This is from an email I recieved today from my midwife...I hope its okay to post here!
Dear Friends and Supporters of Midwifery,
Thank you all for the outpouring of love and support for
Diane! We are now only 11 days away from Diane's hearing with the
Pennsylvania State Board of Medicine in Harrisburg. I was
privileged to spend some time with Diane on Saturday. I was able to
look over her various documents and get answers to many of the
questions you have asked.
On the 26th, Diane faces 4 separate charges in a hearing with
the Pennsylvania State Board of Medicine. She is charged with
practicing medicine without a license, practicing Nurse-Midwifery
without a license, holding herself out the public as being
authorized to practice medicine and holding herself out the public
as being authorize to practice Nurse-Midwifery. She faces possible
fines of $10,000 per count. (Yes, that is ten thousand dollars, not
one thousand! Trust me - I read the charging documents myself. The
civil penalties have increased tenfold since the Yoders case.)
Also, the board is likely to issue a statement or opinion regarding
an interpretation of the law, that, if left unchallenged by appeal,
will likely set a precedent for future cases. I probably don't need
to tell you that that opinion will probably not be favorable to the
free practice of midwife-attended home birth!
This isn't going to stop with Diane. Not if they win, and not
if we can't get some legislation passed. There are plenty of other
midwives they can go after and I'm sure they know that. Diane's
lawyer believes that this could go to the PA Supreme Court. Costs
there begin at $100,000. Yes, we are talking big money here, any
way you look at it!
As Diane sees it, this is a political battle that will ultimately
need to be resolved with legislation. And I believe that we can
help in that area! An overwhelming show of public support for Diane
and homebirth and midwifery care on the 26th may or may not have any
impact on the outcome of the hearing, but it will get the attention
of the legislators in Harrisburg! Particularly, I am hopeful that
we can stir up public interest in this issue by getting the
attention of the print media and TV. This is our opportunity to get
before the public and show them happy, healthy, home birthed
children. It is our chance to show them that we are intelligent,
capable, responsible people who make positive contributions to our
communities and have made our birth choices accordingly. I am
hoping that scores of us will gather inside and outside the
hearing! The Amish of Lancaster County have chartered two busses to
go to Harrisburg on the 26th and are charging only $7 per person to
go. Continue to spread the word and get as many homebirth
supporters to Harrisburg on the 26th of January as you can! I will
follow up on Tuesday with the exact address. (Diane is not sure of
that herself, right now. If you haven't heard from me by Wednesday,
January 17, please e-mail me. I don't want to make the mistake of
leaving anyone out who wants to come!)
Now for some stats. Diane has been practicing midwifery in
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, for over 25 years. She has assisted
in the births of over 5,000 babies and has trained many young women
in midwifery. She is a Certified Professional Midwife with the
North American Registry of Midwives, an organization which provides
oversight, continuing education, and high standards of
professionalism in midwifery. www.narm.org Diane's practice is
largely, though not exclusively, among Amish and Mennonite women.
She is well known and highly regarded by the families whom she
serves and by their church leadership. In 2000 she participated in
the largest study to date of the outcomes of planned home births
with CPMs in North America. The study was published in the British
Medical Journal in 2005. The abstract states that, "Planned home
birth for low risk women in North America using certified
professional midwives was associated with lower rates of medical
intervention but similar intrapartum and neonatal mortality to that
of low risk hospital births in the United States."
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/330/7505/1416?
maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&R
ESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=midwives&andorexactfulltext= and&searchid=1&FIRS
TINDE X=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWCIT
Although Diane is a CPM, she recognizes the need for and respects
the skill of midwives who, for whatever reasons, choose not to seek
certification. From personal experience, I can tell you that she
is humble, warm, highly knowledgeable, and thoroughly professional.
I hope you can be in Harrisburg on the 26th, and bring as many
supporters of midwifery as you can! As I mentioned before, Diane is
paying her own legal fees, and has already incurred significant
legal costs. If you or anyone you know would like to help her with
this, I am including her address below. Thanks for your support!
