Preserving Safe & Healthy Birth Choices for New York Families

Hello New York! Our community here at FreeOurMidwives.org is growing by the minute which is good news for women, families and midwives across the state.  Welcome to our new members and a warm hello to those who have been with us from the beginning.

ACTION OF THE DAY!

CONTACT SENATOR SEWARD! You can cut and paste this sample letter, but please read the talking points here and add your own story.  Letters are much more effective when personalized.  If everyone on this list takes a few moments and emails him today he will receive close to 100 letters!  Let's grab his attention and show him that we mean business. Current News: Kate Finn, a local midwife, attended the NYSALM (The New York State Association of Licensed Midwives) mini-lobby day last Monday, January 11th.  She was able to clarify the focus and direction needed to pass the MMA (Midwifery Modernization Act) and she was also given the floor to share our local efforts with statewide organizers. NYSALM is so impressed with the efforts in Ithaca (THANK YOU ITHACA!) that they are going to send out links to out www.freeourmidwives.org website to midwives across NYS and encourage them to pass the link and invitation to their communities and clients.  This is a huge step forward in creating solidarity across the state and opening networks and communications with a wider audience. Upcoming Events:

• BirthNet meeting on 1/27/10 at Cayuga Family Medical at 6:30 pm in Ithaca.  If you live in another part of NY and are looking for your local birth network contact lauren@freeourmidwives.org.
• Greenstar Tabling on 1/28/10 from 5-7 pm.  We love seeing you and getting your support.
• Really Really Free Market on 1/30/10 from 1-4pm at the Henry St. John Building in Ithaca.  We will have a BirthNet informational table along with information about the MMA and letters to sign.
• SAVE THE DATE: April 12th, 2010 will be the lobby day in Albany. Come ride a bus with us and let our legislators know we want them to FREE THE MIDWIVES!  This is turning into a very important event.  Stay tuned for more details.
• Stay tuned for more local events and if you live in a different region of NY please let us know about your events! We would be happy to highlight them here.

Volunteer Opportunities:

• Volunteer to table at Greenstar. Email Lissa at: lissa.farrell@gmail.com for more information and future tabling dates.
• Event Planning Committee: Monica Daniels, a local midwife, is spearheading the events planning committee.  It is a high energy, fun group to work with and there are opportunities to help even if you only have a small amount time & energy to offer.  Email Monica for more details: monica@htva.net

Don't Forget:

• We are selling bumper stickers! Choose from three: “Free the Midwives”, “Midwives help people out” and “Support midwives, make love”.  Suggested donation of $2-$5.  They are for sale at our tabling days at Greenstar or contact Erin Shafto to buy one: erinshafto@gmail.com
• We need to continue to contact legislators! Click on this link to find a sample letter and information on how to effectively contact the legislators who most need to hear from us.
• We still need pictures! We are in the process of adding more photos to our site and making some educational resources.  The pictures add so much depth and emotion to the information and we want to see the beautiful faces of everyone who has received quality & safe care from a midwife. Please read here to learn more about photo guidelines and email your photos to hillary@freeourmidwives.org.
• If you can’t make it to BirthNet meetings, but still would like to stay informed, contact Kate Dimpfl to get a copy of the minutes.  katedimpfl@gmail.com

Most importantly, thank you everyone for your continued support and interest.  There is momentum moving and we can help make New York State a safer and more family friendly place to give birth! See these cute little buttons directly below this paragraph?  All it takes is one click to send this news update to your friends and family on facebook or twitter.  Help us out: Spread the word!

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