It's official! We are on the calendar for Wednesday's Senate Health Committee meeting. The meeting will take place in Room 727 (They scheduled it in a large room in preparation for a crowd. Let's not disappoint!) of the State House at 11:30 a.m. Please plan on arriving early and remember to allow plenty of time to find parking. CARPOOL if at all possible! Below is an outline to help you make the very most of your visit to Montgomery.
In summary: come prepared, dress nicely, follow the rules, and be respectful. And always remember that it's much easier to catch flies with honey than it is with vinegar. I can not wait to see all of your shining faces in the halls of the State House on Wednesday! Thank you for taking the time to make your voice heard.
Onward,
Jennifer and the rest of the ABC Board
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Be one of the very first to see this touching film about two first-time mothers from Alabama who are faced with making decisions about how, where, and with whom to have their babies. Made through the efforts of an all-local, all-volunteer cast and crew, You Begin This Way will hit home for anyone who sees it- even those who have not yet been faced with the decisions the characters in this film must make.
Proceeds from this premiere event with benefit the Alabama Birth Coalition and help to further its mission of improving maternity care for Alabama women through the promotion of evidence-based maternity care, increasing access to midwives, and educating maternity consumers. .
The cost for this premiere event includes the screening of the movie as well as a reception. If you can't make it to this event, be on the look-out for screenings near you coming soon! DVDs of You Begin This Way will also be available for sale.
For more information, contact the Alabama Birth Coalition atalbirthcoalition@gmail.com or find us online at www.alabamabirthcoalition.org.
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Hey Huntsville, join Kerry Wills and Holley Porter-Wright on Saturdays, November 27th and December 4th, for some Thanksgiving yoga to benefit the Alabama Birth Coalition. Meet at 1300 Meridian Street at 1:00 p.m. Classes are for all levels. Thanks, ladies, for supporting us!]]>CONTACT:
Kaleigh Naylor
(251) 209-7303
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 11, 2010
HUNDREDS OF ALABAMA CITIZENS ATTEND “WALK FOR MIDWIVES” TO PUSH FOR BETTER OPTIONS FOR MATERNITY CARE IN THIS STATE
BIRMINGHAM| On Saturday, September 25, over 500 Alabamians joined the “Walk for Midwives” to show their support for Certified Professional Midwives, who are prohibited by law from practicing in this state.
Certified Professional Midwives are specifically trained to provide out-of-hospital maternity care. Studies prove that for women experiencing normal, low-risk pregnancies, giving birth out of a hospital attended by a Certified Professional Midwife is just as safe as giving birth in a hospital. Alabama is one of only nine states that specifically prohibit midwives. The Alabama Birth Coalition is working to change that legislation.
Beyond Birmingham, walks took take place in Cullman, Dothan, Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery and Tuscaloosa. The high attendance at this year’s “Walk for Midwives” reflects a growing interest in out-of-hospital births in Alabama. According to the CDC, out-of-hospital births have increased by 18% in Alabama, which is much higher than the national average. Currently, families who choose an out-of-hospital birth are faced with the choice of giving birth unassisted, traveling out of state while in labor, or hiring unlicensed midwives who risk prosecution for attending births within state lines.
Jennifer Crook Moore, a Certified Professional Midwife and Vice President of the Alabama Birth Coalition, said, “Given the number of families that are choosing out-of-hospital births in this state, Alabama is overdue for legislation that will license Certified Professional Midwives. Families do not yet have the options for expert maternity care that they deserve. The ABC now has over 1500 active supporters who live in all legislative districts of the state. Our supporters are vocal in urging their state legislators to push legislation that would allow Certified Professional Midwives to practice in Alabama. It is clear that Alabama families want more evidence-based maternity care options in this state.”
For more information about the Alabama Birth Coalition, please visit www.alabamabirthcoalition.org
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Presenting Sponsors
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We would also like to extend our most sincere thanks to our silent auction donors and in-kind donors.
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Kaleigh Naylor
(251) 209 - 7303 / albirthcoaltion@gmail.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 7, 2010
ALABAMA FAMILIES “WALK FOR MIDWIVES” TO BRING BETTER OPTIONS FOR MATERNITY CARE IN THIS STATE
BIRMINGHAM| On Saturday, September 25, hundreds of citizens across Alabama will “Walk for Midwives,” showing their support for Certified Professional Midwives, who are prohibited by law from practicing in this state.
Certified Professional Midwives are specifically trained to provide out-of-hospital maternity care. Studies prove that for women experiencing normal, low-risk pregnancies, giving birth out of a hospital attended by a Certified Professional Midwife is just as safe as giving birth in a hospital. Alabama is one of only 9 states that specifically prohibit midwives, and the Alabama Birth Coalition is working to change that legislation.
