ONLY FOUR WEEKS LEFT!!

Dear Midwifery and Home Birth Supporters,

We are moving into the home stretch. We have only four weeks left to gain enough votes to call SB 3712 for a House floor vote in the November veto session. We’ve gained a few yes votes. We’ve even gained a new co-sponsor, Eddie Lee Jackson, Jr. from East St. Louis. But we need more declared yes votes before we can call the bill for a vote on the House floor.

NOW is the time to call your legislator and ask for a clear yes or no vote on this bill. If you run into any road block (calls not returned, legislative aides telling you the bill is dead, legislators giving neither a yes nor a no vote) please mark your calendar for November 4th or 5th so you can try calling again at that time. We anticipate that after the election, those who won will feel freer to commit to controversial bills, like our own, and those who did not win (who are lame ducks) will also feel more free to cast a yes vote for our bill on their way out. It could be a very nice win-win situation for us after November 2nd.

But we need to keep midwifery and home birth in front of them until then. So please, keep calling your state rep for answers and keep forwarding our messages to your friends and neighbors – to anyone who might be willing to write a letter or who might live in some of our unknown districts. If you gave birth at home this year, send both your Rep and your Senator a copy of your birth announcement with a note on it – “another constituent born at home – vote YES, Home Birth Safety Act – SB3712.” If you see a good article about home birth, print and mail it to your legislator. If it’s on facebook, put it in your status line and be sure that you’ve ‘friended’ your state Rep and Senator. LETS KEEP MIDWIFERY FRONT AND CENTER FOR THE NEXT FOUR WEEKS!!

This week please also try to help us turn 10 LIKELY YES VOTES into 10 YES VOTES. Please forward this email to anyone you know, homebirth family or not, who lives in the following Rep’s districts: Edward Acevedo – (D) Chicago Suzanne Bassi – (R) Palatine Marlow Colvin – (D) Chicago Sarah Feigenholtz – (D) Chicago Careen Gordon - (D) Serona, LaSalle County Lou Lang – (D) Niles Joseph Lyons – (D) Norwood Jack McGuire – (D) Troy, Will County Dan Reitz – (D) Centreville, St. Clair County Chapin Rose – (R) Blue Ridge, Champaign County Carole Sente – (D) Warren, Lake County Ronald Wait – (R) Belvedere, Winnebago County These reps are very close to a yes vote as far as we can tell. Please help us be sure they receive a printed copy of the New York Times article http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/us/24cncmidwives.html

Please also watch for our upcoming fundraising events. Each will offer you a great opportunity to help shape the future of homebirth in Illinois. In the mean time you may always donate through paypal via our website, www.illinoismidwifery.org or you may mail checks to CFIM, c/o Vicki Johnson, 6092 Torchlite Trail, Loves Park, IL 61111.

There is only one way to get this done and that is to go through it. We’re hoping everyone will step up and help us with this last big push. We thank you on behalf of the home born babies of Illinois!!

The Coalition for Illinois Midwifery Board

We made the New York Times!!!

We made the New York Times!!!

Please see this amazing article about home birth in Illinois at www.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/us/24cncmidwives.html

It is urgent that we get this article into the hands of as many Illinois legislators as possible. Please help us by printing two copies of this article and mail one each to your State Representative and your State Senator. Include a note with each asking your legislators to vote YES to SB 3712 when they see it during the November veto session.

To find your State Rep and State Senator, go to http://www.elections.il.gov/DistrictLocator/DistrictOfficialSearchByAddress.aspx

Mail the article to their LOCAL office - not Springfield.

Please forward this email along to anyone, anywhere in Illinois, who you know would be willing to print and mail a copy along with a one or two line note. Let's SWAMP their desks with copies of this article! It's time for our legislators to finally see that this issue is not going away and it's getting more and more attention.

thank you in advance for your help.


The Coalition Board



Rachel Dolan Wickersham, CD(DONA), LCCE
president, Coalition for Illinois Midwifery
vice president, Illinois Council of Certified Professional Midwives
Jiandra@aol.com
630-750-9444

Eight Weeks Left - SB3712

Dear Home Birth and Midwifery Supporters,

We are getting down to the wire. Over the next 8 weeks we still need to gain more than 20 additional YES votes for SB3712, the Home Birth Safety Act.

