Midwifery Rally at the State House

On Tuesday, February 26, members of the Alabama Birth Coalition will trek to Montgomery for our second annual "Drive for Midwives." Families are coming from across the state to petition our legislature to increase access to out-of-hospital midwifery care by licensing midwives who possess the Certified Professional Midwife credential. ABC's efforts are part of a national campaign titled, "The Big Push for Midwives."

For more information, or to RSVP, please email Cristy Jenkins.

1) Folks across the state arrive at Cramton Bowl (parking lot for State House) promptly at 11 a.m.

2) Around 11:30 we will begin our march through the blocks surrounding the State House (and perhaps the Capitol--we will have a map....) We will march together with banners, signs, shakers, strollers, etc... politely chanting some slogan... "Alabama Mothers Deserve Midwives..." or something of the sort.... with giant smiles!

3) We will end up at the State House steps around 12 noon and listen to a brief speaker.

4) Following the speech, we will have another few cheers of sorts then we will "storm the castle." Ok, well, maybe not STORM it, rather enter politely (depending on how large our group is and how cold it is, we may have 2 teams--one to go in and then another to go in a bit later.)

5) We will find our personal Representative and Senator... introduce ourselves, explain why we are there, ask them if they are familiar with the midwifery issue... etc. They will receive M&M's and bottle of water (all labeled with our info like last year).

6) NOTE: The BOBB is also scheduled for the same day (evening). We NEED folks to plan to stay for that as well. Tentatively the rubbing of elbows will begin around 5:30 with legs arriving for appetizers, some folks a bit earlier to help set-up. The film begins at 7 p.m. Stacy Walker is working on hotel options for those wanting to stay overnight. Email Stacy if you wish to stay over night. We will be inviting all the legislators and the governor's family to this event as well. We need midwifery advocates and citizens of Alabama to fill the house.

Please RSVP Cristy so that we can plan accordingly!