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SB 1237
As you likely know by now, CNMA is sponsoring SB 1237 to remove physician supervision and other barriers to midwifery care in California. We are thrilled to partner with Black Women for Wellness Action Project as cosponsor on this bill. We worked with them on SB 464, the Dignity in Pregnancy and Childbirth Act. They are powerful and well-poised to speak to issues of health inequities and disparities in maternal health. Our author, Senator Bill Dodd, has been a champion of nurse-midwives and other advanced practice nurses for years. He has asked Assemblymember Autumn Burke to be principal coauthor of the bill. We hope to bring in additional coauthors as we gain momentum. We are also hopeful for the support of our coalition partners in the California Coalition of Reproductive Freedom. It truly feels like we’ve arrived and we can take a deep breath now, but nothing could be farther from the truth! This is where the real work begins!! It’s analogous to going through pregnancy and childbirth with the thought, ‘Wow, that was incredible, thankfully my work is done’. As anyone who has raised children knows, after giving birth is when the real work begins!!
We can only change the current regulations with the support of nurse-midwives and their clients in every district. Stay tuned as we provide streamlined strategies of outreach to legislators during critical times in the process. We also need every one of you to follow us and repost on social media! Please also share our fantastic video widely. We now have a robust social media team with great strategies to move our agenda forward and provide excellent education about midwifery.
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We will once again have opposition from CMA but our organization has built strong and powerful alliances. CMA is formidable, but we have the power of justice and equity on our side! We need to judiciously communicate our message to our legislators and to the public. We hope you will be engaged in this process and we look forward to seeing you at Lobby Day on April 15th. Please take the time to read our newsletters and CNMA communication blasts!! It will be critical, now more than ever.
Sincerely, Kathleen Belzer, CNMA President.
Register for Lobby Day
\WHEN: April 15, 2020 8am-5pm,
WHERE: Sacramento. More information forthcoming
WHY: The California Nurse-Midwives Association and Black Women for Wellness, a Los Angeles based advocacy organization, have announced the introduction of Senate Bill 1237 (Dodd/Burke) which aims to improve access to high-quality, high-value maternity care across California, and is being put forward as a strategy to counter the obstetrician workforce crisis, which is projected to be at a critical low in some counties by the year 2025, and to curb disparities in outcomes for Black women and infants. Despite significantly reducing the maternal mortality rate in California, experts from the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative report that Black women in California still die at a rate that is 3-4 times higher than White women during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum. Furthermore, babies born to black women were more than three times as likely to die of a preterm birth-related issue as babies born to white women in 2017. National and international organizations including the March of Dimes and the World Health Organization have stated that improved access to midwives, and scaling up of the profession, is one of the necessary and innovative strategies to reduce and eventually eliminate racial disparities in maternal and infant outcomes.
Learn more and register here.
New Schedule 2 Course with Risk of Addiction/Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Curriculum is Launched!
Our updated Schedule 2 Course with Risk of Addiction/Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Curriculum is now available at CNMA.org/courses. This curriculum is mandated by SB 1109. Every CNM in California needs to complete CEUs that contain the risk of addiction/NAS curriculum to be in compliance. This high-quality course has important current information for everyone in practice. You will receive a certificate for 3 CEUs which needs to be provided to the BRN. We have made every effort to make the course affordable. It is $75 for members and $125 for nonmembers.
Kathleen Belzer, CNMA President
Are you on social media?
Facebook? Instagram? Twitter?
Whatever platform you are on, please follow @cnmamidwives. There will be lots of important updates to come and it is important that you help spread the word about our new bill and educate your friends and family about the importance of midwifery care.
To Repost on Facebook @cnmamidwives:
To Share on Instagram @cnmamidwives:
To Retweet on Twitter @cnmamidwives :
New University of California Program Aims to Increase Specialized Mental Health Care Providers
Have you ever wished you could treat your patient’s Mental Health needs without needing to refer out? Please see this wonderful opportunity to gain expertise in Mental Health through the CHCF and the University of CA. Because midwifery centers on active listening, respecting self-determination and is based on a holistic model of care, midwifery provides the perfect foundation for addressing mental health issues.