There are 45 Representatives whose votes are unknown. In order to have hope of passing the bill, we must reach these legislators and find out their intentions. This may be difficult because it is the election season, but we must try. We believe we should be able to gain enough votes, but without contact in these districts, we will never know. PLEASE HELP US REACH THESE REPS!

If you knows ANYONE who lives in the districts listed below (with township and county names), please pass this message along. We need anyone in these districts to call their representative or send email (we’ve provided email addresses and phone numbers where available).

Because districts overlap into certain areas, to help people verify their rep, have them go to http://www.elections.il.gov/DistrictLocator/DistrictOfficialSearchByAddress.aspx


When they contact their legislators via email or phone, we need them to simply say:

“I live in your district. I believe that regulation of home birth midwives will make home birth safer for mothers and babies. Can you please tell me how you will vote for the Home Birth Safety Act, SB3712, when it is called for a vote during the veto session?”

If they get a secretary or aide who is discouraging about the possibility of the bill being called, they should just say “yes, I understand, but IF the bill gets called, what will the Representative’s vote be?”

Whatever the response, we need the information to come back to us. Please post to the Illinois Families for Midwifery email list or send directly to Jamie at Charis490@gmail.com


WE CANNOT DO THIS WITHOUT YOUR HELP!! Thank you, as always!

The Coalition for Illinois Midwifery Board



UNKNOWN
7 - Yarbrough (D) - River Forest, Oak Park, Proviso, Chicago Townships (Cook)
kyarbrough@ilga.gov (708) 615-1747

13 - Harris (D) - Chicago Township (Cook) (773) 348-3434

15 - D'Amico (D) - Northfield, Niles, Maine, Chicago Townships (Cook) johnd@ilga.gov (773) 736-0218
20 - McAuliffe (R) - Maine, Norwood Park, Chicago, Niles Townships (Cook) (773) 792-0749
22 - Madigan (D) - Lyons, Stickney, Chicago Townships (Cook) (773) 581-8000
28 - Rita (D) - Lyons, Stickney, Chicago Townships (Cook) (708) 396-2822
36 - Carberry - Palos, Worth, Chicago Townships (Cook) (708) 907-5157
37 - McCarthy (D) - Orland, Bremen, Rich, Frankfort Townships (Cook, Will) (708) 226-1999
38 - Riley (D) - Bremen, Thornton, Rich Townships (Cook) rep.riley38@sbcglobal.net (708) 799-4364
41 - Biggins (R) - York, Proviso, Riverside Townships (Cook, DuPage) (630) 941-1278
44 - Crespo (D) - Schaumburg, Hanover Townships (Cook) (630) 372-3340
45 - Coladipietro (R) - Bloomingdale, Milton Townships (DuPage) (630) 582-0045
47 - Bellock (R) - Downers Grove, Lisle Townships (DuPage) (630) 852-8633
49 - Schmitz (R) - (Kane) info@timschmitz.org (630) 845-9590
50 - Hatcher (R) - Virgil Township (Kane) (630) 553-3223
53 - Mathias (R) - Wheeling (Cook) repmathias@hotmail.com (847) 222-0061
55 - Ramey (R) - Elgin (Cook) staterepramey55@aol.com (630) 876-0703
57 - Nekritz (D) - Wheeling (Cook) enekritz@repnekritz.org (847) 257-0450
60 – Rita Mayfield (D) - Waukegan (Lake) (847) 599-2800
61 - Osmond (R) - Antioch (Lake) (847) 838-6200
68 - Winters (R) - Shirland, Rockford, Roscoe, Rockton, S. Beloit (Winnebago) (815) 282-0083
72 - Verschoore (D) - Drury (Rock Island) (309) 558-3612
73 - Leitch (R) - Wyanet (Bureau) davidleitch@ameritech.net (309) 690-7373
76 - Mautino (D) - Mendota (LaSalle) patti76th@ivnet.com (815) 664-2717
78 - Lilly - Chicago (Cook) statereplilly@yahoo.com (773) 473-7300
80 - DeLuca (D) - Bloom (Cook) repdeluca@scb.global.net (708) 672-0200
82 - Durkin (R) - Lyons (Cook) jimd@ilga.gov (708) 352-7700
84 - Cross (R) - Owsego (Kendall) (815) 254-0000
87 - Mitchell (R) - Sand Prairie (Tazewell) repmitchell@earthlink.net (217) 876-1968
88 - Brady (R) - Normal (McLean) dan@rep-danbrady.com (309) 662-1100
89 - Sacia (R) - Dunleith (JoDaviess) JimSacia@aeroinc.net (815) 232-0774
91 - Smith (D) - Fairview (Fulton) repmikesmith@gmail.com (309) 353-6276
93 - Tracy (R) - Lima (Adams) (217) 223-0833
94 - Myers (R) - Abingdon (Mercer) (309) 836-2707
95 - Fortner (R) - Geneva (Kane) (630) 293-9344
96 - Senger (R) - Naperville (DuPage) sengerstaterep@gmail.com (630) 219-3090
97 - Watson (R) - Levee (Pike) (217) 243-6221
99 - Poe (R) - Gardner (Sangamon) poe@ilga.gov (217) 782-0044
100 - Brauer (R) - Corwin (Mernard) Brauerr@housegopmail.state.il.us (217) 782-0053
107 - Cavaletto - Seminary (Fayette) (618) 548-9080
109 - Eddy (R) - Ros, Prairie (Clark, Edgar) (618) 563-4128
112 - Hoffman (D) - Granite City, Nameoki, Collinsville, Edwardsville (Madison) (618) 345-2176
113 - Holbrook (D) - Granite City, Venice, Nameoki (Madison) (618) 394-2211
114 - Jackson (D) - Venice, Stites, E. St. Louis (Madison) (618) 875-9950
117 - Bradley (D) - McLeansboro, Crook (Franklin, Hamilton)
repjohnbradley@mychoice.net (618) 997-9697
118 - Phelps (D) - (Hamilton, White) bphelps@yourclearwave.com (618) 253-4189




