The New York State Association of Licensed Midwives met on Monday at the Legislative Office Building for their annual Lobby Day.
The big topic of the day was a new bill that has been introduced by the NY senate (bill S5007) and the assembly (bill A08117) to remove the Written Practice Agreement portion of the current midwifery laws. The WPA means that in order for a midwife, who has already undergone full training and licensure, must also have a practice agreement with a collaborating physician in order to serve women.
While the midwives agree that they should have collaboration with other providers when tending to their patients, they feel that this is already part of their job - or any other medical proffesion - without it being a required statement. They also argue that the WPA has made it extremely difficult for them to practice since many providers either will not sign the agreements or they will make stipulations that are too restrictive.
Removing the WPA will have countless benefits including: increasing access to care for all women of childbearing age and beyond, especially in rural communities; economic benefits because midwifery care is more cost-effective (thereby reducing insurance costs); and improving both maternal and infant health which is currently on the decline. You can download a letter to send to your state representatives here. Please send a copy, or your own personal letter, to your state senator and assemblyman. You can find your senator by entering your zipcode here, and your assemblyman here.
The text of the bill can be found here, and the sponsor memo for the senate bill can be found here.
Please take a moment to tell your state representatives that you support this bill!
Orgasmic Birth is a documentary that examines the intimate nature of birth and the powerful role it plays in women's lives when they are permitted to experience it. This documentary asks viewers to reexamine everything they thought they knew about giving birth and the potential it holds.
In Orgasmic Birth, world renowned midwife Ina May Gaskin helps us to understand the normal rhythms of labor and the possibility for women to have ecstatic, orgasmic experiences.
"It is possible to have an ecstatic birth-in fact, that is the best- natural high that I know of. And these states of consciousness are best reached when a woman is fully aware and fully awake. Women don't have a way to know how their body works until they really try it out in birth. I think that women can be just completely surprised by the change in them from giving birth- you have something powerful in you -that fierce thing comes up-and I think babies need moms to have that fierceness-you feel like you can do anything and that's the feeling we want moms to have."
BuffaloBirth Network will be hosting screenings of Orgasmic Birth at:
CIMS, the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services, a group working toward transparency in maternity care, today announced that consumer survey results rating health care providers and birth facilities are now available online at www.thebirthsurvey.com.
The CIMS Transparency in Maternity Care Project: The Birth Survey is the first ever consumer ratings website dedicated solely to providing feedback on obstetricians, midwives, hospitals, birth centers, and home birth services. The consumer reviews include overall ratings and recommendations for birth facilities and care providers, and also a seven-item set of questions on providers’ interpersonal and communication skills, facility intervention rates, and information on finding good care. A national average of ratings is also displayed to provide comparison with individual ratings.
A Day with Ina May was the title of the 9th annual family conference in Pittsburg PA this year and Jeanine and I attended.
It was great spending all day listening to Ina May talk about birth and politics surrounded by like-minded Midwives, Doulas, Childbirth Educators, and Moms. It was a warm, cheerful, and empowering room of women making a difference.
Do you need help finding a mother-friendly obstetrician, midwife, doula, or childbirth educator? Please call us at (716) 575-HOME or email us at info@buffalobirth.com.
You can also check our online local resources guide, but note that this is a work in progress and more resources are available than are relfected by the guide.
The New York State Association of Licensed Midwives met on Monday at the Legislative Office Building for their annual Lobby Day. 
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CIMS, the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services, a group working toward transparency in maternity care, today announced that consumer survey results rating health care providers and birth facilities are now available online at .jpg)
A Day with Ina May was the title of the 9th annual family conference in Pittsburg PA this year and Jeanine and I attended.