Our BOLD Letter! And farewell, Red Tent...

This week, Friends of Iowa Midwives mails our BOLD Truth Initiative packages to relevant state figures as well as Oprah Winfrey to raise awareness of the need for better maternal-infant care in Iowa and the United States. Each person will receive a video featuring 30 minutes of our local Red Tent Event, a letter (see below!), and copies of the local press coverage on this topic. Hopefully this will add to the local, state, and national momentum that is building to promote homebirth and access to midwifery!

I've copied the basic text of the letters below.

We sent our letters to Tom Miller, Attorney General of Iowa (the AG's statement on the legal status of midwifery is a big obstacle to Iowa legalization) and Patty Judge, Lt. Governor of Iowa (she chaired a special committee on health in Iowa). The main BOLD folks asked everyone to mail Oprah a copy of this stuff as well, so who knows, maybe some Iowa women will be on the show someday!

All FOIM members deserve thanks for making Red Tent so special, but I especially want to thank Kristin Bergman, Tammy Bayer, Melanie Moore and her dancers, and Monica Brasile for contributing so much to the success not only of the event, but of the fulfillment of our contract with BOLD.

* * *
As someone who is concerned about healthcare, you may be aware of some of the alarming problems we currently face in our country with regard to maternity care. The cesarean rate in the U.S. is currently 30.2 percent – over twice the rate recommended by the World Health Organization. The U.S. is one of the only wealthy countries where the maternal death rate is rising. Among developed countries, 29 have better infant mortality rates than the U.S., and 41 have better maternal mortality rates.

These disturbing trends affect women in Iowa. Friends of Iowa Midwives recently hosted a Red Tent event in Iowa City as part of the nationwide Birth On Labor Day (BOLD) movement to make childbirth more mother-friendly. The Red Tent is an opportunity for mothers to share their birth stories in a positive, supportive environment. By documenting these stories, we hope to capture the range of birth experiences in our community and raise awareness about the maternity care needs of women in Iowa.

Because you have demonstrated a concern about the health of women and children in our state, we are enclosing a 30-minute excerpt of this Red Tent event for you to view.

One of the most important needs we have identified in Iowa is for increased access to the midwives model of care. This woman-centered approach recognizes pregnancy and birth as normal processes, not illnesses, and has been proven to reduce the incidence of birth injury, trauma, and cesarean section.

An increasing number of families are seeking care by midwives, both within and outside the hospital setting. We recognize a woman’s right to choose home birth, and are aware that midwife-attended home births have been repeatedly shown to be equally as safe as hospital births, with far fewer interventions and infections, and greater client satisfaction. Women choosing home birth should have access to the best possible care. Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) are the national standard for midwives serving the home birth community, and we agree that they should be licensed in Iowa, as they are in the vast majority of other states.

We hope these stories are informative, and that they help to put a human face on the statistics outlined above. Please feel free to contact Friends of Iowa Midwives for more information about the midwives model of care and our activities.

Thank you for your commitment to the health of Iowa’s women and children.