Rachel Dolan Wickersham, CD(DONA), LCCE
president, Coalition for Illinois Midwifery
vice president, Illinois Council of Certified Professional Midwives
Jiandra@aol.com
630-750-9444

Home Birth Safety Act Update - summer 2010

Dear Home Birth and Midwifery Supporters

Summer is well underway as we continue working toward CPM licensure in Illinois through passage of the Home Birth Safety Act. This letter will update you on the current status of the bill as well as tell you what you can do to help us push the bill the rest of the way through our state legislature so it can finally become law.

First and foremost, to all of you who called your legislators and went to Springfield this year and also those who participated in the Walk for Midwives and other fundraising efforts this spring, Thank You! We are now in the best position we’ve ever been. Not only has the Home Birth Safety Act passed a House committee for the first time in 30 years of trying, but our Coalition has earned a new level of respect in Springfield. What legislators once saw as a little group of mothers and others for midwives has evolved into an active and dynamic entity that is turning the tide against one of the state’s most powerful lobbies – the State Medical Society. This is largely due to your participation in this effort. Again, thank you.

To remind you of recent changes, the Home Birth Safety Act which has been HB 226 since January of 2009, is now SB 3712. This change occurred in April 2010 when the language from HB226 was amended to an existing bill that was no longer needed. That bill still carries its original name, Veterinary Records, but the language has been gutted and replaced with ours. For anyone wishing to look the bill up, go to www.ilga.gov and look up SB3712. Then click on full text, then click on House Amendment 001.

Here is the bill’s current status. SB 3712 passed out of the House Health Disparities Committee on
May 6, 2010. The next stop is the House chamber for a full floor vote. As of right now, if we can count upon our yes votes to stay yeses, we have 36 of the needed 60 votes to pass the House. We also have a number of “Likely Yeses” If they vote with us, that leaves about 10 more YES votes needed.

You may notice the numbers have changed a bit since our last writing. This is because of the Medical Society’s strong lobbying after our bill passed in committee, as well as because of the sad loss of one Representative, Eddie Washington, who passed away unexpectedly last month.

We have from now until the last few days of the 96th General Assembly – the first few days of January – before the next General Assembly is sworn in, to earn a total of 60 votes and pass SB 3712. If the bill passes the House, it will go to the Senate for concurrence (since the original bill already passed the Senate). But to get there, we need your help.

