Midwifery Organizations Unite in Support of New M.A.M.A. Campaign!
MAMA Is Still on the Hill for You!
The US Senate is pushing forward to pass health care reform by Christmas! And MAMA is on the Hill right along with your Congress Members urging that CPMs be included in this bill! This past week we met with several supportive Senator offices in our efforts to accomplish this goal.
MAMA will be working for midwives and mothers on Capitol Hill right up to the final vote on the joint House/Senate bill, expected to take place by the third week in January. The provision to reimburse CPMs in the Federal Medicaid program enjoys wide support in Congress, thanks in large part to your great outreach to your Congress Members. MAMA will continue to leverage this support to take advantage of any and all opportunities to include CPMs in the health care bill throughout the entire process during this congressional session.
MAMA Was So Happy to See You!
Thanks to all of you who joined us last week for our Campaign Webinar: MAMA Has Good News to Share! We had a great time and, from your comments, so did you! Over 50 people participated. The MAMA Campaign Steering Committee shared information about the campaign strategy, infrastructure, accomplishments, and steps forward. Participants were excited to hear details about Senator Maria Cantwell adding language to reimburse CPMs in licensed birth centers into the Senate bill. And we were excited to be joined on the Webinar by our DC lobbyist, Billy Wynne who shared with us his perspective on the Campaign’s progress!
Participants commented:
-“I was able to get a better grasp of the routes which this campaign must navigate- from lobbyist, to the Senate, to the House. I was pleased to hear that great progress is being made.”
-“I am impressed by the continuity of effort put out by everyone and the seriousness it garnered. I thank you immensely.”
-“Congratulations on this tremendous effort!”
-“It is good to know that the MAMA Campaign is run by real people and is alive and well…hearing from each of you was very promising.”
We Especially Enjoyed Answering Your Questions!
Billy and our Steering Committee members were able to answer a number of questions during the Webinar. For those of you who submitted questions that we did not have time to answer during the call, you will be hearing from us soon. And we thought we would answer one of your questions here as well:
Question: “I have read Senator Cantwell’s language regarding the payment of provider fees for birth center birth attendants and I don’t see how this language constitutes a the mandate to pay the provider fee. Can you walk us through this?"
Answer: As you will remember from our last few Eblasts, MAMA has had a terrific victory in the last few weeks: under the Senate version of the health care reform bill, Certified Professional Midwives who deliver in birth centers will have their provider fee reimbursed by Medicaid. The provision included by Senator Cantwell to move the ball forward for CPMs is included in the section of the Senate bill that mandates that the facility fee for birth centers be paid by Medicaid. It reads:
"A State shall provide separate payments to providers administering prenatal labor and delivery or postpartum care in a freestanding birth center…such as nurse midwives and other providers of services such as birth attendants recognized under State law, as determined appropriate by the Secretary."
It is typical that mandates for reimbursement by Medicaid be included in Section 1905 of the Social Security Act, and MAMA’s provision to reimburse CPMs in Medicaid is drafted to be included in the SS Act. However, Congress has the power to establish a mandate for coverage of CPM services anywhere, as it has done here with Senator Cantwell’s provision.
The provision is a mandate because it begins with “shall” rather than a “may.” That is the operative word and the operative distinction. There is no discretion in the language to ignore the directive to make the separate provider payments.
And while “As determined appropriate by the Secretary” might make you worry (after all, what if the Secretary says “no?”), don’t: this is very common language that just makes clear that the Secretary of Health and Human Services has discretion in interpreting legislative text. The second sentence of subparagraph (C), makes very clear who the Secretary needs to include in defining “birth attendant”. This phrase regarding the Secretary does not in any way negate the mandate or leave it to the discretion of the Secretary whether or not to make the separate provider payments. The mandate for payment of provider fees has the force of law with this language. We have researched this language with our lobby office where they have many years of experience in drafting key Medicaid legislation for Congress, and we have no concerns about the effectiveness of this provision.
In answer to another question: the use of the term “birth attendant” in this bill is intended to be inclusive, not diminishing, and will in no way undermine the efforts and accomplishments in the state statutes to use the term “Licensed” for midwives.
MAMA Reaches Down Deep to Fund the Campaign!
MAMA supporters are reaching down deep this month to get MAMA to the finish line! While the Senate is working overtime to find their way through the health care reform debate, we are also finding creative ways to support the work of our volunteers and professional lobbyist.
- State midwifery and consumer groups are spreading the word -- recent gifts have come from Massachusetts, California, and Colorado.
- A local brewpub in Montana hosted a fundraiser for MAMA on the night before Thanksgiving.
- A midwifery school director has challenged students and faculty to match her own contribution.
- A photographer in Maine is taking holiday portraits for midwifery clients and donating 50% of her sales.
MAMA Gives Thanks!
The MAMA Campaign is moving forward with great energy and determination to include Certified Professional Midwives in health care bills this year! As the country enters the Thanksgiving Week, we want to take a moment to give thanks for the extraordinary strides made in a few short months on Capitol Hill for midwives and mothers. And we want to express our deepest appreciation to all of you: our supporters, whose dedication, stamina, generosity, letters and dollars have made this progress possible.
