when i read
"I too live in IL and am/was a DEM for almost 20 years until I recently retired, in part due to my <ahem> problems with the State of Illinois."
i did not even have to read your signature - I knew who you are right away!!!
Even our names are almost the same!
And... I live in Wheeling. So that is pretty close to you - aren't you Arlington Heights?
My post did not get any answeres for a long time, so I stopped checking for replies (did not think I will get any so that explains why I did not reply to your post for so long). Imagine my surprise when I realised who replyed to my post!!!
I first read about hb on the internet when I was 18 years old. I lived in a different country at the time and there were no HBs there to my knowledge which upset me tremendously - I was just SOOOOOO fascinated by the idea and it seemed like such a natural and right thing to do. In the country where I was born there were no HBs either, but the approach was VERY laid back and non-intervention-oriented. My mom says that when she laboured with me she was left to do her own thing. A nurse would come from time to time to ask if she's ready to push and that was about it. I am not sure it still is the same way there, though.
Now I live in the US (for 2.5 years). When I just moved here I thought to myself - now I'm gonna get my HB, but as I sunk into reality here i saw that it is not as easy and as open as I thought it is. We will most likely ttc in about a year (huh, if it was for me we'd have a child already, but dh has his own arguments why we should wait and even though it is hard for me, we've made an agreement that it is a certain goal we should reach and then ttc. At least it is not being put off indefinitely! *lol*)
I have been following the issue of legislation since it will have a direct impact on my plans to HB. I understand what you have said about DEMs not being prohibited by law (I was a law student in the past, though I never graduated due to me coming to US). It was one of teh first things we have learned in the Administatie Law class: if an action is not prohibited - it means that you can do it and the burden of proof lies on the authority - it is them who need to prove that the law says an ation cannot be performed rather then the person proving that s/he was allowed to perform that action. So when I heard about all these things happening here to DEMs I just could not believe my ears!!!
But it seems like every DEM here had received a cease and desist order by Illinois dpr. Am I correct on this? So practically you guys have to practice undergound (Am I correct on this as well?) I wouldn't have a problem with that, but am not sure about my dh. I started talking to him about HB about 2.5 years ago and I think I did come through and he had agreed that barring serious complications, we will HB. But I am really not sure if he will agree to go the 'underground' route. I have to confess that I have not mentioned it to him yet, but my prediction is that he will not really like the idea too much. That's why I needed to explore all my options. Valerie, I really hope that things will change here in our state and soon, but if they do not by the time I am pg, where would I look for a DEM (you would probably need to send me a private message on that just in case).
I do not know how much media coverage your case will receive (what is the exact date the trial is scheduled?) and feel like I cannot just rely on 10pm news to know all the details. I also am not confident on how unbiased those reports might be (if any). Where/how can I follow the case? Also, I thought that it was you who created a web site about yourself and midwifery in IL (not illinois midwives on geocities - I thought it was a domain name of your own), but I do not see anything in my bookmarks. it was a long time ago that I saw that web site, am I just mistaken it was yours?
Please let me know!
Valeria