Here’s how you can work with the Coalition to help make the dream of licensed home birth Certified Professional Midwives in Illinois, a reality:

• FIRST CONTACT AND WORK WITH YOUR OWN STATE REPRESENTATIVE AND HELP OTHERS CONTACT THEIRS.

o Check the list at the end of this email to find out if your rep is listed as a YES vote.
(go to www.ilga.gov then click on legislator lookup to find out who your rep).

o If your rep is listed as a YES vote, please contact their office by phone and let them know you wanted to verify that they will be supporting the Home Birth Safety Act when it comes up for a vote sometime during veto session, and of course thank them for that yes vote. If you hear anything other than yes, ask if you might have an appointment to come talk to them about it. Let us know what they say. If you get an appointment we may be able to come to that appointment with you or coach you over the phone if needed. Contact us by sending email to Jamie at Charis490@gmail.com.

o If your representative is not listed as a YES, please contact their office and ask for an appointment to come speak to them about SB 3712 – the Home Birth Safety Act. Contact us at Jamie’s address above and hopefully we can come with you or send someone knowledgeable.

o IF YOU HEAR FROM YOUR REPRESENTATIVE THAT THEY HAVE JUST HEARD THAT A NEW STUDY SHOWS THAT HOMEBIRTH IS NOT SAFE, PLEASE MENTION THAT THIS STUDY HAS COME UNDER FIRE FOR BEING EXTREMELY FLAWED AND POLITICALLY MOTIVATED, THEN GO TO THE FOLLOWING LINK TO PRINT AND BRING WITH YOU OR SEND TO YOUR REP. http://www.thebigpushformidwives.org/_ccLib/downloads/7-7-2010_PushNews_RELEASE_OB-GYN_Journal_Fast_Tracks_Publicity_on_Deeply_Flawed_Study.pdf


o If you are just not able to make a visit, please send a letter to your legislator (contact Jiandra@aol.com for a sample letter). Then follow up with a phone call a week later asking the secretary if your rep received the letter and can you count on their yes vote when the bill comes up? If you hear the bill is dead, please don’t believe it – remember we’ve already proved that wrong this year. Let them know you realize it’s late but “IF”
the bill comes up how will they vote? Let them know you’d like them to make a public show of support for this piece of legislation that will improve the health and safety of home born babies.

o BECOME A MENTOR. If you are someone who has visited your rep before and are comfortable going along to help someone else who has never visited their rep before, please consider becoming a legislative visit mentor. With your coaching, someone who might not otherwise have gone, might bring in the final needed vote!

o Finally, we strongly encourage you to find out THIS WEEK if your rep is running for re-election. If you are comfortable supporting them, ask their secretary to put you in touch with their campaign volunteer office. If you feel more comfortable supporting another candidate of the same or opposite party, do that instead, but please do consider volunteering. Even two simple hours of stuffing envelopes or checking signatures will go a LONG way toward supporting the Home Birth Safety Act. Working campaigns is one of the keys to getting support. We’ve seen proof of this in other states that have successfully passed midwifery legislation. If you do not have a local campaign you can support, let us know. We can direct you toward other possibilities.

o If you do plan to volunteer, let us know with email to Jiandra@aol.com so we can send you list of hints and suggestions that will optimize your presence.


• SECOND, HELP US REACH THE MORE THAN 50 REPS WHO ARE COMPLETE UNKNOWNS IN TERMS OF THEIR VOTE FOR THIS BILL.

o Please forward this email around to everyone you know who believes that women who have a home birth should have nationally certified professional midwives available to attend their birth legally, as opposed to underground, in the state of Illinois. Send to people outside of your local community – acquaintances across the state, your aunts and cousins, old schoolmates, anyone. We must reach as many state legislators as possible.

o Encourage anyone you reach to visit their legislators also. If they are not comfortable doing so, encourage them to download the attached letter, print, sign and send to their legislator. You can make this easy for them by looking up their legislator’s local address for them.

o Watch for our messages on Facebook, Meetup.com and various blogs. Watch also for a message through change.org. Please pass these messages along using your social media connections. This will increase the number of constituents, and therefore legislators, that we reach. We are looking for a conservative website similar to change.org to pass our message along. If anyone knows of a site, please let us know by contacting Rachel at Jiandra@aol.com

o Finally, help us find groups or create groups – anywhere that five or more people can come together – where the Coalition can come speak about the licensure bill and answer questions. We’d like to reach all kinds of groups, alternative and main stream – anyone who might think birthing mothers should have control over where and with whom they have their babies. If you find a group willing to invite us, please contact Rachel at Jiandra@aol.com.