MAMA is thankful for:
- Amazing grassroots participation from across the country—mothers, fathers, grandparents, midwives and other supporters—for your letters, calls and visits to legislators in support of CPMs
- Great support from key congress members who have declared the provision for CPMs to be “good policy for women and babies”
- Senator Cantwell (D-WA), for her provision in the Senate bill that will result in payment of the provider fee for state-licensed CPMs who provide services in licensed birth centers.
- Washington State midwives, for the data they prepared for the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) demonstrating significant improvements in quality and cost savings with CPM care
- Campaign donations of more than $140,000 that have resulted in the most successful fundraising campaign for midwives and mothers ever!
MAMA Needs Your Help On the Homestretch!
It’s time to “Pound the Table”! As MAMA continues negotiations to find a Senator to file the CPM provision as an amendment on the Senate floor, this is the time for ALL of us to send a clear message to all our Senators: Certified Professional Midwives will lower health care costs and improve the health of women and babies. There is a pregnant-woman sized hole in this legislation, Mrs. or Mr. Senator. Please fix it!
Find easy letter-writing information and sample letter text here. If you’ve already written a letter, write again! Please keep those letters coming!!!
Letter of the Week
Elizabeth Gilmore of New Mexico wrote a personal appeal to her Senator, Jeff Bingaman, asking him to “be our champion” on Capitol Hill:
"I am an enthusiastic constituent in Taos, NM, where you came to the ribbon-cutting of our Birth Center, in 1997…We are currently Medicaid providers in NM but only because our governor insisted. When he leaves office we may lose this designation because we still are not recognized by Federal Medicaid as providers!"
You too can ask a Senator to be a champion for CPMs! Click here to write a letter to your Senator.
Who Are MAMA’s donors?
- She is a mother of four who has Medicaid, who paid out of pocket for her last two home waterbirths, and gave what she could to MAMA!
- He is the father of three homeborn children and a nationally known musician, whose passion for his children’s births moved him to generously donate.
- She is a midwife who dreams that someday not so far off she will be able to serve more low income women in her community.
- She is the grandmother of five, whose daughter triumphed by having a vaginal birth with a CPM after a Cesarean in the hospital.
- He is the best friend of a young couple finding their way through a first, surprise pregnancy with the love and guidance of a midwife.
- She is a public health policymaker who recognizes that the status quo does not serve women and babies, and wants to help make a change.
- She is a new mother who has been transformed through the experience of her birth, and wants to share it with everyone she knows.
- She is me, he is you, they are us, working together to bring about big change with our big and small change.
Every dollar counts! MAMA fundraising is on a roll, with only $30,000 needed to keep the campaign on track through December. Please help us over the finish line! Donate to MAMA today!
NEW DATE FOR THE MAMA WEBINAR: December 3
MAMA Has Good News to Share! Join Us for a Webinar on December 3rd to Learn All About It!
Our federal lobbyist, Billy Wynne will join representatives from the Campaign Steering Committee, on Thursday, December 3rd, for an exciting webinar about the MAMA Campaign at 8 pm EST. Please note that this is a new date. The webinar was previously scheduled for the beginning of Thanksgiving week, but that week was too busy for too many of our supporters so we have postponed the date a week to accommodate our supporters.
The effort to secure federal recognition of CPMs got a big boost – language beneficial to CPMs is included in the Senate health care bill just released on Wednesday, November 18th. And MAMA is still hard at work to include our amendment to reimburse CPMs in the federal Medicaid program in the final bill that will go to the President to be signed early next year.
You are invited to join us to hear:
- What this new language in the Senate bill will mean for midwives and mothers across the country
- About the most successful fundraising campaign for midwifery ever!
- What the next steps are this year for Federal recognition for CPMs
It is easy to participate in the webinar! Click here to register and receive easy steps to join us.
And during the webinar MAMA wants to answer your questions: email a question to info@mamacampaign.org and put “Webinar Question Submission” in the subject line.
MAMA thanks you for all your support. Happy Thanksgiving!
Announcement November 20
Our federal lobbyist, Billy Wynne will join representatives from the Campaign Steering Committee, on Thursday, December 3rd, for an exciting webinar about the MAMA Campaign at 8 pm EST. Please note that this is a new date. The webinar was previously scheduled for the beginning of Thanksgiving week, but that week was too busy for too many of our supporters so we have postponed the date a week to accommodate our supporters.
MAMA has good news to share! The effort to secure federal recognition of CPMs got a big boost this week – language beneficial to CPMs is includded in the Senate health care bill just released on Wednesday, November 18th. And MAMA is still hard at work to include our amendment to reimburse CPMs in the federal Medicaid program in the final bill that will go to the President to be signed early next year.
You are invited to join us to hear:
- What this new language in the Senate bill will mean for midwives and mothers across the country
- The impressive support for CPMs that MAMA has built among key legislators over the last six months, that will serve midwives and mothers well for years to come
- About the most successful fundraising campaign for midwifery ever!
- What the next steps are this year for Federal recognition for CPMs
It is easy to participate in the webinar! Click here to register and receive easy steps to join us.
And during the webinar MAMA wants to answer your questions: email a question to info@mamacampaign.org and put "Webinar Question Submission" in the subject line.
We look forward to your participation!
Announcement on November 18
Congress takes an important step forward for CPMs!
