HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0104.013 2022-2024r -
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Fe .57-25
COMM. 104
From: pah
Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2023 9:22 PM w >;
To: Council Testimony r-a
Subject: please pass RES 57-23
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Hawaii County Council > �~
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Thank you for this hearing today and bringing forward Res 57-23.I ask you to please pass these declarations to piect
Cultural Birth Attendants and Birthing families options. I gave birth 21 years ago at home with a Traditional Midwives and
CPM as my prenatal and postpartum care team.Res 57-23 declares traditional Birth attendants,of all Cultures,to have a place
in Hawai`i honoring their work as essential to the health of our society.Traditional Midwives are carrying generational
credentials,evidence based care,and the oldest profession on earth.Hawai`i and Midwives have always been about the
collaborative well being of the future and safety.
The White suprematist Actions removing Cultural practitioners by regulatory measures became heightened in
1900`s.We stand here in 2023 and ask how different our Maternal health could have been if Traditional Midwives were not
criminalized. Cultural humility and sovereignty are basic human rights we must demand. Outside of the Midwifery model
exists the current disaster in maternal health dominated by an Obstetrical model that holds the statistics of 80%unnecessary
death. Obstetrical care is for surgery and high risk patients,that is their expertise.Why would we force our families to be cared
for in a system that industrializes birth at baseline?We are in an Environmental and Maternal health crisis and it is getting
worse.
Res 57-23 for traditional Birth attendants is a large step in amplifying and supporting a path of excellent maternal
health care. For most,Pregnancy is not a sickness.Women's bodies are not a problem.Babies deserve to be born into safe
respectful spaces.We are all affected by the Maternal health of our society. Sovereign Reproductive health care starts in the
womb and the right to choose where,if,with whom,and how someone grows their family.
I ask you to pass Res 57-23 and Please support HB955 and SB1047 at the state level carrying it through all bills passing into
law.This issue is not an us against them,it is all of us together. The maternal health must be steered to a state of health and
Traditional practitioners are the solution to this.
Thank you,Pahnelopi McKenzie
Blessed be your day and all that you do!
Comm. No. O �'J
Ref.To: P l b�A(i
1 Ref. Date FEE 2 1 2023
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