I got this information from my Childbirth Collective group!
Please consider supporting us Doula's and of course the Mom's and Dad's that want us with them for their births!
The Mn Better Birth Coalition is sponsoring a Call-Fax-Email day on November 10 to notify our two Congressional Representatives who serve on health care committees in Washington, Al Franken and Betty McCollum, that we want Medicaid payment for doulas. We will ask them to introduce legislation to include doula care in the list of services covered by Medicaid, and to make it available through community-based non-profits such as Everyday Miracles, the Cultural Wellness Center, and Birthing Ways Doula Connection in Duluth. Of course, it could also be available through clinics or other programs not yet formed, but these three are up-and-running models we should support and promote.
Every woman deserves a doula, and taxpayers deserve evidence-based preventive care for our public dollars.
Forward this email to everyone you know who supports doula care for all women. Post it on your website. Put it on your Facebook Page. On November 10, communicate with Congress about doula care.
Senator Al Franken: Washington Office: 202-224-5641; St. Paul Office: 651-221-1016
St. Peter Office: 507-931-5813
Email via website: http://www.franken. senate.gov
Representative Betty McCollum: Washington Office: 202-225-6631;
fax: 202-225-1968
St. Paul Office: 651-224-9191; fax: 651-224-3056
All should call and fax; only her district can email via
Website: www.mccollum. house.gov
Need more info? Read on. Watch for the party invitation at Everyday Miracles, Nov 10, 11AM to 7:30 PM. Email and call from there with friends and families. Special treats!
Why work for Medicaid payment for doulas?
One-third of births in Minnesota are paid for with tax dollars. Doula care improves outcomes and lowers cost, most dramatically for low-income mothers and their babies. Randomized, controlled trials show that women receiving doula care are:
a.. 26% to 50% less likely to have a cesarean birth, at a savings of over $10K per birth
b.. 41% less likely to give birth with a vacuum or extractor, reducing the risk of damage to babies and mothers that is directly related to those procedures
c.. 28% less likely to use any analgesia or anesthesia, saving up to $3000 per birth not including the avoidance of side effects of the medications for mother and baby
d.. Fewer admissions to NICU where costs are typically $1000-$2500 per day not including treatment
e.. Improved outcomes for low-income women decreases disparities in health care.
Why now? Why November 10"
The election will be over, and it’s time to prepare for the 2011 legislative session. Coalition members represent the full range of the political spectrum, but all agree that “every woman deserves a doula” and doula care will save public health care dollars. November 10 is a workday for Congress.
Why contact Franken and McCollum?
Senator Franken and Representative McCollum sit on health care committees in the United States Congress, and thus have shown a special interest in health care. Minnesota has no representatives on either the Senate Finance Committee or the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, the committees that oversee Medicaid and Medicare. But our representatives can introduce bills in any area, and these two have a special interest in health, women, and children.
What should we tell them?
Start by saying you want Medicaid payment for doula care, that it should be available to women through community-based non-profit organizations like Everyday Miracles, the Wellness Center, Birthing Ways that serve birthing women and their families, not just clinics because doulas work with all the medical establishments and providers serving pregnant women. Ask them for a positive response to the letter they received from the Minnesota Better Birth Coalition (if you want to see the letter send a request to betterbirthmn@ gmail.com) Add whatever it is that motivates you to support doula care for all women.
How do we contact Franken and Mccollum?
Senator Al Franken: Washington Office: 202-224-5641; St. Paul Office: 651-221-1016
St. Peter Office: 507-931-5813
Email via website: http://www.franken. senate.gov
Representative Betty McCollum: Washington Office: 202-225-6631;
fax: 202-225-1968
St. Paul Office: 651-224-9191; fax: 651-224-3056
All should call and fax; only her district can email Website: www.mccollum. house.gov
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