Action Alert: Part Two
Your first round of calls last week in response to the home birth crisis in NYC made a huge impact!
The Department of Health, Department of Education and City of NY were flooded with your calls and e-mails in support of a woman’s right to choose to birth at home with a trained, licensed midwife. Word of the response made its way to legislators, many of whom are taking a fresh look at the Midwifery Modernization Act (MMA)!
The biggest barrier to accessing midwifery care in New York State is the Written Practice Agreement, which would be eliminated by the passage of the Midwifery Modernization Act. This is not just a home birth issue. Approximately 100 midwives from all across the state, practicing in a variety of settings (hospital, home and birth center) are currently unable to secure a WPA and thus are unable to practice legally.
If you would like to talk your State Representatives about the Midwifery Modernization Act, use the following links to find out who your representatives are and how to reach them. (be sure to enter your zipcode)
New York State Senate: http://www.nysenate.gov/
New York State Assembly: http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/
Consumers have also started a petition to show their support of the Midwifery Modernization Act: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/midwifery/signatures
** For more information about the MMA:
- NYSALM fact sheet – http://www.nysalm.org/MMA%20fact%20sheet.pdf
– freeourmidwives - http://www.freeourmidwives.org
May 5, 2010 at 12:30 pm |
[...] Choicesinchildbirth's Blog Just another WordPress.com weblog « ACTION ALERT – Part Two [...]
May 5, 2010 at 1:06 pm |
[...] – Take a moment to review this action alert, and set aside 15 minutes of your day to call your local legislators to ask for their support of [...]
May 5, 2010 at 2:14 pm |
[...] Update 3: Keep up with my posts on the ongoing homebirth crisis in NYC here. I post whenever I have something new to share on the situation. Also, Choices in Childbirth issued a second Action Alert today (May 5). Check it out here. [...]
May 14, 2010 at 2:32 pm |
Just to say, I live in Europe but have had two out of three children at home supported by independent and state midwives.
Birth is not a medical event. Women’s right to choose includes where to have our children.
I support New York’s midwives and mothers.
May 14, 2010 at 2:35 pm |
Thank you! It is incredible to see that so many women from around the country are taking notice of this tragedy in our city and offering their thoughts and support.
Thank you for sharing.
May 31, 2010 at 3:00 pm |
I emphatically agree with Sarah Wells “Birth is not a medical event”.
I’ve also contacted my legislative reps regarding this situation.