Moving Forward

It’s been a busy week for midwifery in Iowa!

Thanks to you, our active members, and your outpouring of letters and emails to key representatives, we have made some very good progress this week.

On Thursday, the State Government committee voted 20-1 in favor of setting up a Scope of Practice Review (SOPR) Committee to make recommendations on our midwife licensure bill. SOPR establishes a review board made up of interested parties -- midwives, nurses, homebirth parents, doctors, FOIM members -- to discuss the bill and make recommendations.

We did not have enough votes to pass the licensure bill itself out of committee, but setting up a Scope of Practice Review means that our bill and our issue will be kept alive through regular meetings at the state house between now and January, and that we will be in good place to pass a law licensing direct-entry midwives in the next legislative session, beginning in January 2010. We see this as a great opportunity to educate a lot of legislators before the next session.

A bit of history: In the year 2000, the Iowa Midwives Association brought a similar licensure bill to the Iowa legislature. That bill was also assigned to a Scope of Practice Review committee, and after the review process, the committee did recommend licensure. However, although the activists and midwives at work at that time were a very dedicated group, Iowa did not have the statewide grassroots support network that we have now, and the bill was not re-introduced the following session.

Ten years ago, there were only a handful of legal states. Now there are 25 states with licensure and a lot of studies backing our position, so we have confidence that the Scope of Practice Review committee will support a model of care that has been proven to be both health-promoting and cost-effective in other states.

And because of our incredible momentum and ever-growing membership base, we know that this struggle will not be over until we have reached our goal: accessible home birth with legal midwives for Iowa families!

Please stay tuned for more upcoming information on events and actions that are in the planning stages. As always, please contact us if you'd like to be more involved by starting a local chapter, meeting with your legislators, or hosting an event or fundraiser. And as always, thank you for your dedication to expanding birth options in Iowa! Your participation makes this all possible!

Last but not least, please take a moment to thank the following members of the House State Government committee for their support:

Rep. Mary Mascher, Rep. Jeff Kauffman, and Rep. Nate Willems have been unwaveringly supportive, and are truly dedicated to our cause. They have gone above and beyond, spreading the word to other representatives about why Iowa needs midwives, and encouraging us in our efforts. Please send them an email, or better yet, a thank you card to express your gratitude!

The rest of the members of the State Government Committee also deserve thank you emails for voting in favor of scope of practice review for HSB 229 (with the exception of Rep. Wendt, who was the only vote against it.) You can find links to contact info for all the members of the State Government Committee here.

Thanks again for all you do!