A Letter from the MAMA Campaign

Dear Florida Supporters of Midwifery--

As Florida constituents you all are in a unique and special position to help encourage federal recognition of CPMs by helping The MAMA Campaign.

The MAMA Campaign is an effort by six national organizations to include CPMs as Medicaid providers in the evolving healthcare reform legislation currently under consideration. Visit www.mamacampaign.org for more information about the campaign and to signup for news and alerts.

This week, the MAMA Campaign is trying to get letters from constituents sent to the offices of Senator Nelson and/or Congresswoman Kathy Castor of the 11th district in Florida. Anyone who lives in Florida can write as a constituent to Senator Nelson. We only need people who are constituent’s of Congresswoman Kathy Castor to write to her. To find out if you or someone you know lives in Castor’s Tampa Bay area district, visit http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd?state=FL&district=11.

Congresswoman Castor is on the House Energy and Commerce committee and Senator Nelson sits on the Senate Finance Committee. These committees will make decisions about changes to Medicaid in the current health care reform efforts, including whether or not CPMs will be added to the list of approved Medicaid providers. Hence, as Floridians, you are in a special position to help influence these critical legislators. This inclusion of CPMS as federal Medicaid providers would be an important step in increasing access to CPMs across the country.

Both Congresswoman Kathy Castor and Senator Bill Nelson have indicated some support for our amendment. But ours is only one of many potential amendments to the health care bills, all demanding their attention. We need you to write a letter of encouragement to Senator Nelson and/or Congresswoman Castor, telling them to take action on this issue.

Please forward this letter writing request to other Floridians who support midwifery. If you have clients, friends, relatives or ANYONE who is a constituent who will write a letter to Representative Castor and/or Senator Nelson please ask them to do so. It is important to send letters as soon as possible! These personal letters from constituents are critical and make a huge impact. Please write and fax or email a short letter TODAY!

MAMA CAMPAIGN INSTRUCTIONS AND TALKING POINTS FOR E-MAILED OR FAXED LETTERS FROM CONSTITUENTS OF SENATOR NELSON OR REPRESENTATIVE CASTOR

1. Handwritten or typed letters may be faxed to the number provided below.

2. Please fax your letter to the legislator’s Washington, D.C. office. This is the best way to get the letters to them quickly and effectively. If you are unable to send a fax, the next best thing is to send your letter by using the legislator’s web-based e-mail form. If you would like to help but can’t fax a letter, or send an email, a phone call to their Washington, D.C. office, is also helpful.

Rep. Kathy Castor (FL-11th)(Tampa): Visit http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd?state=FL&district=11 to see if you are a constituent.

DC Fax: (202)225-5652
DC Phone: 202-225-3376
Web Email Form: https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

Sen. Bill Nelson (FL)
DC Fax: 202-228-2183
DC Phone: 202-224-5274
Web Email: http://billnelson.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm

3. Please include the following crucial language in your letter; this is what you are asking your legislator to do:

FOR REP. CASTOR: "I am a constituent and I ask that the Congresswoman support efforts to improve the maternity care system by adding Certified Professional Midwives to the list of providers covered by Medicaid. Will Congresswoman Castor raise this issue with Energy & Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman as a priority for her, to see if we can get this important provision in the final House bill? It’s so crucial that we expand access to maternity care as a component of health reform.”

FOR SEN. NELSON "I am a constituent and I ask that the Senator support efforts to improve the maternity care system by adding Certified Professional Midwives to the list of providers covered by Medicaid. Will Senator Nelson please raise this issue with Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus as a priority for him, to see if we can get this important provision in the final Senate bill? It’s so crucial that we expand access to maternity care as a component of health reform.”

4. A short letter is sufficient. But, if you wish to write an expanded, more personalized letter, at the end of this document are a list of talking points to help you explain why Senator Nelson or Representative Castor should ask their appropriate chairman to add this amendment to the bill. You do not need to use all the talking points. We encourage you to make this a personal letter from you. We do not want these to look like form letters. We do suggest, because the chairmen are looking for cost-savings wherever they can find them, that you might want to emphasize the second and fourth bulleted points in the list of talking points below.

Note: For clarity’s sake, please be sure to write out “Certified Professional Midwife” rather than “CPM”.

5. Share a brief personal detail if possible and relevant, for example: “Two of my children were born at home attended by Certified Professional Midwives. I believe all women regardless of their income should have access to the safe, high-quality, cost-effective care provided by Certified Professional Midwives.”

6. Sign off with your name, address, and contact information.

7. If Senator Nelson’s or Representative Castor’s office would like more information about our efforts to pursue this important Medicaid improvement, they may contact Mary Lawlor with the National Association of Certified Professional Midwives at president@nacpm.org or on her cell phone at 917-453-6780. She and other Campaign members will be in D.C. during the next few weeks and may be available to meet his/her staff.

8. Please send the MAMA Campaign a copy of your letter. Email it to info@mamacampaign.org or FAX to 802-536-4142.

Again, anyone who lives in Florida can write as a constituent to Senator Nelson. We only need people who live in Congresswoman Kathy Castor’s district to write to her. To find out if you or someone you know lives in Rep. Castor’s district which includes: Tampa and St. Petersburg and parts of Hillsborough, Pinellas and Manatee counties, visit http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd?state=FL&district=11. PLEASE forward this writing request to other Floridian’s who support midwifery. These letters are incredibly important.

If you haven’t already, please sign up with the MAMA Campaign at www.mamacampaign.org to get e-alerts and find more information and handouts. Please donate to the campaign at www.mamacampaign.org. Thanks so much for all you are already doing and for all you will do this week!

THANK YOU!

Nasima Pfaffl
Citizens for Midwifery/MAMA Campaign
321-733-6156
nasima@cfmidwifery.org

Talking Points :

CPMs are highly-trained, credentialed clinicians who provide effective, evidence-based maternity care. They are the only maternity care providers specifically trained in attending births outside the hospital and, by assisting in births at home and in birthing centers, offer women an important choice in how their babies are delivered.

I support the basic principal that health reform should make obtaining care MORE AFFORDABLE for all American. Adding Certified Professional Midwives to the Medicaid list would SAVE MONEY by reducing health care costs immediately.

Each mother on Medicaid who chooses an out-of-hospital birth with a Certified Professional Midwife would lower Medicaid costs, since Medicaid would otherwise be paying for a hospital birth at greater cost and with much greater likelihood of an expensive cesarean section.

Research demonstrates that midwives who attend births outside the hospital (at home or in a birth center) have much lower rates of unnecessary and potentially dangerous medical interventions such as inductions and cesarean-sections with at least as good outcomes in terms of maternal and infant mortality, at substantially lower costs.

Because Certified Professional Midwives provide thorough individualized care that promotes healthy pregnancies, the babies are healthier – more are full term and full weight, avoiding costly health problems.

Of the twenty-five states that now provide a path to licensure for Certified Professional Midwives, only 9 include CPMs in their state Medicaid programs, so low-income women on Medicaid have difficulty obtaining services. This falls short of genuine and consistent patient choice and access. Certified Professional Midwives and women who want access to them are seeking federal Medicaid reimbursement for their services as one important step to increase access to this kind of maternity care.

All women deserve to have access to quality, comprehensive maternity care, in the communities where they live, with a choice of qualified provider and services that are fully recognized and reimbursed by both private and public payers.

As the #1 reason for hospitalization, but with declining quality outcomes in the U.S., it is essential for health care reform to include maternity care.