Contacting Legislators 
The Number 1, best way to communicate with a legislator is to meet him/her IN PERSON.  If that is a little intimidating, you can always go with a MS Friends of Midwives Board Member.  We have "Capitol Days" regularly during the legislative session.



Second best - Mail a HANDWRITTEN letter to their attention at:
   P. O. Box 1018
   Jackson, MS 39215 

Lastly is email/facebook message/phone call - Personal and brief emails make a better impact more than mass emails.  Capitol switchboard, just ask for the legislator you are calling for.  They may transfer you or take a message.  (601) 359-3770
Click here to find your personal legislator


Who to contact and when
Contacting the Representative and Senator that represent you is a good place to start.  However, there are many other legislators that play and important role and need to hear from you.  Click here to see how a bill becomes a law

In 2012 we have the bill being introduced in both the House of Representatives and Senate simultaneously.  The bill is assigned to the Public Health and Human Services Committee in the House and the Public Health and Welfare Committee in the Senate.  The Chairmen and members of these committees hold a lot of power.  The Chairman will decide IF the bill will be discussed at all.  If brought up for discussion, the committee will vote on whether or not the bill will be sent to the entire House/Senate for a vote.  Changes can (and most likely will) be made in the committee and again when before the entire house.


So, it is important the the Chairman of each committee is contacted by YOU to let him know you care about this bill and want it passed.
Here is the contact info for the committee members.


What to say
Speak honestly from your heart.  Tell them that you support the "Midwife Standards Act" and why.  They won't really expect you to know the details, but if they ask something you don't know the answer to, don't be afraid to say you don't know.  Your opinion is still very important.  MS Friends of Midwives is at the capitol enough that the legislators know they can come to us for answers or to discuss concerns.


Click here to learn a few of the "talking points" that seem to come up regularly with the legislators.

Capitol switchboard, just ask for the legislator you are calling for.  They may transfer you or take a message.  (601) 359-3770

Mailing address:
   P. O. Box 1018
   Jackson, MS 39215  

 House of Representatives: Public Health and Human Services
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
 
Sam C. Mims, V, Chairman    [email protected]
Toby Barker, Vice-Chairman     [email protected]
Brian Aldridge   [email protected]
Cecil Brown   [email protected]
Kimberly Campbell Buck   [email protected]
Bryant W. Clark   [email protected]
Mary H. Coleman  [email protected]
Carolyn Crawford    [email protected]
Becky Currie    [email protected]
Dennis DeBar    [email protected]
James Evans  [email protected]
George Flaggs, Jr. [email protected]
Eugene Forrest Hamilton  [email protected]
John W. Hines, Sr   [email protected]
Joey Hood  [email protected]
Kevin Horan    [email protected]
Bobby B. Howell - no email
Hank Lott  [email protected]
Brad Mayo    [email protected]
Kevin McGee    [email protected]
Tom Miles   [email protected]
Bobby Moak   [email protected], [email protected]
John Read    [email protected]
Randy Rushing    [email protected]
Bobby Shows   [email protected]
Jeffrey C. Smith   [email protected]
Jessica Upshaw   [email protected]
Percy W. Watson   [email protected]
Linda Whittington    [email protected]

Senate: Public Health and Welfare
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Dean Kirby, Chairman    [email protected]
Hob Bryan, Vice-Chairman   no email
David Blount  [email protected]
Terry C. Burton   [email protected]
Nancy Adams Collins   [email protected]
Merle Flowers  [email protected]
Hillman Terome Frazier   [email protected]
Alice Harden  [email protected]
Josh Harkins   [email protected]
W. Briggs Hopson III   [email protected]
Gary Jackson   [email protected]
Kenneth Wayne Jones   [email protected]
Rita Potts Parks   [email protected]
Willie Simmons  [email protected]
Tony Smith   [email protected]
Melanie Sojourner [email protected]
Gray Tollison   [email protected]
Bennie L. Turner   [email protected]
Brice Wiggins [email protected], [email protected]

Licensing Midwives in MS is a Step Forward for Public Safety

Currently, lack of state legislation allows the practice of midwifery without any training or skills assessment. Because surrounding states require licensure, Mississippi has become an asylum for unsafe midwives.

The Midwife Standards Act allows midwives who have earned the Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) credential from the North American Registry of Midwives (NARM) to become Licensed Midwives and provide out-of-hospital maternity care for healthy women experiencing normal pregnancies.