MAMA’s hard work, with your intrepid support, is paying off! The Senate Finance Committee has included language in their bill that will advance the interests of CPMs and the women they serve - thanks to the support of a key Senator secured by MAMA!
On Friday, November 13th, MAMA representatives met with a top health aide to Senator Maria Cantwell from Washington State. In direct response to MAMA advocacy, Senator Cantwell has included a provision in the Senate Finance Committee bill that will require Medicaid to reimburse licensed birth attendants (which would include state-licensed CPMs) who provide services in licensed birth centers. We were told that the Senator feels strongly about including CPMs in the health care bill and recognizes that her home state of Washington has played a leading role in demonstrating the high quality and low cost of CPM care. The Senator has heard the call from MAMA loud and clear and committed to finding a way to move the ball forward for CPMs.
Building from language crafted by the American Association of Birth Centers for legislation that will require that birth centers receive payment for facility fees, Senator Cantwell was able to add language specifying payment to the providers - licensed birth attendants - as well. Other Finance Committee members, including the Chairman, lined up with Senator Cantwell in support of her provision, demonstrating that our outreach to those offices has also borne fruit. Of great significance, she has also secured the commitment of Senator Reid, the Democratic Majority Leader at the center of crafting the final health care bill this year, to keep her language in this year’s final bill. Inclusion of this language represents a significant commitment on the part of the Senator, and we are very grateful to her for this important step forward for CPMs and for expanded choice for women and families!
As a key member of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Cantwell has a limited number of initiatives that she can champion herself, but she has offered to fully support any other Senator who will file MAMA’s original provision on the floor of the Senate to require that Medicaid reimburse all CPMs in all settings.
We are proud of and grateful to all of the midwives and mothers in action in Washington State for the successful outreach to their Senator! And we are grateful to all of you who have helped to secure the wide support that the MAMA Campaign and CPMs enjoy in the Senate!
The provision included in the Senate Finance Committee bill will provide a strong legislative platform for further action to secure access to CPMs for all childbearing women, both in the current health care bill and in the years to come. It is interesting to note that a number of states have first secured just a portion of their initial legislative “ask” , and then accomplished their original goal in a subsequent year. In New Hampshire, for example, the midwives went to the legislature to mandate that all insurance carriers in the state reimburse the licensed midwives. That year, a mandate was passed that only reimbursed midwives operating out of licensed birth centers. The following year, the midwives were successful in having the mandate expanded to cover all licensed midwives offering services in all settings.
What is next for MAMA this year?
MAMA remains committed to including our original provision to mandate Medicaid reimbursement for all CPM services, regardless of site of birth, in the health care bills this year! We are in negotiation with Senate Finance Committe e offices in the effort to secure a champion to file our amendment on the floor of the Senate. In addition, we have a strategy to leverage our support in both chambers to include our provision in the final bill that will be signed by the President, whatever the outcome in the Senate.
We need your help!
Please keep those letters to your Senators coming! You never know which letter will take us over the top and into the bill! Write today!
And please keep your dollars coming! You have made possible the most successful fundraising campaign for midwives ever! Now we are asking that you dig just a little deeper to fund us through the end of this legislative session. We have raised $140,000 to date! Washington State donors have been especially generous, accounting for 20% of this amount. We must raise an additional $30,000 in the next few weeks. If you have not given yet, please make a donation today. If you have given, please consider an additional gift today.
Join MAMA in a Webinar about the Campaign on December 3!
Please join the MAMA campaign steering committee for an informational webinar on the MAMA Campaign on Thursday, December 3, from 8-9 PM EST. Click here to register. Come learn about our strategy, about exciting new developments in the campaign and about how you can support the Campaign’s efforts to secure federal recognition of Certified Professional Midwives. The webinar will also strive to answer questions from supporters, so please submit questions ahead of the webinar by emailing info@mamacampaign.org, subject line” Webinar Question Submission.”
Announcement on November 12
With Your Help CPMs Can Be Part of Health Care Reform!
Health Care Reform Moves Forward
On Saturday, November 7th, the House passed their bill, HR3962. From any perspective, this was an historic vote.
We, of course, are very disappointed that CPMs are not included in this bill. Up to the last minute, efforts were underway by the Campaign and our lobbyist, Billy Wynne from Health Policy Source, to include CPMs in the manager’s amendment to the bill, prior to the final vote. The MAMA Campaign has been working hard since early July with House committee staff to prod the Congressional Budget Office to score our provision for CPMs, an essential step for inclusion of any provision. Because the CBO has been under such intense pressure from both chambers to score a massive number of provisions and bills, we still do not have a fiscal impact score.
The Campaign has extraordinary support in the House, and committee staff considers the CPM provision to be “good policy for women and babies.” With a CBO score, CPMs would likely have been in either the base bill or the manager’s amendment to the House bill; without the score, the staff could not take the step of including CPMs at this time. Our significant support in the House may yet help us prevail on the Hill this year.
The MAMA Campaign is now focusing hard on the support we have built in the Senate and is working day and night to get Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) included as Medicaid providers as a floor amendment to the Senate bill. We need your help! Please write to and call your Senators today and ask them to include CPMs in the Senate bill! Your support, as constituents, advocates and donors is essential to this effort!
Now is the Time to Commit to Justice in Maternity Care
To inspire us as we focus our efforts in the Senate, we are reminding ourselves why hundreds of volunteers across the United States are working so hard for this cause. Because mothers, infants and families nationwide deserve high-quality, high-value maternity care and most of them are not receiving it! We believe women and infants have a right to excellent care during one of the most powerful yet vulnerable periods in their lives. A country as wealthy and capable as the United States can do better than what is currently the norm in maternity care.
How Do CPMs Make a Difference?
Certified Professional Midwives—by providing holistic, compassionate and skillful services to expectant mothers—are achieving positive results. Care provided by CPMs promotes healthy mothers and babies, and results in fewer Cesarean sections, fewer premature infants, more full term, full weight infants, more breastfeeding and more women satisfied with their childbirth experiences. And all this while saving precious health care dollars! Including CPMs in the Federal Medicaid program will help increase access to maternity care, improve health outcomes for women and infants, and reduce racial and ethnic perinatal disparities.
A study conducted by the CDC comparing infant mortality data from the United States with data from developed countries, found much worse rates for the US. The report specifically found that the very high US rates of inductions and planned cesarean sections, which result in higher rates of preterm and late preterm births, are significant contributors to the US’s dismal statistics. Because CPMs wait for labor to occur on its own, and only transport for cesarean section when truly needed, having CPMs widely used could help address this serious and inexcusable US problem.
Spotlight on Certified Professional Midwife: Jennie Joseph
Jennie Joseph is a CPM with 26 years of expertise in midwifery and women’s health care. She created the JJ Way, which is changing lives in central Florida, because she believes that every woman has the right, and should have the opportunity, to have a healthy baby. Using the JJ Way she is reducing the rate of infants born prematurely and increasing birth weight among her primarily African American clientele. She is dramatically improving outcomes among vulnerable families. One of Jennie’s secrets to success: engage women and families as full partners in their own care.
Watch Jennie describe her work.
Excellent Letter of the Week
Stephanie Fox wrote to her Senators, Senators John McCain and Jon Kyl of Arizona. She wanted them to know how important it is that midwives be available to women regardless of income:
"Health care reform must address the problems and high costs of maternity care in the U.S and ensure safe, qualified maternity care providers for all pregnant women. I know the difference in care and cost for both having hospital and home births. My hospital birth was expensive and challenging. My two home births together did not cost what my hospital birth did ten years previously. The care I received from the hospital was sub-par whereas my home birth care was wonderfully comforting and my recovery time was dramatically shorter. All women regardless of income deserve high-quality maternity health care that is both cost-effective and safe."
Thanks, Stephanie, for taking the time to a write letter. CPM supporters—please write to your Senators today! And send us a copy.
MAMA Is Blogging Health Care Reform
You can follow the health care reform debate with MAMA! Read the latest post on our blog which features articles from the New York Times and Washington Post about the new CDC study and how the US compares so poorly with other nations when it comes to infant mortality.
Announcement November 4
We’re Back…and We’re More Inspired Than Ever!
MANA Wholeheartedly Supports MAMA!!
The MAMA Campaign received standing ovations last week at the 2009 Conference of the Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA) in beautiful Asilomar, California! The Campaign accomplishments were received with great enthusiasm, as was our dedicated lobbyist, Billy Wynne, who joined us by video conference. Many of the over 500 attendees extended heartfelt thanks to MAMA Campaign Steering Committee members throughout the conference for their efforts to include Certified Professional Midwives in the federal Medicaid program. Mary Lawlor and Susan Hodges, Campaign Co-Chairs, each received an Outstanding Leadership Award from MANA. MAMA Campaign Consultant, Becky Martin, received the MANA Legislative Watchdog Award for her many years of support for including CPMs in health care reform. In her Opening Address, MANA President, Geradine Simkins, described the unprecedented strides made on Capitol Hill by the MAMA coalition organizations and their grassroots supporters. MAMA was a hot topic! And read below about the fundraising surprise for MAMA at the conference! The MAMA Steering Committee left Asilomar clear in the knowledge that the midwives and citizens are behind this effort!
MANA presented an Outstanding Leadership Award to Mary Lawlor
Geradine Simkins presents Becky Martin with the Legislative Watchdog Award
Where Are We Now?
The House is planning to bring their bill to the floor for a vote this week! As we write to you, our campaign is working hard to have CPMs included in this bill. If our provision is included in the bill, that will be thrilling. If it is not, we will continue to work with Energy and Commerce Committee staff to include our provision before the bill goes to the President for his signature. We have great support from the Committee Staff as well as from a number of leading Energy and Commerce members. A key staffer recently told us that our provision is front and center on the minds of Committee and that “adding CPMs to the federal Medicaid program remains good policy for women and babies.”
The Senate most likely will go to the floor with their bill the week of November 16th or later, with that process expected to go into December before an actual floor vote. The rules of procedure for the Senate are different than for the House, and there will be amendments and debate of the bill on the floor. We have strong support from several important Senate offices and are working hard to secure a champion to include our provision in the Senate bill.
Billy Wynne, our lobbyist, recently told us: “You should feel very good about the massive education campaign you’ve undertaken and the broad support you’ve gained for CPMs on the Hill this year! It is common for a new provider group on the Hill to take 3-4 years to accomplish what you have done in just six months!”
