ACTION ALERT: SAVE HOME BIRTH IN NY - from Choices In Childbirth

We need your help!

At midnight tomorrow, April 30th, the majority of New York City's home birth midwives will no longer be able to practice legally. Unless immediate action is taken by the Governor and the NYS Department of Health the women that these midwives serve will be denied access to a home birth with their chosen provider and these providers will no longer be able to practice legally in NYS.


YOU MUST ACT NOW to save the home birth option for New York Women:
Call:
311
Wendy Saunders, Executive Deputy Commissioner for the NY State Department of Health, appointed by Governor Paterson. 518-474-8390
Larry Mokhiber, he Secretary of the Board of Midwifery (518-474-3817, extension 130)
And say....


With the closing of St. Vincent's Hospital, half of the licensed, highly trained home birth midwives serving NYC have lost their Written Practice Agreement (WPA). St Vincent's was the only Hospital in the city supportive of a woman's right to choose a home birth and willing to sign a WPA. In the weeks since it's announced closure, these midwives have reached out to hospitals and obstetricians all across the city looking for support, with no success. Please help us to save the homebirth option in New York.

People can also email the Governor at http://www.state.ny.us/governor/contact/GovernorContactForm.php.

We are in our final hours! Please forward this email and help us flood 311 and the Governor's office with calls supporting home birth.


And while you're at it, please sign our petition supporting the Midwifery Modernization Act which will remove the WPA from the midwifery law effectively removing this barrier to accessing midwifery care.


http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/midwifery/

Women...Let's Heal Ourselves

I wrote this powerful piece on women's wellness some years ago that was published in Inner Realm Magazine. It continues to inspire me in my own personal development and professional work in women's health. Enjoy...

Women...Let Us Heal Ourselves.Breast and Womb Cancers, Cysts, Fibroids, Endometriosis, Hysterectomy, Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Unfortunately, the list goes on to disclose a number of dis-eases women may face in their lifetimes...women of all races, nationalities, and socio-economic status.


As I observe and listen to women speak and media information, it is as if when we think of ourselves as women we automatically commit to the fear of possibly getting these manifestations of imbalance. How did we get here? Do we look at society's influence? A society that fails to celebrate the true essence of femininity by suggesting that mothers, sisters, aunts, and wives take out their wombs than try to save and heal them. Still, women cannot be preyed upon unless permission is given.

As women, I question how much we truly love being women. The magnificent, divine powers that we possess tend to be suppressed for the sake of others and as a means to remain a victim to past experiences. A past that may have included sexual inappropriateness; unsatisfying parental guidance and support and sibling competition, the main ingredients that tend to shape us from earlier on. To truly own our power would require courage and an unapologetic stand of who we are and what we are capable of creating and being responsible for in our lives.


These manifestations of pain do reflect the body's language of expressing that something requires acknowledgement and healing. Some belief system about oneself and life has festered and gone unaddressed and has now landed in a way that can no longer be ignored, unless one chooses. Praises to the human body for being so honest and loving.The answer does not lie in taking a pill or looking at our doctor as God, or giving our power over to others to define our lives.

It is crucial to understand that there are many contributing emotional and mental based factors that perpetuate these health challenges. Let us commit to defining ourselves from a place of truth and heal from within. Let us own the following:

Let us be in full accountability and responsibilities of our bodies, minds and emotions.

Let us be aware of how delicate and powerful our wombs and breasts are.

Let us radically change our diets and how we perceive food.

Let us utilize safe and gentle holistic methods to care for our health and well-being.

Let us come to understand that mind, body, spirit are one, they do not work independent of each other.

Let us stop hating other women for then we hate ourselves.

Let us understand that we do not have to reveal our bodies in order to feel accepted and validated.

Let us understand that we do not have to cover up our bodies in shame and self-loathing.

Let us learn to let go of negative thought patterns, expectations, and people that block us from hearing our higher voice.

Let us eliminate fear and inject love.

Let us be warriors, spiritual warriors and create balance and harmony in every aspect of our lives.

Let us talk to our wombs and breasts and invoke words of love and healing.

Let us stop living in denial and honestly face our choices and ourselves.

Let us view our breasts as nourishments of life, not as inanimate objects.

Let us use our ability to visualize and heal our bodies.

Let us be selective in who we choose to enter our vaginas, the passageway of life and feminine power.

Let us embrace our menstrual cycle as a monthly reminder of our spiritual powers, not as a monthly curse.

Let us teach these affirmations to the girl children.


With Love,

Nicole



Copyright 2006-2007 Nicole Angela Tucker