Illinois lags in access to midwives

Choices for birthing women in Illinois are pretty slim. In fact, in many areas, there is only one game in town: An OB performing a litigation-driven delivery at a hospital. True, many women actually want to be "delivered," but what if you didn't? What if you wanted to actually seek a caregiver that believed in "helping you give birth," with evidence-based maternity practices? Many couples in Illinois already do seek out the services of a midwife. But since the Illinois State Medical Society doesn't believe that women should have access to that kind of maternity care, they are lobbying fast and furious to prevent a bill from passing out of committee that would provide licensure for Certified Professional Midwives to legally practice in Illinois. Indeed, the ISMS has actively lobbied our representatives every year for over two decades, to prevent birthing women from having access to this, and other birthing options, including Free-Standing Birthing Centers, and insurance reimbursement for independent midwife-attended births. This, despite the fact that over half the country DOES have this kind of care available to its' citizens, in addition to several more that regulate by judicial interpretation of their statue. Why should our legislators listen only to this high-paid self-interest lobby group? Why have our legislators ignored the huge grass roots statewide movement to demand open access to Certified Professional Midwives? I don't know ... perhaps it is because we are not big campaign contributors like the ISMS. We are only simple voters. Who are they supposed to represent, anyway?

Becky Coolidge

Island Lake