NARM certification requires a rigorous educational and training process including a clinical internship, with a senior member of the profession, taking a minimum of 3-5 years to complete and a national board exam. Continuing education is a requirement for recertification.

CPMs have written practice guidelines and transfer protocols. With passage of the Midwife Standards Act, Licensed midwives will operate within regulations set forth by the Mississippi Licensed Midwifery Board.

Each year, more families are choosing home birth and hiring midwives as their maternity care provider. According the MS Department of Health, midwife attended birth has increased by over 400% between 1996 and 2010 (15 and 62 births respectively). A recent study reported that nationally, home birth has increased 20% from 2004 to 08.

The average cost of a midwife-attended home-birth is about one-third to one-half the cost of a doctor-attended hospital birth, including all prenatal care.

27 states have passed laws authorizing midwives to practice (including TN, FL, LA and AR), not one has rescinded it’s program. A growing number of states (13) have added licensed midwives as a Medicaid provider, including Florida. In 2010, Congress passed a bill to extend Medicaid coverage to CPMs in a birth center. Federal legislation is pending to extend Medicaid coverage of CPMs in any setting.

Home Birth with a qualified care provider is safe. Research consistently shows that lowrisk women planning home births with CPMs have better maternal outcomes, equal infant outcomes, and fewer costly interventions, including a five-fold decrease in cesarean section.

We are Honoring Midwives this Christmas.

Thank you for your dedicated service to families and the exceptional care you provide all year long, even during the holidays.  Your sacrifices are appreciated.

MS Midwife Jazmin Price, $10 was donated in your honor.

MS Midwife Donna Mitchell, $10 was donated in your honor.


AZ Midwife Maryn Leister, $10 was donated in your honor.

SD Unnamed Midwife, $10 was donated in your honor.
LA Midwife Emmy Trammell, $20 was donated in your honor. 

TN Midwifery group: Kim Mosny, Melissa Stallings, Martina Benson and their apprentices Corinne Jackson and Missy Padgett, $25 was donated in your honor.

MS Midwife Norma Clark, $75 was donated in your honor.
MS Midwife Renata Hillman, $95 was donated in your honor.

_________________________________________________________________
Make a donation to MS Friends of Midwives in honor of YOUR Midwife and we will send her a beautiful hand written Christmas card letting her know how appreciated she is.

The midwife who receives the most donations in her name will be treated to "Christmas Dinner on Us" including home made dessert.


Midwives provide longer prenatal visits, more childbirth education, and support from early labor all the way through postpartum care and all for less money.  They make sacrifices to provide this level of personal care.  During the Holiday Season, as we pull our children close and celebrate the joys of family, midwives are providing that exceptional level of care.  Undoubtedly, babies are born on Christmas - and midwives are there to care for those mothers and babies.

Tell your Midwife how much she means to you by making a donation in her honor.  All donations will be used to support the mission of promoting midwifery as a safe and legal childbirth option in Mississippi.

Click on the "Donate" button to the left to say Merry Christmas - all donations, no matter how small are greatly appreciated. The winner of the "Christmas dinner" will be determined based on donations made by midnight, December 19, 2011.  If there is a tie, the winner will be chosen at random.

"Action isn't a burden to be hoisted up and lugged around on our shoulders. It is something we are. The work we have to do can be seen as a kind of coming alive. More than some moral imperative, it's an awakening to our true nature, a releasing of our gifts."  ~ Joanna Macy

Where were you when you found out that the state of MS was about to pass a law to outlaw direct entry (non-nurse) midwifery?
Twenty months ago, I received an email from my midwife alerting me that there was a fast moving effort in Jackson to restrict midwifery to nurse midwives only.  The law would outlaw the midwives who care for home birthing families.  Amazingly, the supporters of home birth in MS joined hands across the state and built a wall to stop that law from going any further.  Organizations across the country were impressed with our fast action. Where do we stand now?

We have been building relationships - with legislators, Department of Health, MS Nurses Association.  Here it is bluntly:  If we don't get this bill passed to license midwives, someone else is going to get a bill passed to make direct entry midwives illegal.  We have to pass the "Midwife Standrds Act" which requires midwives optain the CPM credential to be a Licensed MS Midwife. We have done a lot of work to make sure we have the very best law in the US.  One that improves home birth for mothers and babies while elevating the profession of midwifery.
To accomplish this, I need you each to take a moment to reflect.  What will MS be like in 10 years if the "Midwife Standards Act" is passed?  What if ACOG gets its way and puts an end to direct entry midwives?  I have a pretty clear picture in my mind of what I want to see for MS families.  Just talk to a midwife or homebirth family in one of the 26 states that has licensed midwives, like FL or TN.  Ask them what acess to and care from idwives is like in their state.

What is your role in this? To pass the "Midwife Standards Act" we need help from every corner of the state. We need YOU to contact your legislators right now to let them know how important this issue is to their constituents.  Personally, I am working my way from my own district out to other areas - calling legislators.   I am willing to spend several days a week in Jackson while they are in session (January-April).  However, I have had to ask myself, what will I do if we don't have money to pay for these trips?  I have turned down opportunities for paid work, so that I can dedicate more time to this.  So, I am already working with a reduced income.  In addition to the countless hours I dedicate, how much can I take from my family's budget to pass this legislation?

I am asking for your help.  There are several states working on passing similar legislation with big budgets and paid lobbyists.  Thankfully, we have a few families that are donating enough time to be "lobbyists."  We work on a very small budget.  Please read the options below and think about how your family can help the families on MS for generations to come.

Thank you, Bianca Wooden
Co-Founder and President
Contact me anytime: ,
Can you offer your time?
1 min: CLick on "Update your Preferences" at the bottom of this email and make sure we have your address and phone number.5 min: Forward this email to a friend that wants to keep homebirth legal
15 min: Write a note to your Senator or Representative and tell them how much the "Midwife Standards Act" means to you.30 min: Call your Senator or Representative and tell them how much the "Midwife Standards Act" means to you
1 hour: Join a board member for a meeting with your Senator or Representative
5 hours: Set up a booth at a local park or farmers market to spread the word.
20 hours: Volunteer to be our "Fundraising Coordinator" and organize an online fundraising effort.

Can you donate money?
$3: Send you a bumper sticker so you let others know about us.
$10: Stamps and envelopes to mail 15 letters to legislators.
$20: Make 200 flyers to distribute to legislators.
$30: Gas for a board member to drive to Jackson (just one way).
$100: Hotel room for a board member to spend the night in Jackson.
Other: Donate an item or service for a fundraising auction.

Mississippi Friends of Midwives is pushing you to go to Jackson and you might be wondering why. Aren’t the calls and emails enough? Aren’t other people going and talking to the legislators?
Before we answer those questions, let's have a mini history lesson...
Last year, a bill was introduced that would have restricted childbirth attendants to OBs and CNMs (Certified Nurse Midwives) in hospitals. This would have made the Direct Entry Midwives (DEMs) that attend home births in MS illegal. The bill went right through the House of Representatives and over to the Senate without hesitation. Just then, word spread to the home birthing families in MS about the legislation and there was a strong outcry against the bill. Senators let the bill “die in committee” by not bringing it up for a vote by the deadline.
Fast forward exactly one year….After a lot of hard work by MS Friends of Midwives and the MS Midwives Alliance, House Bill (HB) 207 has been passed by the house and now sits in the hands of the very same, Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee with that same deadline approaching, March 1st.

So, to answer those questions,Yes, there are a handful of the same people that have been to the Capitol repeatedly to speak with Legislators.And, NO, at this point in the process, calls and emails are NOT enough!!
Let me tell you why.

The Medical community is at the Capitol every day lobbying AGAINST our bill. Women in Mississippi have enjoyed the right to birth at home with the care provider of their choice since the beginning of time. However, there are organizations in our state (such as the Mississippi State Medical Association and the Mississippi Nursing Association) that are working to see that right taken away and limited to their services in their hospitals. The organizations that tried to make home birth illegal last year did not and will not give up. They are working to kill our “pro-homebirth” bill and rest assured, they will take another shot at eradicating it next year.

We need your help to make a change. The legislators of MS are somewhat supportive of home birth and are willing to consider a law to recognize midwives and their role in the maternity care system. We have some momentum, but we need to keep it going and gain the favor of the Senators.

The deadline for the bill to come out of committee and be voted upon by the Senate is March 1st. If we can’t convince the Senators in the Public Health and Welfare committee to bring this bill up for a vote, it dies. All of our hard work and money is lost. And, our opposition will be poised to make direct entry midwives illegal next year.

The future of midwifery care is in your hands. I know you are busy and taking care of a hundred responsibilities. So are we. But, this is your chance to make a real difference in our state. It is the consumers that have the power to make this change, not the midwives.The Senators are asking  to speak with their own constituents on the Midwife Safety Bill.

Lobbyists are at the Capitol EVERY DAY trying to kill this bill with faulty information and telling our Legislators that home birth in unsafe and should not be "approved" by the State by allowing this bill to pass.
 Are you going to let them stamp down families that support the right to birth at home?We KNOW the system of maternity care needs to move forward and accept women who choose to birth at home and that by providing these minimum standards for midwives, we make that choice more credible to the consumer. Do something about it!

You may be saying to yourself, "I want to go. I want to help, but I just can't".Well, we are here to help!Let us know your reasons for not being able to go...financial reasons, transportation, childcare, uncomfortable talking to Senators, have more questions about the bill...whatever your dilemma, Mississippi Friends of Midwives Board Members are available to help.Contact us via , facebook or by phone (numbers below & on our Contact Us page).Let us help you get to Jackson!

Our state legislature is in session for 12 weeks. We are halfway through with a SPRINT to the finish line. THIS WEEK IS THE MOST CRITICAL TIME TO BE AT THE CAPITOL.
Our opposition will be there, will you???
RSVP HERE
Bianca Wooden: 228.233.7777
Vanessa Dudley: 228.282.3346Mandi Sanders: 662.791.1663

Update: The Public Health Chariman Rep. Steve Holland requested the Motion to Reconsider be tabled. The House was in agreement, so the motion was table. HB207 moves on to the Senate!

No sooner than HB207 PASSED the House of Representative in our Great State, Rep. Sidney Bondurant, an OB/GYN from Grenada, has filed a Motion to Reconsider. He also spoke in opposition to the bill when it was before the House spewing a slew of misinformation from the Wax Study that had nothing to do with the benefit of requiring the CPM credential for midwives to serve the public in Mississippi. Instead, he essentially wanting to make this a home birth safety issue.

Please contact your Representatives- TODAY!!
Let these Legislators know that we want their Support for HB207 and "yes" vote as it Passed the House yesterday and we do NOT want it to be reconsidered.
Here are several quick Facts Sheets with Talking Points for your Representative:
Midwives Safety Act HB207: Fact Sheet
Midwives Safety Act HB207: Home Birth Safety Facts
The Big Push Wax Study One-Pager
Midwives Safety Act HB207: Cost Savings

This is an quick way to search for your Representative  and here is the link to find their contact information.

You can listen to the House debate here. Included in the video is Mississippi Friends of Midwives rebuttal and explanatory notes. 

Bianca Wooden's story from yesterday's subcommitte hearing in which HB207 passed with very favorable amendments.
At 2pm today, I walked into the Public Health and Human Services subcommittee hearing, exhausted. I had spent Sunday baking brownies, making copies of handouts, and packing up everything I needed to host a “Meet & Greet” in the Rotunda at the state capitol. Sunday night was long one, with 5 of us piled into a Jackson hotel room, one very fussy baby, and my thoughts racing. Monday morning came around too soon – up and out the door for 2 radio interviews. Admittedly, kind of exciting, but stress inducing none the less. ( I mean, how can a regular mom like me who can’t even complete an entire grocery list in one trip, represent the feelings of the 500 supporters of Mississippi Friends of Midwives and also convince the radio listeners that they support HB207.) Then, off to the capitol to serve snacks and refreshments to the folks passing through the rotunda……The next few hours were a blur……talking to people, chasing 1 year old Caprie and wondering what on earth a state congressional hearing is like.

So, I plopped down in the seat in Room 103 unsure what I would say or if I even had the energy to form a sentence. This was my first time attending a hearing. It was even my first time speaking to a representative in person. I am not a lobbyist or activist. But, this bill is important to me, so I renegotiated my duties and have squeezed this in to my list of responsibilities. Of the 16 members of the subcommittee, only 3 were present for the hearing today.