Dear Friends and Supporters of Midwifery,
Thank you all for the outpouring of love and support for
Diane! We are now only 11 days away from Diane's hearing with the
Pennsylvania State Board of Medicine in Harrisburg. I was
privileged to spend some time with Diane on Saturday. I was able to
look over her various documents and get answers to many of the
questions you have asked.
On the 26th, Diane faces 4 separate charges in a hearing with
the Pennsylvania State Board of Medicine. She is charged with
practicing medicine without a license, practicing Nurse-Midwifery
without a license, holding herself out the public as being
authorized to practice medicine and holding herself out the public
as being authorize to practice Nurse-Midwifery. She faces possible
fines of $10,000 per count. (Yes, that is ten thousand dollars, not
one thousand! Trust me - I read the charging documents myself. The
civil penalties have increased tenfold since the Yoders case.)
Also, the board is likely to issue a statement or opinion regarding
an interpretation of the law, that, if left unchallenged by appeal,
will likely set a precedent for future cases. I probably don't need
to tell you that that opinion will probably not be favorable to the
free practice of midwife-attended home birth!
This isn't going to stop with Diane. Not if they win, and not
if we can't get some legislation passed. There are plenty of other
midwives they can go after and I'm sure they know that. Diane's
lawyer believes that this could go to the PA Supreme Court. Costs
there begin at $100,000. Yes, we are talking big money here, any
way you look at it!
As Diane sees it, this is a political battle that will ultimately
need to be resolved with legislation. And I believe that we can
help in that area! An overwhelming show of public support for Diane
and homebirth and midwifery care on the 26th may or may not have any
impact on the outcome of the hearing, but it will get the attention
of the legislators in Harrisburg! Particularly, I am hopeful that
we can stir up public interest in this issue by getting the
attention of the print media and TV. This is our opportunity to get
before the public and show them happy, healthy, home birthed
children. It is our chance to show them that we are intelligent,
capable, responsible people who make positive contributions to our
communities and have made our birth choices accordingly. I am
hoping that scores of us will gather inside and outside the
hearing! The Amish of Lancaster County have chartered two busses to
go to Harrisburg on the 26th and are charging only $7 per person to
go. Continue to spread the word and get as many homebirth
supporters to Harrisburg on the 26th of January as you can! I will
follow up on Tuesday with the exact address. (Diane is not sure of
that herself, right now. If you haven't heard from me by Wednesday,
January 17, please e-mail me. I don't want to make the mistake of
leaving anyone out who wants to come!)
Now for some stats. Diane has been practicing midwifery in
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, for over 25 years. She has assisted
in the births of over 5,000 babies and has trained many young women
in midwifery. She is a Certified Professional Midwife with the
North American Registry of Midwives, an organization which provides
oversight, continuing education, and high standards of
professionalism in midwifery. www.narm.org Diane's practice is
largely, though not exclusively, among Amish and Mennonite women.
She is well known and highly regarded by the families whom she
serves and by their church leadership. In 2000 she participated in
the largest study to date of the outcomes of planned home births
with CPMs in North America. The study was published in the British
Medical Journal in 2005. The abstract states that, "Planned home
birth for low risk women in North America using certified
professional midwives was associated with lower rates of medical
intervention but similar intrapartum and neonatal mortality to that
of low risk hospital births in the United States."
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/330/7505/1416?
maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&R
ESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=midwives&andorexactfulltext= and&searchid=1&FIRS
TINDE X=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWCIT
Although Diane is a CPM, she recognizes the need for and respects
the skill of midwives who, for whatever reasons, choose not to seek
certification. From personal experience, I can tell you that she
is humble, warm, highly knowledgeable, and thoroughly professional.
I hope you can be in Harrisburg on the 26th, and bring as many
supporters of midwifery as you can! As I mentioned before, Diane is
paying her own legal fees, and has already incurred significant
legal costs. If you or anyone you know would like to help her with
this, I am including her address below. Thanks for your support!
