Please help our Wisconsin Homebirth Midwives!!!

[multiplemomma78]

Friends

As most of you know, the midwives in our state have worked VERY hard over the last couple of years to pass a law that will license Certified Professional Midwives. Last January 31st, the legislature passed the law and in April the Governor signed the bill. Then we went through the process of creating a set of rules under which we will be permitted to practice. But our work isn't over yet. We are now in the final steps, where the Health committees of both the Senate and Assembly, have to approve our Rules as we have created them. And we around without opponents.We’ve just learned that there will be organized opposition next week to pressure members of both committees to raise objections to our rules, so we need to make our voices heard NOW!


First, we need ALL of you (and your families and friends—please forward!) to email Representative Jean Hundertmark thanking her for her support of Act 292 to license midwives in Wisconsin and asking her to please support the proposed rules as written. Rep. Hundertmark is currently running for statewide office to become Lt. Governor, so her position will be influenced by constituents in every district.

Next we need everyone who lives in the districts of the members of the Assembly and Senate health committees to email their Reps/Senators with the same message, urging them to support the proposed rules for licensed midwives and thanking them for their support of our bill (NOTE: Representative Vukmir and Senator Carpenter both voted against our bill, so please say to them that, though you realize that they opposed our legislation, you’re asking for their support of the proposed rules to regulate the practice of midwifery in Wisconsin because you believe the rules address many of their concerns). Also, please note that Senators Roessler, Darling and Erpenbach were co-sponsors of our bill, so please be sure to thank them for their sponsorship as well as their votes on our behalf.

If you’re short on time, it’s ok to keep the message simple—thanking them for past support and asking for their support of the proposed rules. But I’m also including a few talking points below that you could add. Please just pick one or two! We want to do our best not to make our emails look like form letters, since staff tend to pay less attention to those.

And do please try to make your contacts via email or fax (not all reps have fax numbers but I’ve included those that do). Phone calls are fine if that’s all you have the time for, but staff prefer emails or faxes, especially if they’re hearing from a lot of people about an issue, which is what we want!

And to any NURSES out there! Your opinion will carry weight even if you don’t live in the district of a committee member. So if you’re a nurse or EMT, please do take the time to send your email to every member of both committees. It’s ok to copy them all at once and say in your greeting, “To the Honorable Members of the Assembly Committee on Health and the Senate Committee on Health, Children, Families, Aging and Long-Term Care.” (We have a separate effort we’re coordinating for CNMs and doctors.)

If you’ve recently joined the list or moved or you aren’t sure who your Representative and Senators are, you can find out here:

http://165.189.139.210/WAML/

Please be sure to email me (or Katie Prown at [e-mail] ) to let us know what you hear back from Representatives and Senators. We need to get a running tally of support going!

Talking points to include about why you support the proposed rules—again, though, please include only one or two and feel free to reword them:

* The rules require licensed midwives to follow safe practice guidelines.

* The rules are based on the same practice guidelines that midwives in Wisconsin have been following for over twenty years.

*

Midwives in Wisconsin have been safely practicing for over twenty years, following the same practice guidelines that the proposed rules will make law.
*

The rules require midwives to screen for risk factors and to consult with physicians and transfer care when a mother develops a risk factor that would make home birth unsafe.
*

The rules allow midwives to administer life-saving medications.
*

The rules require midwives to seek physician authorization to carry and administer medications.
*

The rules require midwives to follow safe standards for VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) births by clarifying that midwives may not induce or augment labor. Evidence shows that this is the safest practice for VBAC moms. Also, if you’re a VBAC mom, please let them know why this issue is important to you personally.
*

The rules require licensed midwives to give detailed information about their education, training and experience, how many babies they’ve delivered and how many mothers and babies they’ve transferred to the hospital. If you mention this point, please note why having this information was/is important to you as a client.


So please start sending those emails out today, and many thanks! We’re almost there, I promise!