You May Be the One to Make a Difference at This Critical Juncture
Many legislators on the Hill have expressed support for our amendment and are committed to weighing in with the leadership in favor of CPMs. We dare say that there would be dozens of delighted legislators if our amendment is in the final healthcare bill.
We still have important opportunities to be included! Can you be the one to push us over the top? Can you be the constituent whose letter convinces a champion to put us in the bill? Will you write to your legislator today? Write a letter to your member today and ask for CPMs to be included in health care reform.
Fabulous Letter of the Week
Johanna Bouma of Montana wrote a letter to her Senator, Max Baucus. She described her personal experience using a CPM:
"I ask that you would please support efforts to improve the maternity care system by adding Certified Professional Midwives to the list of providers covered by Medicaid…I had wonderful, professional, cost-effective, personal one-on-one care throughout my pregnancy, birth, and postpartum months. My midwife and her services are highly respected throughout my community and she has been used for several generations among my friends and family. I am so impressed by Certified Professional Midwives, I continually recommend their services to pregnant women, and I will continue to use them myself. As several of my friends are beginning to grow their families, they are being limited to hospital care only. They would prefer to use Certified Professional Midwifes and bring their children into this world, privately, at home."
We love hearing from you how CPMs have touched your lives! And hearing from constituents is more powerful and persuasive to a legislator than anything else. Write your own letter today…and send us a copy while you’re at it!
MAMA Is Blogging Health Care Reform
You can follow the health care reform debate with MAMA! Read the latest post on our blog, The Grapevine.
Donate to the MAMA Campaign!
MAMA fundraising is on a roll. We topped $130,000 this week with donations received from more than 400 individual and organizational donors since the beginning of May! Two anonymous gifts arrived – one for $25,000 and one for $5,000!!! Thank you to these special friends! We also received $2,500 from families and midwives who rallied to support MAMA last month in Montana! Finally, MAMA is deeply grateful to the board of the Foundation for the Advancement of Midwifery which launched their annual fundraising drive at the MANA conference with a pledge to award the first $5,000 received to MAMA. By the end of the conference, FAM had also received two matching donations for MAMA, bringing their total commitment to $9,000! Whether it's $25 or $25,000 -- every bit of support is important. As MAMA marches on toward our goal of CPM recognition in health reform legislation this year, we need approximately $5,000 every week to keep our campaign alive. Please consider making a donation today!
Announcement on August 26
Dog days of August…sizzling HOT…hopping busy…HOT enough for ya?...red HOT mama…MAMA’s cooking in the HOT kitchen…
Congress may be in recess this month, but the MAMA Campaign is not! We have heated up with the August weather for a major grassroots outreach effort to members of Congress who are on the Senate Finance Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee – the two committees with the power to include our amendment in the health care bills.
MAMA Campaign members are making another round of visits to the DC Congressional offices this week. It may be sweltering around us between the weather and the health care reform debate but we are swimming along undeterred. With all of the talk about cutting health care costs and saving money, CPMs can help right away!Join us for some Red Hot Action for CPMs!
HEAT IT UP FOR YOUR CONGRESS MEMBERS!
If you signed up to help at and you live in a key state or district, chances are that you have heard from us this week. Maybe multiple times, that’s how busy and focused we are! If you live in key targeted Congressional districts, we have already been or will be soon in touch directly to help you call or write your congress member at their District Offices or schedule an in-district visit to promote MAMA’s cause: federal recognition of CPMs.
If you haven’t heard from us yet, please write a letter anyway to your own Congress members! Go to our site for instructions on writing and sending them a letter. THANK YOU to all of you who have already written. Congress must hear how important midwives are in the lives of mothers and families.
RED HOT MONEY!
MAMA Campaign supporters, Steering Committee members and other volunteers are burning up phone lines, email, spreadsheets and frequent flier miles to make all of this happen. But it is a harsh reality that it also takes MONEY to coordinate an effective campaign with myriad volunteers and activities in play and a top-notch lobbying firm representing us in D.C. We must spend as much time raising money as raising our voices to call for CPM support in Congress!
THANK YOU to all of you who’ve sent contributions in the last few weeks--the support is ASTOUNDING!
- We have raised more than $75,000 in just eight weeks.
- Enthusiastic home birth parents and grandparents, midwives, birth center owners, and women’s advocates from 38 different states have contributed so far.
- Just this week, Michigan Midwives Association decided to send at least $1000.
- Folks in the home birth community in Missoula, Montana, are planning a parade and MAMA fundraising event in September. You can read more about these activities by following their weekly posts to the MAMA blog and Facebook group.
We MUST keep up the pace and keep this Campaign alive into the Fall in order to see all the work through as far as we can. Our RED HOT GOAL is $10,000 a week. Every dollar is essential for this effort! Make a donation now, and read on for other ways you can help support this effort.
RAISING SOME RED HOT MONEY FOR MAMA-Can you help raise money for MAMA and help us help you?
- Host or organize a local gathering of supporters to come up with their own fundraising project, for example: An auction, potluck with throw-down, book discussion group around a birth book and ask for donation to attend…and so much more.
- Do you know a major midwifery supporter who has the means to create a matching challenge donation (one person gives an amount and challenges others to match it in a given time frame)?
