Feminism Is For Everyone

Jan 22, 2009,9:11 PM

Virginia Feminists in Action

Thought you might like to know about some very anti-choice legislation that may be going to the General Assembly this season. No, not about abortion choice, but it is about reproductive choice. When you read what I will write below, many of you will think this has nothing to do with you. You may lose interest in the topic or think it is too "out there" for you. But it is about choice and it is a very very real feminist issue in the United States today.

Del. Matthew Lohr out of Harrisonburg is considering pushing two bills that would restrict women from midwifery care in Virginia.

Why this applies to you:
When I was your age I thought the safest place to have a baby was in a hospital with an OB. OB/GYN care was the only care I knew, it was the best care, and I'd have nothing but the best for me and my baby...whenever that would be. I have learned a lot since my days at UVA. I can recommend numerous books and articles that discuss the countless studies done worldwide that prove that most women and babies have better birth outcomes with a professional midwife's care compared to that of an OB. OB care should be reserved for high risk women and quite simply, most women are not high risk. If bills like this get passed into laws, by the time some of you are choosing a care provider for a pregnancy you may be more limited by VA laws (laws that have come a long way I may add) than you may like. You may read many of the books I did. You may see The Business of Being Born and question our country's norms for childbirth. But if you choose to have a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) by your side instead of an OB/GYN, well, you may have to have your baby in another state.

It is about choice and it is about optimal care for mothers and babies. What really gets me upset is how bills like this even get started. Did a bunch of mothers complain about their CPM care? Is there a problem with a few naughty midwives that has made Del. Lohr so enthusiastic about limiting our access to midwives? If so I haven't heard of anything like that....I hear that the doctors are worried about the CPMs not giving quality care. Hmmm. The idea that doctors are more worried about the health and well-being of women and their babies than the women themselves is such a reflection of how women are treated in this country. Do they really think women who choose midwives or to have their babies at home are uneducated? Quite the contrary!

To learn more about these bills or midwifery, please see Midwife Monologues. It is the blog of two amazing Charlottesville midwives. Please consider sending Del. Lohr a very quick email asking him to pull HB 2163 and HB 2167. It is more the quantity of emails than the length/quality. Another thing you can do is start supporting your local Certified Nurse Midwives by getting your annual exams with them instead of a doctor. You will immediately experience the difference between the midwives' model of care vs. the medical model. You too may want a CPM someday and it is never too early to learn about the differences in the care between the three types of providers.