• THIRD AND FINALLY - HELP US RAISE FUNDS

o Right now, thanks to everyone’s generosity, we have our lobbyist paid in full, but we still must spend the summer meeting with state agencies and other professional groups in preparation for our upcoming attempt at a floor vote. To accomplish this, we will be engaging our lobbyist as needed throughout the rest of the year. This means a continued need for funds. Please contact us if you can put together a “Labor Day” picnic in your area or hostess an autumn open house, a pancake breakfast, a garage sale, a film showing (we have a number of film we could lend) or other. Let us know if you can help by contacting Rachel at Jiandra@aol.com.

o If you have crafts or other items you are willing to donate for sale or for raffle, the Illinois Council of Certified Professional Midwives will be attending the regional conference for the Midwives Alliance of North America on the weekend of July 16th – 18th. The Council is part of the Coalition and donates most of its proceeds to lobbying. Please contact Vicki Johnson at Babylady55@aol.com with any donations. You must be able to get them to Evanston or Rockford by July 14th.

o Make a personal donation. If everyone reading this donated $10 today we would have the rest of this year covered. Please donate $10, or more if you can. Ask friends and family members to as well. Let them know it will help make home birth safer for mothers and babies. Go to www.illinoismidwifery.org and click on the paypal link to make a donation or mail a check to CFIM, c/o Vicki Johnson 6092 Torchlite Trail, Loves Park, IL 61111

o Or if you are a midwife, doula, massage therapist or other provider, please consider donating a small portion of each client fee. Check out Community Counts – Better Birth Initiative at http://communitycountsbetterbirth.wordpress.com/2010/01/

We look forward to hearing from you this summer. Watch for more communication from us as the bill continues to move forward. And finally, thank you. We are full of gratitude for your support of the thousands of Illinois mothers, babies, families and midwives that the Home Birth Safety Act will help over the coming years.


Best Wishes,

Rachel Dolan Wickersham
president, Coalition for Illinois Midwifery


LIST OF STATE REPRESENTATIVES WHO ARE CURRENTLY EXPECTED TO BE “YES” VOTES FOR SB 3712, THE HOME BIRTH SAFETY ACT:

Arroyo, Berrios, Beaubein, Black, Boland, Burke, Chapa LaVia, Collins, Coulson, Cultra, Currie, Davis, Davis, Dunkin, Flider, Flowers, Ford, Froehlich, Gabel, Hannig, Hernandez, Howard, Jakobsson, Jefferson, Joyce, Mell, Mendoza, Osterman, Rita, Sommer, Stephens, Tryon, Turner, Walker, Winters, Zalewski







Rachel Dolan Wickersham, CD(DONA), LCCE
president, Coalition for Illinois Midwifery
vice president, Illinois Council of Certified Professional Midwives
Jiandra@aol.com
630-750-9444

THE MIDWIVES' BILL IS MOVING!!!

Dear EVERYONE

THE MIDWIVES BILL IS MOVING! TODAY IS THE DAY TO CALL YOUR LEGISLATOR!!

EVEN IF YOU'VE CALLED BEFORE PLEASE CALL AGAIN BECAUSE THERE IS A NEW BILL NUMBER.

Here's the scoop. The language from HB 226, the Home Birth Safety Act has been amended to another bill. This bill has already passed the Senate and is on the House floor. (it’s a bill that is no longer needed by its sponsor, so he turned it over to us. We’ve removed the current language and amend it with our own)

THE NEW BILL IS SENATE BILL 3712

EVERYONE PLEASE CALL YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVE TODAY! Ask them to “vote YES for SB3712 which will be amended with the Home Birth Safety Act (HB226) language.”

THERE COULD BE A FLOOR VOTE AS EARLY AS TOMORROW MORNING so please call right now.