Jan Wolfenberg, CPM
www.birthspirit.org

Representative Jean Hundertmark
[e-mail]
District 40 Waupaca County
[phone]
Fax [phone]

Members of the Assembly Committee on Health

Representative Leah Vukmir (R)
[e-mail]
District 14, Wauwatosa, Brookfield, Elm Grove
[phone]

Representative Curt Gielow:
[e-mail]
District 23, Mequon, Thiensville, Brown Deer, Bayside
[phone]
Fax [phone]

Representative Chuck Benedict:
[e-mail]
District 45, Beloit, Turtle, Clinton, La Prairie, Bradford, Harmony, Johnstown, Richmond, far northeast and southeast Janesville
[phone]
Fax [phone]

Representative Judith Krawczyk:
[e-mail]
District 88--South Green Bay
[phone]
Fax [phone]

Representative Pat Strachota:
[e-mail]
District 58, West Bend, Jackson, Addison, Trenton
[phone]
Fax [phone]

Representative Jennifer Schilling:
[e-mail]
District 95, La Crosse
[phone]
Fax [phone]

Representative Tom Nelson:
[e-mail]
District 5, Vandenbroek, Freedom, Kaukauna, Laurence, Oneida, Hobart, Osborn, Black Creek, Cicero, Seymore, Maple Grove
[phone]

Representative Terry Moulton:
[e-mail]
District 68, Eau Claire, Lincoln, Luddington, Lafayette, Hallie, Wheaton, Union
[phone]
Fax [phone]

Representative Amy Sue Vruwink:
[e-mail]
District 70, Port Edwards county, Cranmoor, Remington, Dester, Hiles, Seneca, Cary, Wood, Hansen, Vesper, Pittsville, Sigel, Rudolph, North Grant County, Plover, Linwood, Carson, Junction City, Hull, Sharon, Dewey, Eau Plein, Milladore, Auburndale, Marshfield, Hewitt, Cameron, Rock
[phone]
Fax [phone]

Representative Steve Wieckert:
[e-mail]
District 57, Appleton
[phone]
Fax [phone]

Members of the Senate Committee on Health, Children, Families, Aging and Long-Term Care

Senator Carol Roessler - Chairperson:
[e-mail]
18th—Oshkosh, Fond du Lac, Winnebago and Fond du Lac counties
[phone]

Senator Alberta Darling:
[e-mail]
8th—Germantown, Richfield, Menomonee Falls, Thiensville, Mequon, brown Deer, River Hills, Bayside, Fox Point, Whitefish Bay, Shorewood
(NOTE TO SHELDON WASSERMAN’S CONSTITUENTS—we don’t need you to contact him, but all of you are in Darling’s Senate district so we need as many contacts to her as possible!)
[phone]

Senator Ron Brown:
[e-mail]
31st—Pierce, Dunn, Pepin, Eau Claire, Buffalo, Trempealeau, Jackson and Monroe counties
[phone]

Senator Jon Erpenbach:
[e-mail]
27th—Dane, Rock and Green Counties, Middleton (NOTE: if you live west of Madison in any of these counties and aren’t sure if you’re in his district, please check on the tlink above).
[phone]

Senator Carpenter:
[e-mail]
3rd—Greenfield and parts of Milwaukee (NOTE: if you live in Milwaukee and aren’t sure if you’re in his district, please check on the link above).
[phone]
Fax: [phone]

[Midwife Kris]

There is a wonderful article about two Wisconsin midwives out this week. See it here: http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=491424

[StrawberryFields]

Originally Posted by metromidwife

There is a wonderful article about two Wisconsin midwives out this week. See it here: http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=491424

Lucky was my midwife! I was so excited to see her on the front page of the Lifestyle section this morning! I was like, "Hey, that looks like a homebirth--HEY, That's Lucky!"

[multiplemomma78]

This is great! Thanks for sharing it! Jan was my midwife (until we found out I was having twins) and I just love her. She will be my midwife next time definitely!!