- Contact your state midwifery organization and see if they can help MAMA—and stay in touch with us so we know what’s happening (info@mamacampaign.org).
- Do you know local baby/maternity/mothering businesses? How about soliciting donations from them directly or get items for sale in auction or sell on Craig’s list or other venues?
- Do you have ideas in your region for midwifery supporters who could be major donors for MAMA? Let us know and we can help contact these folks (info@mamacampaign.org).
- Please watch this inspiring video and send it on to friends, family and clients and urge them to support MAMA!
RED HOT COMMUNICATION-
Join us on Facebook and Twitter!
Our network is growing and with your help we can reach more supporters to our cause. Please invite your Facebook Friends to join the MAMA Campaign Facebook Group. Visit our group and click on the "Invite your Friends" link on our page. You will be able to send a message to all of your Facebook friends asking them to join the MAMA Campaign!
BACKGROUND on the RED HOT DEBATE:
Health Care Reform—Status Report
The MAMA Campaign, with your help, is working to make current bills and health care reform in general work even better for childbearing women and their families by including provisions that will increase access for women covered by Medicaid have to Certified Professional Midwives. To understand what is and is not in current health care reform proposals now in Washington DC, see:
Announcement on August 4
"Sometimes the most direct route to your heart's desire is a path full of twists and turns..."
-- Anonymous
Well, friends and supporters of the Mothers and Midwives in Action (MAMA) Campaign-we are certainly on a road full of twists and turns...We are also moving fast and keeping many apples in the air to ensure that the path is an upward, successful climb.
Health care reform action has EXPLODED this week in Washington, D.C. Support for federal recognition of Certified Professional Midwives has been building and very much a part of the action this week. Even as we write to you all today, analysis of the status of amendments in the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee is neither complete nor final.
The House of Representatives has adjourned for the August recess and the Senate will adjourn at the end of next week. Lots of outreach to Congress members can happen during the August recess and that will be our focus. What is clear is that our work together will continue throughout the August recess and into Congressional debates in September. Fasten your seatbelts, sound the alarm, we are all in this TOGETHER!
For more about the process of overall health care reform in Congress, visit http://www.uhcan.org/.
NEWS of SUPPORT: MAMA is thrilled to receive full recognition and support from major national organizations this week:
FINANCIAL NEWS: MAMA is nearing the halfway mark in raising the minimum money essential for the success of our Campaign. We have roughly $70,000 in hand or pledged. ALERT! We must stay on our pace of raising $10,000 a week for the rest of the Congressional session in order to complete our goal. To ensure skilled help in Washington DC and well-organized coordination of our country-wide support, we must continue to call out to all supporters for help with this financial reality. Thanks to all of you who have already donated. Do send our message far and wide to your friend and family networks!
For more reasons to donate, watch this! Hear what moms, dads and grandparents across the country have to say about CPMs and choices in childbirth. Please watch this inspiring video and send it on to friends, family and clients.
NETWORKING NEWS: Join us on Facebook and Twitter!
Our network is growing and with your help we can reach more supporters to our cause. Please invite your Facebook Friends to join the MAMA Campaign Facebook Group. Visit our group and click on the "Invite your Friends" link on our page. You will be able to send a message to all of your Facebook friends asking them to join the MAMA Campaign!
Subscribe to the MAMA Grapevine-MAMA's blog-- to get the latest updates on the MAMA Campaign, articles on Health Care Reform, and personal stories about how CPMs can be an integral part of quality maternity care. Link our blog to your Facebook, Twitter, and other networking site profiles with a simple click!
Please help us help you! Support the MAMA Campaign TODAY!
HEARTFELT THANKS FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT!
Announcement sent July 28, 2009
"Inaction is not an option."
-- President Obama regarding health care reform in a speech last week.
There is ACTION everywhere in all directions on health care these days. Every day special interest groups spend a staggering $1.4 million lobbying Congress to shut down the health care reform effort. How many are lobbying to maintain the status quo in maternity care? How many are big medicine lobbyists? Did you know the insurance industry unveiled a 7-figure marketing campaign to protect their bottom lines? We are like actors in an epic story-David and Goliath.
We must answer this challenge: Support the MAMA Campaign!
The pace of policy and debate is accelerating in Washington DC, and the ACNM has increased its opposition to our Campaign. Yet MAMA marches on! We continue to be applauded on the Hill for the progress we are making. We successfully met with agencies responsible for fiscal reports for Congressional initiatives and Medicaid programs. The pace of our DC visits continues unabated; we seek to solidify early support and attain new Congressional supporters.
And now, we must ramp up our Campaign to yet another notch in order to achieve Medicaid coverage for all Certified Professional Midwives.
Please help us help you! Support the MAMA Campaign TODAY -we must raise $10,000 a week to ensure the Campaign achieves its goal!
Your donation supports increased access to providers for low-income women. Are you a midwife? A mother? A father? A childbearing woman? A grandparent? A midwife supporter or a person who values choices in childbirth services? We need you!
Already donated? THANK YOU! Here's what else you can do!
Click here to see what moms, dads and grandparents across the country have to say about CPMs and choices in childbirth.
Forward this video to all your friends and colleagues and encourage them to sign up with the MAMA Campaign.