Jennifer Crook Moore, a Certified Professional Midwife and Vice President of the Alabama Birth Coalition, said, “This has been an exciting and promising year for ABC. We now have over 1500 active supporters who live in all legislative districts of the state. Our supporters are vocal in urging their state legislators to push legislation that would allow Certified Professional Midwives to practice in Alabama. It is clear that Alabama families want more evidence-based maternity care options in this state.”
Families in Alabama who choose an out-of-hospital birth with a legally-recognized midwife must travel across state lines to receive care. Liz Brantley, pregnant with her second child, is disappointed she will not be able to give birth under the care of a midwife in Alabama. Liz resided in the Northeast during her first pregnancy and was able to receive legal midwifery care. She attended last year’s walk and is encouraged by the growth and accomplishments of ABC: “This year’s walk is meant to energize midwife supporters, educate the public about the benefits of evidence-based maternity care, and raise funds to continue pushing legislation to legalize this much-needed and much-wanted type of expert maternity care in Alabama.”
Beyond Birmingham, walks are planned in multiple cities across the state, including Montgomery, Mobile, Tuscaloosa, Huntsville, Dothan, and Cullman.
Birmingham’s Walk for Midwives will begin with breakfast at 8 a.m. at Rojo, located at 2921 Highland Avenue S. The walk will begin at 9:30 a.m. All are welcome to walk a distance that is comfortable and to learn more about the issue and the Alabama Birth Coalition. To register for the walk, visit http://www.alabamabirthcoalition.org/tickets/.
For more information about the Alabama Birth Coalition, please visit www.alabamabirthcoalition.org
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–Ina May Gaskin
Growing up, the only birth stories I heard were my mother’s. Therefore, hospital birth in Birmingham in the 70’s was all I knew. I’ll spare you the gory details, but know that these stories instilled my earliest feelings of needing to subvert the dominant paradigm. At the same time, I had a dad who was passionate about the natural world. One of our favorite mutual activities was watching nature programming on PBS. My favorite episodes were those of female sea turtles, clumsily heaving their made-for-water-only bodies out onto the beach, to dig a nest, lay eggs, and make the arduous journey back to the sea; or the mother whale, with her flukes and fins gliding effortlessly through the water, calf emerging through what appeared to be the most straightforward, effortless, and natural process; or the elephant who listened to her body and stood to give birth. I’m so grateful for those shows (and continue to find inspiration in birth in the animal world) because, amidst the sterility, unoriginality, and inherent distrust my mother’s birth experiences were steeped in, I had a balancing frame of reference—the perspective that birth was made to work, even when no one else was around.
It wasn’t until graduate school, circa 19-I’m not gonna tell you, that I was introduced to birth stories from the human perspective that didn’t involve unnecessary and customary intervention and inherent fear. They came in the form of a book, Spiritual Midwifery, written by Ina May Gaskin, a midwife who lives up in Tennessee. So while my mom was fighting enemas, pubic shaving, and forced spinal blocks, Ina May was confidently beginning her crusade to (re)normalize pregnancy and childbirth.
I, and many others, fully credit Ina May with the birth of modern midwifery in the States. This never has been, nor is it now, an easy task. Maternity care in this country is big business and opposition to natural birth and the midwives model of care is well funded and rampant in state houses and hospitals around this country. Nevertheless, Ina May has persisted in her journey to normalize a process that has existed since time immemorial, which has only recently (remember, the shift from home birth to hospital birth has only occurred within the past century) been medicalized to the point of being unrecognizable. Ina May has served as Sherpa-extraordinaire for thousands of mothers, midwives, and families throughout the past forty years. In recent years, she has turned her activism towards increasing awareness of maternal mortality rates in the United States. Ina May created the Safe Motherhood Quilt Project, and travels the country gathering stories and quilt squares honoring the deaths of women who have died from pregnancy-related causes during the past twenty years, fifty percent of which, the CDC estimates, are preventable. Imagine epidural medication going into an IV line for ampicillin--the deaths I'm referring to here are iatrogenic in nature.
Many of us here in Alabama had the privilege of listening to Ina May speak last night at the University of Alabama-Huntsville. Her message, as always, was candid, frank, and straight from the heart. It is with great anticipation that I look forward to the release of her newest book, finished only this week, entitled Birth Matters: Why What We Don't Know about Nature, Our Bodies, and Surgery Can Hurt Us. Never ending thanks to Ina May for the path she continues to forge, the wisdom she shares so selflessly, and her unfailing commitment to shepherding the United States through this confused chapter in our maternity care history.
To learn more about Ina May, head here.
--Jennifer
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