Make your Amazon.com purchase count

A big thank you to all the midwives, student midwives, and midwifery supports who participated in the 2008 Annual Meeting and Lobby Day. Over 60 participants were part of the 75 meetings with legislators and their staff, and we got positive feedback from many participants.

As has become our tradition the night before Lobby Day, midwives had a family style Italian dinner at Mangia's Restaurant in Albany. This gave us an opportunity to catch up with friends and colleagues and strategize for the next day's event.

Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, Chair of the Assembly Health Commitee, spoke to those assembled. He discussed the "Doctors Across New York" program, which grants loan forgiveness to physicians who provide care in underserved areas. How can we work with legislators to expand this program to include midwives, who provide care to women, including primary care, throughout their lifetimes? He updated us on the Nurse Family Partnership program and the medical malpractice crisis. Thank you Assemblymember Gottfried, for your continued strong support of midwives in New York State.

Assemblymember Richard Gottfried, 75th Assembly District

Seantar Kemp Hannon spoke about the New York State budget, stressing that while hospitals may not be happy about the changes in the budget, they are beginning to accept them. While admitting that obstetric service providers in general are facing difficulties, as inusrance rates increase and the medical malpractice situation is considered, he believes that midwives are part of the solution. The government has an obligation to provide quality care that people can afford, and families are still having babies despite the fact that OB practitioners are leaving the state or choosing to not practice OB due to losses in revenue and prohibitive malpractice insurance costs. We will move forward as we begin to focus on preventive care and primary care, and the discussion will hopefully continue to include midwives. Thank you Senator Hannon for your continued strong support of midwives in New York State.

Senator Kemp Hannon, Senator 6th District (Nassau County)

Ceil Stearns briefed us on the ABCs of lobbying, providing guidance for participants who are new to lobbying and seasoned midwifery lobbyists alike.

Cecilia Stearns, LM

Our lobbyists Tricia Asara and Beth Sacco gave all of us a legislative update, so that we were prepared to go into our appointments for the day.

Tricia Asaro, Beth Sacco, and immediate past President of NYSALM MaryAnne Laffin

NYSALM was pleased to honor Dr. Jacques Moritz, OB/GYN at St. Luke's / Roosevelt Hospital in New York City. Dr. Moritz has proven to be a great supporter of midwives. In his speech accepting the award, he stressed the spirit of collaboration among midwives and OB/GYNs, the choices that women make, and the challenges of the midwife / OB relationship. Dr. Moritz proudly showed the documentary "The Business of Being Born" to the women's health staff at Roosevelt and received some of the same negative feedback that midwives often face when interacting with providers who may have a different perspective or experience in the providing obstetric care. He has always been an advocate for midwives providing the majority of OB care for women who have a normal, uncomplicated pregnancy, and he continues to do so despite the backlash from his own department. Thank you, Dr. Moritz!

Laura Zeidenstein loves working with Dr. Moritz and was proud to introduce him.

James Dunleavy, PT, MS, President of the New York Physical Therapist Association, was our guest speaker during the Annual Meeting. We are pleased to have worked with the PTs in New York State to pass legislation last year which allows midwives to refer directly to Physical Therapists and bring our collaborative working relationship closer. Mr. Dunleavy outlined some of the conditions that midwifery patients may encounter which could benefit from physical therapy, including fibromyalgia, osteoporosis, incontinence, and, during pregnancy, spinal issues, sciatica, and generalized back pain due to the postural changes of pregnancy. The current challenges for PTs involve payment issues, including challenges relative to reimbursement, limitations within their own practice act, and achieving direct access for patients. To find a PT in your area, visit the women’s health section at www.APTA.org.

James Dunleavy, PT, MS

As always, we welcome legislators and their staffers to our wine & cheese event at the end of the day. This gives midwives and student midwives an opportunity to chat more casually with legislators over hors d'oeuvres and New York State wine.

Patricia Burkhardt was honored, on the verge of her retirement, for her service to the New York midwifery community as the Program Director for New York University's midwifery program and as a steadfast advocate for midwifery and women's issues throughout the years. Thank you, Pat!

Pat Burkhardt, LM

We got so much positive feedback from the midwives who participated in Lobby Day! We have discovered that after eight years of lobbying, legislators and their staff have come to know who midwives are and what we do - there are many fewer meeting where we have to explain our role in women's health care, and more visits where we discuss the current issues facing midwifery in New York State. We welcome you to Lobby Day next year and ask you to keep up the good work - providing excellent care for women and their families throughout the state!!

Lobbying group for Brooklyn, NY

Lobbying group for Queens, NY

Faith Reimers prepares a thank you note for her legislator.

Kathy Price, Helene Thompson-Scott, Cheryl DelaSala, and Rosemary Janofsky

s

Kristin Walsh, current NYSALM President, honors MaryAnne Laffin, outgoing President, for her nine years of ourstanding service to NYSALM. Thank you, MaryAnne!