By Chandelle Brink Growing up in the great state of South Dakota, my husband and I always considered it to be a matter of pride to say, “I am a South Dakotan”. South Dakotans pride ourselves in hard work, protecting our freedoms, personal responsibility, and logical thinking. In most cases, that is still true. However, I was shocked to find out what was happening “back home” while we began our family out of state. After having 3 wonderful home births with two different midwives, it was obvious that is the way birth is meant to be- a loving caring environment for BOTH the mother and the child. Midwives are the experts in normal, healthy birth which allows them to identify issues sooner. My midwives were a source of positive reinforcement that everything was going the way God intended it to. In all pregnancies my midwives were proactive in many areas, they guided me to better nutrition to prevent unnecessary bleeding and encouraged protein in plentiful amounts to prevent a host of problems. When we moved back to South Dakota, there was no question that we would have our children in the safety and security of our home. We knew that midwives were scarce up in the “north country” and had heard that most if not all were practicing only in hospitals. Shortly after moving back home, we found out the exciting news that we would be bringing another child into this world. That excitement soon turned to question – Would we be able to find an experienced person to assist in the birth of our child? The yellow pages did not have a midwife section like Missouri. ? We heard of a few practicing midwives across the border, but knew the home setting was safest for our family.

Please call your legislators and invite them to come and see the eye-opening movie, The Business of Being Born.

Rapid City – December 11 – 6:30 pm at the Brinks home 22767 Partridge Lane, Box Elder (791-4277)

Please call your legislators and invite them to come and see the eye-opening movie, The Business of Being Born.

Yankton – December 8 – 6:30 pm at the Plaths home at 1204 W 17th St (665-7314)

Rapid City – December 11 – 6:30 pm at the Brinks home 22767 Partridge Lane, Box Elder (791-4277)

Sioux Falls – December 15 – 7pm at Elegant Mommy, 2109 W 49th St. (336-2493)

Aberdeen-TBA (contact 396-2348)
Brookings – TBA (contact 534-9821)

The elections are over. The legislators, including many new ones, will soon be heading to Pierre to cast their vote on the Home Birth Safety Act. What have you done to educate your legislators? Here are some suggestions to help you make sure your legislators know why they should vote for our bill.

1. If you don’t have internet, go to the library or have a friend print out the Lobbying Lessons put together by Dr. Heather Margaret. Look under the “Resource” heading at sdSafeBirth.org. These will give you a wealth of information and great pointers on how to talk to legislators. (New ones are being posted every week until January.)
While you are there print out the 2008 Handouts.
2. Network – share this information with family, friends, neighbors and co-workers. Ask them to send a note to their legislators if they agree that home birth families should be able to hire a skilled midwife. Write it for them if that helps.
3. Send your legislators a short, handwritten note congratulating them on winning their election. Let them know you are counting on their support for home birth families.
4. Invite them to one of the area Movie Nights which are being held around the state and come yourself.
5. Send them a Christmas card, reminding them how special birth is and asking them to help improve the safety for South Dakota’s home birth families by passing the Home Birth Safety Act.
6. Print off a copy of the Milbank Memorial Report (see page 8) and give it to one of your legislators (coordinate this with your District Contact).
7. Make plans to come to Pierre during the legislative session (January 13 – March 13).
a. Call Alaina (534-9821) and let her know when you are coming and whether you will be utilizing the gas fund or the rental house. She will make sure someone on the leadership team is there to help you connect with your legislators.