Writing a Letter to your Legislators
The key to passing a bill is that every legislator must hear regularly from their own constituents. Every home birth supporter should reach out to their friends and relatives and ask them to write in support of licensing Certified Professional Midwives in Iowa. You don't have to be a midwife or a home birth parent to support Iowa's midwife licensure bill -- you just have to agree that families who have home births should have access to trained and qualified midwives to assist them!
General guidelines for letters and emails:
Please don't:
Some talking points:
Here's a sample script that can be adapted to any format:
The Honorable Senator/Representative ___
Address
Date
Dear Senator/Representative ___,
Hello! My name is __. I'm a constituent and live in____. I'm calling (writing) today as your constituent to ask you to support the bill to license midwives in Iowa. Certified Professional Midwives undergo high quality education and training, and their care has been associated with excellent outcomes for mothers and babies. Midwife licensure ensures that all midwives meet standards of professional competence, and ensures that all Iowa families can access safe, affordable maternity care. This bill is important to me because __.
Thank you for representing me, and for your attention to this important issue.
(Include your name, address, email, and phone number).
For more information:
Detailed Talking Points
Factsheets
General guidelines for letters and emails:
- Know your legislators. You can find out who your State Senator and your State Representative are here. (Letters and emails should go to your state, not federal legislators.)
- Urge the recipient to support licensing Certified Professional Midwives.
- Express your support for increased access to midwives. Put it in your own words. It doesn't have to be long.
- Make it personal. Say who you are, and list any relevant credentials (nurse, professor, etc.) If you are a parent who has given birth at home, or someone who wants to have a licensed midwife attend your next birth, say so!
- Include your contact information (address, phone number, email).
- Keep it short and sweet. Letters should be no longer than one page.
Please don't:
- Don't say negative things about hospital birth or doctors. Focus on the positive things about midwives.
- Don't bring up insurance or medicaid. It's not a part of this bill and mentioning it sidetracks the issue.
Some talking points:
- About 500 families a year have out-of-hospital births in Iowa. We need to make sure these families have access to midwives.
- Research shows that planned out-of-hospital birth with CPMs results in outcomes equal to those for low-risk women giving birth in hospitals. (BMJ study, published 2005)
- It is in the interest of public health and safety for Iowa to license midwives so that the Iowans who choose out-of-hospital birth can have access to care providers who are skilled and accountable.
- CPMs are recognized in 27 other states, including our neighbors Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Missouri. CPMs undergo rigorous education and testing, and are the only care providers specifically trained in out-of-hospital birth.
Here's a sample script that can be adapted to any format:
The Honorable Senator/Representative ___
Address
Date
Dear Senator/Representative ___,
Hello! My name is __. I'm a constituent and live in____. I'm calling (writing) today as your constituent to ask you to support the bill to license midwives in Iowa. Certified Professional Midwives undergo high quality education and training, and their care has been associated with excellent outcomes for mothers and babies. Midwife licensure ensures that all midwives meet standards of professional competence, and ensures that all Iowa families can access safe, affordable maternity care. This bill is important to me because __.
Thank you for representing me, and for your attention to this important issue.
(Include your name, address, email, and phone number).
For more information:
Detailed Talking Points
Factsheets
