characterized by many present, of some of the most fabulous and compelling testimony that has ever been presented in the Illinois General Assembly for any bill, the Health Care Availabilty Access Committee voted 4 - 8 to keep HB 226 in committee. (In other words, it did not pass).
The room was packed with home birth families from across the state. We all witnessed the truth finally revealed in all its glory before committee. And still eight voted against this bill that would keep our babies safe at home.
The vote count was as follows:
YES
Julie Hamos (who was substituting in for Esther Golar)
Mary Flowers
Mike Zalewski
Keith Sommer
NO
Karen May
JoAnn Osmond
Greg Harris
Rosemary Mulligan
Timothy Schmitz
Michael Connelly
Will Burns
Lisa Dugan
Please take the time to thank our wonderful legislative sponsors and supporters, listed below. In the next day or two, please send a quick thank-you noet to the following people ESPECIALLY OUR LEGISLATIVE CHAMPION IN THE HOUSE Rep. Julie Hamos of Evanton, Illinois!!!
In your thank you note, be sure to include a photo of your children (printed on regular paper from a digital file is fine) or a child's drawing or painting or hand-made thank you card. If you prefer, you can send a Hallmark type thank you card. The point is, please send something to show your appreciation as soon as you can.
Also, if you are on facebook, you can search for and become a supporter of Rep. Jullie Hamos.
PLEASE SEND A THANK-YOU TO THE FOLLOWING (or as many as you can manage)
Representative Julie Hamos
256-W Stratton Office Building
Springfield, IL 62706
Representative Mary E. Flowers
251-E Stratton Office Building
Springfield, IL 62706
Representative Paul D. Froehlich
279-S Stratton Office Building
Springfield, IL 62706
Representative Daniel J. Burke
233-E Stratton Office Building
Springfield, IL 62706
Representative Deborah Mell
280-S Stratton Office Building
Springfield, IL 62706
Representative Eddie Washington
200-8 S Stratton Office Building
Springfield, IL 62706
Representative Keith P. Sommer
216-N Stratton Office Building
Springfield, IL 62706
Representative Michael J. Zalewski
231-E Stratton Office Building
Springfield, IL 62706
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Pre-Hearing Rally
Pre-Hearing Orientation and Rally
For HB 226, the Home Birth Safety Act.
March 3, 2009, 1pm
East entrance of the Capitol
Along S. 2nd St. (by the corner of S. 2nd St. and E. Monroe St.).
Following the rally, we will head inside and lobby our own state representatives (senator is optional), and "be seen on the scene". Be sure to look up who your state rep is at home. We will NOT have a way to look that up for you in Springfield. Visit http://www.elections.il.gov/DistrictLocator/SelectSearchType.aspx?NavLink=1 and click on the By Address tab.
After you find and talk with your state representative, you might wander around, or sit up in the House or Senate gallery if they are in session (or even just go in to see the House and Senate floosr, which are both gorgeous). You also might take a free architectural tour of the capitol; check at the information booth for details
Please bring a letter for Governor Quinn! State that a lack of licensed midwives has been a problem for decades in our state, and all efforts to license midwives have been held up in the Illinois House by organized medicine (or you can name the Illinois State Medial Society, although they have their sub-specialty auxiliary groups working on it now, too). You can choose to go to the governor's office on the second floor to drop it off yourself, or leave it with us, and we will deliver it for you.
The committee hearing will start at 4pm in room 118 of the Capitol. If you are a licensed physician or advanced practice nurse, please be prepared to sign in as a "record or appearance". There are several bills up for consideration before this committee. We do not know the order in which bills will be called, but we hope we will be one of the first. Dr. Minkus will be testifying on behalf of the bill. We have also asked a high-risk OB from Southern Illinois to testify, but he is out of town and has not confirmed.
We are looking for a few people to volunteer as ushers to politely remind anyone whose child is fussing or even talking above a whisper to exit the hearing. We hate to be strict about it, but the hearing is considered a serious matter. Most of the legislators love children, but don't like it if they interrupt a hearing. Anyone who needs to settle a fussy baby or toddler should please respectfully do so out in the hallway. Nursing is your legal right in Illinois, and women openly nurse in the hallways, but, we do ask that you be as modest as possible during the hearing.
(BTW -- I suggest you bring nutritious snacks and bottled water, which can be eaten in the cafeteria and in the hallways but NOT in the House or Senate gallery or hearing room.)
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
SUPER URGENT - Hearing for Home Birth Safety Act next Tuesday!
Greetings home birth supporters. We have an extremely urgent message.
PLEASE DROP ALL YOUR PLANS AND HEAD TO THE STATE CAPITOL NEXT TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2009!
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@ We cannot overstate how important this is. @
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
The Home Birth Safety Act (HB 226), which will license Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) for home birth, is going to be heard in the Health Care Availability Access Committee next Tuesday, March, 3, 2009, at 4pm. This will either be the beginning of a great era or the final chapter in our decades long efforts to pass a CPM licensure law. The next time after this year to introduce a viable bill will be years from now, so we must make our best efforts now.
