With the close of the 2008 legislative session, we begin a new leg of our journey on the road to access to skilled midwives for all SD families. We made huge progress this past year. SB34, which provides an avenue for CNMs to attend home births, passed both houses with an overwhelming majority and has been signed into law by Governor Rounds. The CNMs put in a tremendous amount of work getting this agency bill which was supported by the Dept. of Health, Board of Nursing and Medical Board. All the work you did throughout the year contacting legislators, responding to articles and attending SDSCO events also contributed to this success. The legislators have noticed all you are doing and many really want to help home birth families.

SDSCO plans to make the most of this new access to CNMs in the state. Nationwide about 1% of CNMs attend home births. We will do what we can to recruit and support CNMs willing to assist home birth families in South Dakota. This will not deter us from our goal to get CPMs licensed in our State. Huge progress is being made across the country. As this newsletter goes to print there are still several states with a good chance of passing CPM licensure bills this year and the Big Push for Midwives is making national news. We are now part of a national effort and the support we are receiving from veteran midwifery advocates from across the country is amazing!

Our South Dakota team of supporters continues to grow in experience, wisdom, and numbers. We welcome Travis and Chandelle Brink from Sturgis to the SDSCO board. They are SD natives who have moved back to the state to help us pass this important legislation. They made several lobbying trips to Pierre this year and furnished our rental house with a wireless network and a free Vonage phone. The board has appointed them to replace Ronda Kvigne who has resigned from the board to devote more time to her young family and new business. Ronda was instrumental in getting our plight on the front page of the Argus Leader. The timing of the article was amazing, coming out on February 26 – the same day Paul, Heather, Chandelle, and I were making the rounds at the Capitol. We spent the time thanking supportive legislators and asking those who voted against us, what would make a differene for next year. We were well received, and our prime sponsor, Roger Hunt, was very pleased with the progress we have made this year. He encouraged us to keep doing what we are doing. It is working. It just takes time.

The Board has a strategy for the off-season to increase public awareness of the issue, educate the candidates, and gain leverage by working on key legislative campaigns. The timeline on page 5 outlines some of our ideas. One of the first things we would like to do is hold regional meetings across the state in early May. That will give us a chance to hear your ideas and help implement our strategies at the local level. I envision these as informal meetings with perhaps a potluck meal where we can socialize. It would also be a great time for individual meetings with local candidates and even local doctors to educate them on our issue.

We need you to accomplish our goals! We have a great core group, but we can’t do it without everyone’s help. With God’s grace and all of us working together I have no doubt that we will reach our goals. Please read the rest of the newsletter and let us know how you and your family will pitch in. We have enclosed an addressed envelope to make it easier for you to send in your membership dues. This is not a huge amount of money, but it really adds up. If everyone on our list would contribute their membership dues, we could concentrate all our efforts on our educational and legislative goals and not expend precious energy on fundraising. Thank you in advance for all your help.