WE NEED 60 FLOOR VOTES. PLEASE PASS THIS ALONG TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!! - please literally send to everyone in your address book. It is vital that we get our known YES votes switched over to the new bill number. It's also vital that we gain at least 10 more YES votes from the many reps who have never had constituent contact.

These unknown reps reside in Alton, Antioch, Arlington Heights, Belleville, Bloomingdale, Bloomington, Broadview, Carbondale, Chicago, Collinsville, Countryside, Crete, Decatur, Des Plaines, Dolton, East St. Louis, Elmhurst, Elmwood Park, Freeport, Harrisburg, Hazel Crest, Hutsonville, Jacksonville, Macomb, Marion, Mokena, Olney, Orland Park, Pekin, Plainfield, Quincy, Rock Falls, Rock Island, Salem, Springfield, Spring Valley, Streamwood, Sycamore, West Chicago, Westmont, Yorkville

To find out who your rep is if you've never called, go to www.ilga.gov and click on "Legislator Lookup" on the lower right side of the screen.

PLEASE BE SURE TO CALL TODAY. If the switchboard tells you they have left for the day, ask to leave a message. Then call back tomorrow to make sure they got your message.

Thank you for all you do!!


Rachel


ps - If you called Rep Dave Winters this morning, send him a quick THANK YOU note via email repwinters@aol.com He turned the bill over to us today





Rachel Dolan Wickersham, CD(DONA), LCCE
president, Coalition for Illinois Midwifery
vice president, Illinois Council of Certified Professional Midwives
Jiandra@aol.com
630-750-9444

MIDWIFERY BILL UPDATE!! April 30th 2010

Dear Homebirth and Midwifery Supporters,

We've just learned that the Illinois House has cancelled it's Saturday workday. Unfortunately, this is just how things go near the end of the session. Thank you to all of you who had planned to come.

Next week the House will be in session Monday through Friday. This will be the week we hope to reach the 60 votes we need to pass the floor. Please come if you can.

We have 40 solid YES votes and more than 10 likely yes votes that we need to get committed.

THAT LEAVES LESS THAN 10 MORE YES VOTES TO GO!

Time is running out for getting those yes votes but we are not giving up hope. Only a few weeks ago, we had only 30 total. In the past several weeks we've gained a new chief sponsor and TWELVE new co-sponsors including Barbara Flynn Currie, second only to the Speaker of the House, Michael Madigan. This is progress, but we still need those last few committed votes. We need them THIS COMING WEEK.

Please plan to come to Springfield this coming week to help us with this. Earlier in the week would be most helpful but anytime is good. Also please watch for one more action alert (later tonight or tomorrow) that will identify approximately 30 legislators who haven't had any constituent contact at all.

Help us find people in their districts and you may help us get that final YES that we need!


Finally, please remember we have a lobbyist working for us. He has opened doors for us we never would have reached and is continuing to do so. Please donate one of the following if you can:


$100 to commemorate the 100 years that midwives have been fighting a system that turned against them in the early 20th century.

$60 to reflect the number of votes we hope to have by the end of this week

$30 to recognize how many votes we had just a few weeks ago. - WE'VE COME SO FAR!!

$10 to thank the current and recent Coalition board who have been working hard on your behalf, for 10 years.

or any amount you can. We are grateful for all donations, no matter how small.

Please visit http://illinoismidwifery.org and click on paypal or mail a check made out to CFIM (or Coalition for Illinois Midwifery) to:

CFIM c/o Vicki Johnson
6092 Torchlite Trail
Loves, Park, IL 61111

Or if you are a midwife, doula, massage therapist or other provider, please consider donating a small portion of each client fee. Check out Community Counts – Better Birth Initiative at http://communitycountsbetterbirth.wordpress.com/2010/01/


Illinois Mothers, Babies and Midwives benefit from all you do to help pass HB 226, the Home Birth Safety Act.

Thank you for all you do!



Rachel






Rachel Dolan Wickersham, CD(DONA), LCCE
president, Coalition for Illinois Midwifery
vice president, Illinois Council of Certified Professional Midwives
Jiandra@aol.com
630-750-9444

EVERY DAY IS LOBBY DAY!!

Be Part of the Buzz for Midwives in Springfield



We are making history! For the first time in 30 years, Midwives have enough votes to get out of a House Committee. If we can get ourselves assigned to that committee, we will be able to pass!!!