NEWSFLASH: MAMA is on Facebook and on Twitter; join us here:
The twitter url is: http://twitter.com/MAMAcampaign
The facebook group url is: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=237604910202&ref=ts
Click here for the link for information on how to tell your Congress members that you value CPM services for maternity care and why CPMs need to be added to the list of Medicaid providers. And a giant THANK YOU to all of you who've already written your Congress members!
Announcement sent July 21, 2009
Love Makes the World Go 'Round, and Money
Fuels a Political Campaign
How much do you LOVE having CPMs as an option for maternity care? How much MONEY will you throw in the pot to gain federal recognition for CPMs?
Support the MAMA Campaign- Click Here to Donate Online
Please do it TODAY!
We are so glad to have you with us, because this week has been fu ll of exciting developments for the MAMA Campaign ( www.mamacampaign.org ). Health care reform is moving forward with the health care bill released Tuesday by the U.S. House of Representatives.
On July 14, another group of MAMA Campaign members flew to Washington DC to work with governmental agencies with important roles in health care reform and to visit with Congressional members and their staff. More and more midwives, consumers and friends are joining our Campaign and contacting their members of Congress. We want Certified Professional Midwives and their services to be covered under Medicaid in any bill that emerges in Congress!
Please donate now to the MAMA Campaign, every little bit counts. Our goal is to raise $150,000 in the next six weeks-that's $25,000 per week! In order to achieve our policy goals in DC, we need to make weekly trips to DC, develop and distribute materials, keep our lobbyist hard at work, fund our Campaign Manager and Consultant, pay our phone bills, update our website, and maintain an extensive communications network designed to get our message to Washington, D.C. The more you all can support this crucial work, the more time we can spend communicating and influencing Congressional members!
Announcement Sent July 4, 2009
Please forward this invitation to family and friends.
The goal of the Midwives and Mothers in Action (M.A.M.A.) Campaign is to increase women's access to midwives and to quality, affordable maternity care by securing federal recognition of Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs). The MAMA Campaign, is a partnership between the National Association of Certified Professional Midwives (NACPM), Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA), Citizens for Midwifery (CfM), International Center for Traditional Childbearing (ICTC), North American Registry of Midwives (NARM), and the Midwifery Education Accreditation Council (MEAC).
Contact Us: info@mamacampaign.org
MAMA Campaign
c/o NACPM
243 Banning Road
Putney VT 05346
or call Citizens for Midwifery's Info line at 888-236-4880
Congress has laid out an ambitious timeline for achieving health care reform this year. Midwives and consumers are mobilizing quickly to take advantage of this unprecedented opportunity and to defend against any threats to acces sing midwifery care.
Midwives & Mothers in Action (M.A.M.A) Campaign (previously Midwives Organizing for Mothers or M.O.M.) is a new national campaign to secure federal recognition of Certified Professional Midwives. The M.A.M.A. Campaign Steering Committee includes the National Association of Certified Professional Midwives (NACPM), the Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA), the North American Registry of Midwives (NARM), the Midwifery Education Accreditation Council (MEAC), Citizens for Midwifery (CfM) and the International Center for Traditional Childbearing (ICTC). Mary Lawlor, of NACPM, and Susan Hodges, of CfM, are the co-leaders of the M.A.M.A Campaign.
We are seeking to work in cooperation with allies in the midwifery advocacy community. We hope you will help as well.
The Webinar on Midwives and Health Care Reform previously announced for Thursday, May 7th at 8 p.m. EST has been postponed. Sorry for any inconvenience this postponement may have caused, but it couldn't be helped. Keep your eyes open for a new webinar date and time.
In the coming days and weeks, the M.A.M.A Campaign will be providing the midwifery and advocacy community with further information about the campaign and avenues to help raise awareness and secure a place for Certified Professional Midwives in the developing federal health care system.
Here are two things you can do now to help:
- Encourage moms and other midwifery supporters to make posts on blogs, forums and social networking sites on Mother's Day praising the wonderful care they received from their midwives.
- Attend any local health care reform events and raise awareness of the importance of maternity care to the national health care system. Most officials do not realize that maternity care represents almost ¼ of hospital discharges- which makes it a critical part of the health care reform conversation. Midwives increase access to maternity care for mothers and babies. Praise the care CPMs provide and state the important role they play in providing high quality evidence based cost effective maternity care.
MANA's President, Gera Simkin, and Vice President, Maria Iorillo, are the designated members of the M.A.M.A Campaign Steering Committee representing MANA. We just returned from a successful planning meeting in Washington DC. We also met with various legislators and congressional committee members. Congress has laid out an ambitious timeline for achieving health care reform this year, and we are ready to be part of it.
We are providing a forum for MANA members to talk to the MANA Board of Directors about the M.A.M.A. Campaign though our Facebook page. Please talk to us and to each other!
Onward and upward!
MANA Board of Directors
Letter Writing Campaign Needed!
Please join the effort to send an outpouring of personal letters to U.S. Senators and Representatives to their local district offices this week.
If you haven't already, please sign up on the Midwives and Mothers In Action website (www.mamacampaign.org). We need all your energy and enthusiasm for our ambitious policy goals on behalf of pregnant women across the nation and the Certified Professional Midwives who can provide services to them. This is the MOMENT for action!
