The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0104.016 2022-2024 P/GOAc rj�� COMM.10(4 `4C(fiC ^ Pacific Birth Collective • pacificbirthcollective@gmail.com pacificbirthcollective.org PBC Board To: o Sonya Niess President ], Council Chair Heather Kimball and Hawai'i County Council members, m Kiana Rowley Vice President Mariah Strong „T" —r7 Secretary From: �- Haley Rabago PJ Callahan Treasurer Pacific Birth Collective Vice President Kiana Rowley Ki`i Kaho`ohanohano Makalani Date: February 13, 2023 Pahnelopi McKenzie Re: Strong Support for HB955 Wyonette Wallett Kristina Statler Aloha Chair and Council Members, The Pacific Birth Collective strongly supports Resolution 57-23 in support of vital amendments to HRS 457-J and we urge you to pass this important resolution. PBC serves women, families,and birth and wellness service providers throughout Hawaii, including on Hawai'i Island. We support autonomy in birth choice,whatever that choice may be. We support this resolution because as a birth organization working throughout the Hawaiian islands,we personally know the positive impact our traditional midwives have on maternal health in our communities. This resolution is a good step toward respecting cultural traditions,protecting the autonomy of women and families, and not policing women's reproductive choices. Access to midwifery care improves health outcomes and safety for all birthing people and their children. We support the continuation of the Birth Attendant exemption and the addition of the Portfolio Evaluation Process (PEP), certified by the National Association of Registered Midwives (NARM) to be included in HRS 457-J. These exemptions allow for the profession of Midwifery to continue to grow in equitable ways, allowing accessibility, diversity, and cultural and religious freedom for Hawai'i. Comm. N .II Mt' `0 ReF.To: P l �UM" Ref. Date FEB 2 1 2023 Pacific.6) (#0•••• Pacific Birth Collective pacificbirthcollective@gmail.com pacificbirthcollective.org After July 2023,the temporary exemption is set to expire, criminalizing midwifery practitioners who are filling a vital need in our communities. The perpetuation of community-based apprenticeship for the training of midwives is essential for safety and equitable access to midwifery care for all people, especially Black, Indigenous, and Women of Color families today and for future generations. Please support Birth Attendant Exemption and the Portfolio Evaluation Process (PEP) for Hawai'i. Maintain a pathway for local people to learn traditional practices of health and healing from elders in their own communities. We do recognize that midwifery licensure was a positive step toward better maternity care for Hawai`i's families. Though there were good intentions behind the law,the exclusion of traditional midwives is rooted in historical injustices that cannot go unrecognized and unremedied. For too long,Native Hawaiian and other cultural traditions and practices have been controlled, dismissed, and lost to history. Families in Hawaii always have and will continue to seek out prenatal, birth and postpartum support from traditional midwives as they have for many generations. To take that choice away from them is oppressive and infantilizing. Hawai`i's women deserve autonomy in their choice of childbirth provider. Choosing where and with whom to give birth is a basic human right. Families in Hawai`i have always sought the care of traditional midwives, and it is essential that they are able to continue doing so. Continuing to regulate women's reproductive health by limiting their choices in prenatal and birth care is not safe,because women will continue to access these services even if it is not legal or recognized by the state of Hawaii. Many women in Hawaii seek care outside of the medical setting for childbirth. Reasons are many, but some cite safety. Maternal health outcomes in Hawai`i are on par with American maternal health outcomes,which is to say they are not good. Cesarean rates in Hawai`i are 26.8%,with one out of ten babies being born preterm. The WHO reports that 1 in 6 women in the US experience mistreatment during childbirth, and their findings suggest that mistreatment is experienced more frequently by women of color, when birth occurs in hospitals, and among those with social, economic or health challenges. Another survey of over 2,000 doulas, nurses, Pacific c, Pacific Birth Collective o pacificbirthcollective@gmail.com pacificbirthcollective.org and childbirth educators found that almost 90%had witnessed a healthcare provider conducting procedures"without giving a woman a choice or time to consider,"and nearly 60%had observed providers performing procedures "explicitly against the wishes of the woman."Numerous studies show that women,particularly women of color, are less likely to have their medical concerns taken seriously by doctors. I am also attaching a letter received by one of our Midwifery preceptors on O'ahu from the Midwifery College of Utah, one of the schools which HRS 457-J is mandating that our local women attend in order to be recognized as a licensed midwife in Hawai'i. This letter represents one of many addressing the roots of racism and supremacy on which many of these institutions are based. We respectfully ask that you pass Resolution 57-23 for all of these reasons. Mahalo, Kiana Rowley Pacific Birth Collective Vice President EST, 19110 MIDWIVES COLLEGE OF UTAH MIDWIFINO MIDWIVES Monday,January 9, 2023 Dear Stakeholder: Recent conversations among known midwives have brought a deeper attention to the structural and institutional racism within midwifery communities across our country. Midwives College of Utah (MCU) boldly denounces the harmful comments that have been brought to light, and we share in the outrage that the role that racism, implicit bias, and microaggressions unfortunately continue to play in the midwifery profession, in midwifery care, and in midwifery education. Words have power. The racially hostile conversation between hi hly visible midwives continues x riences and culture to allow a system of disenfranchisement,which refuses to understand the experiences Pe of those vulnerable populations, particularly the Black community, that keeps the community marginalized, and their concerns unrecognized. Those who uphold these beliefs have no place at MCU. It is appalling that we, as a midwifery community, continue to go down this road allowing true sustainable progress of racial justice and equity to escape us. JILL midwives, midwifery educators, midwifery leaders, and other birth workers must take ownership of these inequities and work diligently to redress. This requires us to trust, listen to understand and not respond, as well as to acknowledge the experiences of Black, Brown, and other people of color. We must believe people of color when they say they are harmed by actions,inactions, and words. We must engage in courageous and uncomfortable conversations that address the root cause of racial disharmony, beginning with unpacking white supremacy, privilege, and fragility. These conversations must remove the defensiveness that is typically associated with addressing racial harm and allow for people of color to make recommendations on how to heal and repair the harm that is done. It is our hope that each and every one of you will stand with MCU in addressing and dismantling the systemic, structural, and institutional racism that continues to plague not only the midwifery community but our nation as a whole. Yours In Solidarity, Kristi Ridd-Young,President Whitney Mesyef,Director of Compliance Dr. Jermain Cooper, Vice President of Student Success &Institutional Equity Megan Koontz, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean