----- Original Message -----

From: Susan Hodges <mailto:shodgesmwy@...>

To: grassrootsnews@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 11:19 AM

Subject: [grassrootsnews] GNM 806032 AMA Resolution to outlaw home birth

Grassroots Network Message 806032
AMA Resolution to outlaw home birth

Dear Friends,

At their annual meeting over the weekend, the American Medical Association
voted on two Resolutions that both denigrate CPMs and appear to be an effort
to solidify medical monopoly of birth by seeking to prevent home births and
to increase MD control over midwives.

You can find AMA's many Resolutions by going to
<http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/18587.html>
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/18587.html and scrolling down. Two
especially egregious resolutions are:
Resolution 205 Home Deliveries (32KB)
Resolution 239 Midwifery Scope of Practice and Licensure (38KB)

Resolution 205 includes a resolve to "develop model legislation in support
of the concept that the safest setting for labor, delivery, and the
immediate post-partum period is in the hospital, or a birthing center within
a hospital complex, that meets standards jointly outlined by the AAP and
ACOG, or in a freestanding birthing center that meets the standards of the
Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, The Joint Commission,
or the American Association of Birth Centers."

As usual, the AMA has provided no scientific evidence to support the
statements or intent of the resolutions.

Clearly, the medical profession is getting desperate!

The Big Push for Midwives has issued a press release. For a version on Big
Push letterhead (that you could download and print) go to:
<http://thebigpushformidwives.org/pdf-bin/news.061608.pdf>
http://thebigpushformidwives.org/pdf-bin/news.061608.pdf . I have also
included the text of the press release below.

Sincerely,
Susan Hodges "gatekeeper"

PushNews from The Big Push for Midwives Campaign

CONTACT: Steff Hedenkamp, (816) 506-4630, RedQuill@...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, June 16, 2008

Father Knows Best Meets Big Brother Is Watching
Physician Group Seeks to Outlaw Home BirthIs Jail for Moms Next?

WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 16, 2008)Just in time for Father's Day, at its annual
meeting last weekend, the American Medical Association (AMA) adopted a
resolution to introduce legislation outlawing home birth, and potentially
making criminals of the mothers who choose home birth with the help of
Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) for their families.

"It's unclear what penalties the AMA will seek to impose on women who choose
to give birth at home, either for religious, cultural or financial reasonsor
just because they didn't make it to the hospital in time," said Susan
Jenkins, Legal Counsel for The Big Push for Midwives 2008 campaign. "What we
do know, however, is that any state that enacts such a law will immediately
find itself in court, since a law dictating where a woman must give birth
would be a clear violation of fundamental rights to privacy and other
freedoms currently protected by the U.S. Constitution."

Until the AMA proposed 'Resolution 205 on Home Deliveries,' no state had
considered legislation forcing women to deliver their babies in the hospital
or limiting the choice of birth setting. Instead, states have regulated the
types of midwives that may legally provide care. Currently, 22 states
already license and regulate CPMs, who specialize in out-of-hospital
maternity care and have received extensive training to qualify as experts in
the types of risk assessment and preventive care necessary for safe and
highquality care for women who choose give birth at home. Certified Nurse
Midwives (CNMs), who are trained primarily as hospital-based providers, are
licensed in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The resolution did not offer any science-based information for the AMA's
anti-midwife or anti-home birth position.

"Maternity care is a multi-billion dollar industry in the United States,"
said Steff Hedenkamp, Communications Coordinator for The Big Push for
Midwives. "So it's no surprise to see the AMA join the American College of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists in its ongoing fight to corner the market
and ensure that the only midwives able to practice legally are
hospital-based midwives forced to practice under physician control. I will
say, though, that I'm shocked to learn that the AMA is taking this turf
battle to the next level by setting the stage for outlawing home birth
itselfa direct attack on those families who choose home birth, who could be
subject to criminal prosecution if the AMA has its way."

The Big Push for Midwives (http://www.TheBigPushforMidwives.org
<http://www.thebigpushformidwives.org/> ) is a nationally coordinated
campaign organized to advocate for regulation and licensure of Certified
Professional Midwives (CPMs) in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and
Puerto Rico, and to push back against the attempts of the American Medical
Association to deny American families access to safe and legal midwifery
care.

Media inquiries should be directed to Steff Hedenkamp (816) 506-4630,
RedQuill@....

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