My Birth Matters Campaign
“My Birth Matters is to help medically low-risk, first-time pregnant women and birthing people have informed and meaningful conversations with their healthcare providers about C-Sections and avoid those that are not absolutely necessary.” Beccah Rothschild, MPA- Consultant to California Health Care Foundation for the My Birth Matters campaign
For those of you looking for new or additional ways to use the My Birth Matters materials, below is a list of some methods that your colleagues across California and the country are using.
Add to your website and health education resource library/inventory: Link to the entire My Birth Matters campaign or certain videos on your website and in your resource library -- and, consider including the materials in your resource inventories for providers.
Show videos: Looking for new videos to show in your waiting rooms? Need to switch out videos you've already shown on social media for something new? The My Birth Matters videos are each between 1- 2 minutes in length and perfect for quickly sharing information and making an impact.
Publish newsletter articles: Include My Birth Matters messaging in your member, patient, and/or provider hardcopy and e-newsletters. Not sure what to write? Contact me and I'll write an article for you, complete with artwork. Already published an article? Consider
publishing another one for those who weren't previously pregnant or didn't previously see it.
Mail brochures and hang posters: Send the My Birth Matters poster (one-sided) or brochure (two-sided) to newly pregnant women and birthing people, hand them out as part of pre-natal packets, and hang them on walls where pregnant people gather.
Post to social media: To engage your social media followers on the topic of C-sections, we have pre-written Facebook and Twitter posts -- along with graphics-- that you're welcome to use. You can find them on pages 4 - 5 of our Communications Toolkit. Please use the #MyBirthMatters hashtag.
Include in outreach phone calls: Does your team make outreach phone calls to pregnant patients, members, or clients? Page 3 of our Communications Toolkit has talking points that you can add to your scripts.
Share via apps: My Birth Matters is integrated into Wildflower's Family Health app. Let your pregnant patients and members know about it, and consider adding it to your organization's app.
JOB OPPORTUNITIES
Job title: Full scope practice in coastal CA, Santa Cruz
Apply at Dignity Health Jobs
APPLY FOR HRSA funding by 3/3
Apply by 3/3 for #HRSA’s federa lfunding available for eligible health professions and #nursing schools. Check your eligibility and apply! Learn more at http://bit.ly/2tzy1Qi
Did you miss the National Academy Webinar: Assessing Health Outcomes by Birth Settings?
You can read the report here.
Register for the CNMA Annual Meeting
Annual Meeting with be held August 28-30, 2020
Early Birth Registration is OPEN
Hayes Mansion
San Jose, CA
Early Bird Pricing: $250
Tickets to Saturday CNMA Fundraiser: $75
Sunday Brunch: $45
All birth workers are invited to participate. Please reserve your room through Hayes Mansion. They are giving the board, and you the attendees a deal on room rates. Room Reservations: https://book.passkey.com/e/50067013 good through 7/30/2020
Will be offering two days of content, topics include:
Transgender healthcare continued
Medication Abortion Management updates
PreP/PEP evaluation and management
Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders
Evaluation of Induction Methods and the ARRIVE trial
Sunday 8/30/2020: Me and White Supremacy kick off breakfast. $45, includes breakfast and the workbook and 6 weeks of a closed online group with guidance that will allow us to explore the ways our own biases perpetuate White Supremacy in our own lives, practices and the larger communities we live and work in.
Please email jillcauley4@gmail.com if you have information you'd like to present, skills workshop you'd like to run or are considered an expert on any of the following topics:
Reproductive endocrinology
Abnormal Uterine bleeding
Menopause
PCOS management
Thank you and we look forward to serving our midwifery community with an exciting and informational annual meeting!
Jillian Cauley, CNM
Upcoming Events
The inaugural Black Women's Maternal Health Conference will take place in Cedar Rapids, IA on April 17, 2020 during Black Maternal Health Week.
Questions? News? Want to get involved?
Email us at info@cnma.org
That's all for this month's issue. Catch you next time!
-CNMA MEDIA TEAM
Visit us at cnma.org