Last week the Midwives and Mothers in Action (MAMA) Campaign organized twenty midwives and consumers to visit their Congress members in Washington DC and tell them about midwifery care. This lobbying push is a vital part of the MAMA Campaign mission to increase all women's access to midwives and to quality, affordable maternity care by achieving federal recognition of Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs).
The MAMA Campaign was established by a coalition of six key national midwifery and consumer organizations. Our immediate goal is to get an amendment into the health care bills currently moving through Congress to mandate federal Medicaid coverage for CPM services. Health care reform is at a pivotal point and we have an unprecedented opportunity to inform Congressional members about the skilled, high quality maternity care provided by CPMs and the cost savings CPMs can achieve. Congressional members are particularly interested in what their constituents are thinking.
Now we need your help!
Please join the effort to send an outpouring of personal letters to U.S. Senators and Representatives to their local district offices this week. We've learned this is the best way to get their attention on fast-moving urgent policy issues.
Please read further to see a sample letter you can use and tips for writing. Your role in the MAMA Campaign is so important. Now is your chance to stand up and be counted!
Writing Your Congress Members - Suggestions & Instructions
Contacting your U.S. Senators and Representatives is important! Please mail your letters to their local district offices. You'll find a sample letter below these instructions. Use or adapt this language for your own personalized letter to your members of Congress. If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact Evelyn deFrees, Campaign Manager (info@mamacampaign.org).
Eight points to remember when writing your own letter:
- Ask : Please be sure to include the specific "ask," underlined in the first and final paragraphs of the sample letter (the "ask" is what you want your Senator or Representative to do).
- Information : The second paragraph is an important part of the message. Feel free to use other words in paragraphs 3 and 4 to explain why Certified Professional Midwives should be added as Medicaid providers. See handout "Midwives and Mothers in Action: Improve Maternity Care Quality by Expanding Patient Choice"
- Your story : A sentence or two about your "story" personalizes the letter; describe a birth or birth provider experience you or a family member or friend has had, or why you are passionate about this issue.
- NOTE : Please ALWAYS write out "Certified Professional Midwife"; do NOT use "CPM" by itself (which is frequently misinterpreted with the more familiar "CNM").
- CPM Facts : If you want to write about the CPM credential and/or education, please use the CPM FAQ sheet - please stick to that exact language, which has been carefully developed for this purpose.
- Format : Neat, hand-written letters are the most effective - it shows that someone cared enough about the issue to take their time to personally sit down and write to their congress member. Typed, printed and signed letters are next best. Make sure your name and address with zipcode are on your letters as well as the envelope.
- District Offices : Please send letters to your U.S. Senator and/or Representative's local district/state office (mail to their Washington office would take several weeks to get to them). For addresses: Visit www.house.gov and www.senate.gov ; once on these homepages, click on the search tool in the upper corners of the pages to find your own U.S. Senator or Representatives, and their websites and addresses for district offices.
Tell us you've taken action: Please send us a copy of your letter so we can track what policy-makers are hearing from constituents like you about the urgent need for federal recognition of Certified Professional Midwives. Please send a copy to info@mamacampaign.org or to MAMA Campaign c/o NACPM, 243 Banning Road, Putney VT 05346
Sample Letter for Congress Members
[Date]
The Honorable [Full Name]
[Street Address]
[City], [State] [Zip]
Dear [Senator/Representative Last Name]:
Congress is now debating comprehensive health reform legislation. I urge you to ensure that the maternity care needs of millions of women and their families are addressed by your support for adding Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs)--who are licensed by their states--to the list of Medicaid-eligible providers recognized at the federal level. Health care reform must address the problems and high costs of maternity care in the U.S and ensure safe, qualified maternity care providers for all pregnant women.
Safe high-quality care: Today in many states across the country women seek safe, high-quality, health-promoting maternity care provided by Certified Professional Midwives who provide excellent childbirth outcomes with a fraction of the medical interventions (including cesarean section). I received my prenatal care and delivered my baby with the assistance of a Certified Professional Midwife and believe all women in our state and country should have this safe, cost-effective choice regardless of their income level.
Cost Effective: Pregnant women on Medicaid deserve access to the full range of maternity care providers including Certified Professional Midwives. The choice of Certified Professional Midwives is often restricted to those with private insurance coverage or the capacity to pay out-of-pocket. Adding Certified Professional Midwives to the Medicaid list would start reducing health care costs immediately.
Choice at lower cost: Childbirth is the number one reason for hospitalization in the US, accounting for $86 billion in annual expenditures in 2006. Much of that spending is driven by costly, overused and unnecessary interventions. Certified Professional Midwives can help Congress deliver on the basic goals of health care reform: preserving a patient's choice of health care provider while simultaneously improving quality and outcomes, at lower cost. Expanding Medicaid coverage to include services provided by Certified Professional Midwives is the equitable thing to do. The tremendous cost and quality advantages make it sound public policy.
Please support this important change to the law governing Medicaid so that Certified Professional Midwives who are licensed by their states are added to the list of Medicaid-eligible providers recognized at the federal level. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Address]
[Phone number]
This campaign will need not only your discussion, ideas and letters, but your donations as well. Please consider making a donation to help offset the many expenses we will have.
If you make a donation by clicking the button at the right, it will be all used for the M.A.M.A. campaign! |
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