Thankfully, there were at least 10 other women there today who did the same thing. They spent up to 8 hours in the car to drive there and back, they found babysitters, they rearranged their budget to find gas money, they took time off work, they made this a priority. Several women spoke in support of the bill: consumers, midwives, student midwives. They spoke honestly and from their heart - the passion shined through. The main message was what we have been saying all along.
• Women give birth at home and hire direct entry midwives, the women of MS deserve a system that will allow them to verify the competency of a midwife and file a grievance against incompetent midwives.

• MS needs direct entry midwives , but we need to define what a direct entry midwife is exactly, and it makes sense to use the NARM (North American Registry of Midwives) recommended CPM (Certified Professional Midwife). We didn’t want this law to eliminate the midwives currently practicing, but we do want to move forward to improving our standards.

• Currently practicing midwives are vulnerable to prosecution under our current legal situation. In other states similar to our, midwives have been arrested and jailed.

• By having a law that defines a direct entry midwife, our state will be more protected against opposing forces introducing a law to restrict births to hospital only.

After we got those points across, the Department of Health (DOH) spoke. First, they recognized that direct entry midwives and home birthing families have a place in MS and the DOH wants that practice to continue. Everyone in the room seemed to agree with that. Next, what they said made me nervous. She went on to explain that the DOH currently regulates 17 professions and it is a very expensive and intensive process to do. She said, there would have to be OB oversight and they simply don’t have the money to do this. Well, this was news to me, because how I had understood the bill, a volunteer board made of midwives, consumers and a Dr. would handle all that. The bill was written specifically so that it would not cost money or need oversight – It was to be a self regulated by the Midwives Board. The DOH held strong that if it is under their wing, they are required to oversee it – and that means OBs regulating home birth. I don’t think any one in the room wanted that . Certainly not me, and not the legislators or the DOH.

Then, Rep. Omeria Scott started brainstorming a bit. How can we accomplish all these goals at no cost and keep the DOH out of it? After some back and forth questioning, she proposed that we simplify. She suggested that the state require all midwives obtain a CPM credential. Those CPM are required to “Register” with the DOH (a Registration, not a License). And, since almost all currently practicing midwives are not CPMs, give them until 2015 to become a CPM. That’s it.

Well, HECK YEAH, Of course thats what we want. That is what we wanted all along, all that other hoopla was in there because we thought we needed that to get the bill passed.
I walked out the door, ecstatic. Thrilled with the amended bill. If passed, this bill would improve the midwifery care in our state, it would establish a career path for women to become midwives, it would protect us from incompetent midwives using our state as a safe-haven and it would provide a little protection against a bill to make direct entry midwives illegal. (see note at the end).

So , now what? Honestly, my husband is wondering when I am going to get back to my regular work – keeping the laundry clean, the fridge full, homework completed and dinner on the table. My 6 year old wants her full time mommy back. And Caprie doesn’t want to spend 6 hours in the car again. Family, you are going to have to wait a little longer. I am going to give this all I have got. I don’t think I will be able to do it again anytime soon, so I must capitalize on the momentum we have to keep going. I can't do it alone. I can't do it with the dozen or so women that are fully engaged. We need more people or all is lost.

Here is the Reality. This amended bill needs to heard and voted on by the full Public Health and Human Services committee no later than Tuesday, Feb 1st. That is a house rule. Then, there are more steps (each with deadlines). If passed by the Committee, it will go to the floor of the House for a vote. Then, it moves to the Senate where it goes to Subcommittee, then Committee, then the floor of the Senate. This all happens by the end of March – 10 weeks.

I learned today that calls and emails are great. (Rep. Coleman told me before the meeting, “I don’t know how I feel about this bill, but I got a lot of emails about it, so I am going to hear what you have to say.”) And, it is important to have media coverage (The Legislators pay attention to what is in the media, the morning radio piece was even referenced in the hearing). But, it is CRITICAL that people show up in Jackson when there is a vote (like today). A friend of mine, had her 3 children in the car for 6 hours today and didn’t speak at the hearing, but her presence in the room meant a lot to those Representatives.

We need you!!!! My next post will explain EXACLTY how you can help.

Note: During the hearing the Representatives insisted that they would NEVER let home birth be eliminated from our state, they would always protect midwives and home birth. There was an immediate uproar, “YOU voted to outlaw homebirth last year in this very committee.” 2010 HB695 passed through the subcommittee, committee and to the house floor where it was voted in by a very large margin. They apologized for that. : )