After the committee comes the House floor. We need 60 votes there to pass. In just three days we’ve gotten 30. With your help we can get earn the rest!



We need everyone to come to visit their legislators in Springfield. It's the only way we will pass this bill. Come be a part of history!



Find time in April – any day that works for you - to come to Springfield and show your support for the Home Birth Safety Act (HB226). The Coalition for Illinois Midwifery will make sure someone is there to meet you and show you what to do.



Click the link below to view the legislative calendar. Make sure that your travel date is a day the representatives are in Springfield. http://ilga.gov/house/schedules/calendars/2010_April_Schedule.pdf



Go to www.ilga.gov then click on Legislator Lookup in the lower right quarter of the page, to look up your state Representative and State Senator.



Then contact Jamie charis490@gmail.com to let CFIM know who your rep is and when you are coming. If you are a student midwife, contact Nancy Cowans at ncowans@hotmail.com





WHEN YOU COME:



If you are a CNM or CPM dress professionally (business or business casual). Otherwise, if you have a “Got Midwife” T-shirt or similar, please wear it. Please bring 3 saran-wrapped plates of M&M cookies if you can for your legislators and the governor. If you can’t that’s ok, we may have extras plates for you.



Once you’ve visited your legislators, please stay and help. We will need someone to man our table in the rotunda while others are up at the rail talking to legislators. (we’ll coach you on this)



Bring a friend (even if they are not part of the home birth community) and make a day of it. There are many things to do in Springfield. See ideas below.



DIRECTIONS:



If you drive, use this link to map your drive: http://maps.google.com/maps?oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF8&q=map+illinois+state+capitol&fb=1&gl=us&ei=vCPDS9uBFpakM5iUoIoM&ved=0CBYQpQY&hl=en&view=map&geocode=FQ1HXwIdp_mn-g&split=0&iwloc=A&sa=X



Bring plenty of quarters for hours of metered parking.



If you wish to take Amtrak, trains leave from Chicago Union Station at 7:00 am and 9:25 am. You must have an ID to travel and tickets must be purchased before boarding, so leave plenty of time. There can be a line. Tickets can also be purchased online but you must print out the email confirmation and bring it with you. There are quick track machines that will scan the confirmation bar code and print your ticket. This is a bit quicker. Sometimes these trains sell out so it is best to purchase or reserve ahead of time.

Go to www.amtrak.com for information.



When you leave the train, walk south along the direction the train is traveling in, then turn right and cross the tracks at either Washington or Adams. Walk two blocks west and you will see the capitol building on your left, two or three blocks away.





WHILE IN THE CAPITOL:



If you or your family need sustenance, there is a cafeteria beneath the basement floor of the complex. Ask for directions at the information desk. If you would like breakfast or lunch at excellent coffee house run by a former Illinois home birth attendant, check out the Trout Lily Café at 218 S. Sixth Street. Ask for Kate and say hello from the home birth midwives.



If you are looking for additional Springfield fun, check out the Lincoln Museum – described as a “major experience museum” “visitors are offered an engaging, emotional and educational experience through immersive, "you-are-there" exhibits.” (from www.lincolnlibraryandmuseum.com) Check out their official website at www.alplm.org for more details. You can also tour the Lincoln home, see Lincoln's tomb and check out many other historical sites. See www.visit-springfieldillinois.com for more details.


Finally, please also donate. Lobby Month could be the thing that puts us over the top, but it there will be expenses. Can you donate any amount today to help make passage of the Home Birth Safety Act a reality?

Please visit http://illinoismidwifery.org and click on paypal or mail a check made out to CFIM (or Coalition for Illinois Midwifery) to:

CFIM c/o Vicki Johnson
6092 Torchlite Trail
Loves, Park, IL 61111

Or if you are a midwife, doula, massage therapist or other provider, please consider donating a small portion of each client fee. Check out Community Counts – Better Birth Initiative at http://communitycountsbetterbirth.wordpress.com/2010/01/




See you there!











Rachel Dolan Wickersham, CD(DONA), LCCE
president, Coalition for Illinois Midwifery
vice president, Illinois Council of Certified Professional Midwives
Jiandra@aol.com
630-750-9444