We have gone down every possible avenue over the past few years, to get as much support as possible, and even reached agreement with our state's nursing groups. We have built a strong coalition with many state groups including Illinois Public Health Association, Illinois Maternal Child Health Coalition, Health and Medicine Policy Research Group, and Health and Disability Advocates, among others. We've even managed to get our bill placed in a better committee. So it all comes down to this: will we make it out the House Health Care Availability Access Committee, or will our bill die?
We have just received word from our people on the ground in Springfield that individual doctors have been traveling to Springfield to lobby against our bill. A lot of them. And they are making an impression. This is unprecedented in Illinois and even across the whole country that large numbers of individual doctors are actually going to the state capitol to lobby against a CPM licensure bill. So please PLEASE if you value home birth and want the option available for your future pregnancies or for your daughters in the years to come, then make it your number one priority to come to Springfield, Illinois next Tuesday, March 3, 2009!
We need EVERYONE to take a vacation day or call in sick, pull your kids out of school, and bring your sister, your best friend and your mother to Springfield that day to pack the hallways and the hearing room! We have to show Illinois legislators that the people of Illinois need access to licensed midwives!
Please forward this message to everyone you know and ask them to do the same!
See you there!
Colette
PLEASE DROP ALL YOUR PLANS AND HEAD TO THE STATE CAPITOL NEXT TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2009!
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@ We cannot overstate how important this is. @
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The Home Birth Safety Act (HB 226), which will license Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) for home birth, is going to be heard in the Health Care Availability Access Committee next Tuesday, March, 3, 2009, at 4pm. This will either be the beginning of a great era or the final chapter in our decades long efforts to pass a CPM licensure law. The next time after this year to introduce a viable bill will be years from now, so we must make our best efforts now.
We have gone down every possible avenue over the past few years, to get as much support as possible, and even reached agreement with our state's nursing groups. We have built a strong coalition with many state groups including Illinois Public Health Association, Illinois Maternal Child Health Coalition, Health and Medicine Policy Research Group, and Health and Disability Advocates, among others. We've even managed to get our bill placed in a better committee. So it all comes down to this: will we make it out the House Health Care Availability Access Committee, or will our bill die?
We have just received word from our people on the ground in Springfield that individual doctors have been traveling to Springfield to lobby against our bill. A lot of them. And they are making an impression. This is unprecedented in Illinois and even across the whole country that large numbers of individual doctors are actually going to the state capitol to lobby against a CPM licensure bill. So please PLEASE if you value home birth and want the option available for your future pregnancies or for your daughters in the years to come, then make it your number one priority to come to Springfield, Illinois next Tuesday, March 3, 2009!
We need EVERYONE to take a vacation day or call in sick, pull your kids out of school, and bring your sister, your best friend and your mother to Springfield that day to pack the hallways and the hearing room! We have to show Illinois legislators that the people of Illinois need access to licensed midwives!
Please forward this message to everyone you know and ask them to do the same!
See you there!
Colette
Monday, February 23, 2009
We have a new committee!
Earlier today, the Illinois General Assembly's website posted that our bill, HB 226, the Home Birth Safety Act, has been assigned to a different committee, Healthcare Availability Access. This is a good sign, but we still have an uphill battle.
Please look over the list of the targeted legislators again to see if you or anyone you know lives in these districts. Make sure that you and your family and friends immediately contact their state representative to support HB 226, the Home Birth Safety Act. Then let us know what you hear! You can contact Colette on facebook or via email at birthnews@earthlink.net or Pat Colet at colefam@gmail.com.
The Healthcare AA committee usually meets the first session day of the week in the afternoon, so we will most likely call the bill NEXT TUESDAY, March 3, 2009. Assuming we (along with our sponsors and lobbyist) believe that we are ready, and soon as the General Assembly's website posts the hearing notice, we will pass on the final details of the hearing time.
Please pencil in the date and plan to attend with your QUIET children. Children are very welcome so long as they are quiet, but due to the legal nature of the proceedings, you must be prepared to exit the room immediately if your child starts to make any sound whatsoever. That said, we hope that you will be able to attend to show your support! We will post more details later.
Colette
Please look over the list of the targeted legislators again to see if you or anyone you know lives in these districts. Make sure that you and your family and friends immediately contact their state representative to support HB 226, the Home Birth Safety Act. Then let us know what you hear! You can contact Colette on facebook or via email at birthnews@earthlink.net or Pat Colet at colefam@gmail.com.
The Healthcare AA committee usually meets the first session day of the week in the afternoon, so we will most likely call the bill NEXT TUESDAY, March 3, 2009. Assuming we (along with our sponsors and lobbyist) believe that we are ready, and soon as the General Assembly's website posts the hearing notice, we will pass on the final details of the hearing time.
Please pencil in the date and plan to attend with your QUIET children. Children are very welcome so long as they are quiet, but due to the legal nature of the proceedings, you must be prepared to exit the room immediately if your child starts to make any sound whatsoever. That said, we hope that you will be able to attend to show your support! We will post more details later.
Colette
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