The MAWS eNews	February 22nd, 2015

midwives association of washington state

What a great start to 2015! This year's Lobby Day had an incredible turnout of over 50 people and so many great experiences were had by all. Did you get to go? We'd love to hear from you! If you didn't get to go but are still curious about the event, check out our website and make sure to watch the Lobby Day 101 Webinar. There are also some incredible PowerPoint presentations that help you understand the day. We'll let everyone know as soon as we get a date for Lobby Day 2016!

We are also off to a great start planning this years' conferences. As usual, we will be holding both a Spring Conference and a Fall Conference with our annual meeting. We will be announcing the official date, location and speaker line-up this next month, stay tuned!

Address Update!

Please note that MAWS' address has changed. Please send all MAWS related mail to:

MAWS

PO BOX 605

Roslyn, WA 98941

For all other ways of getting in contact with us, please visit our website's contact page by clicking here

In this issue

:: MAWS Address Update

:: DOH WHALES Project Update

:: Digital and Social Media

:: Call for Volunteers!

:: Continuing Education

:: Birth Center Survey

:: Funding for Birth Doula Services

:: Obamacare Loophole

:: ACOG Affirms Birth Centers

Department of Health WHALES Project Update

The WHALES project is progressing! The birth registration prototype is nearly ready for testing. Training for users will begin in May while the new system is piloted by select hospitals and midwives across the state. Once we go live with the new birth registration system, the existing birth registration system (BR3) will be retired.

Although registration of births will shift from BR3 to WHALES late spring, issuance of birth certificates will continue through the existing vital records system until 2016.

Work to move historical records from our current vital records system (Bedrock) into WHALES will begin just as we are wrapping up on birth registration. The complete transfer of data and issuance functions to WHALES is planned for early 2016. At that time, WHALES will also replace the Vital Records Web Access system (VRWA).

We will also need local health jurisdictions to pilot test the certificate issuing functions of WHALES at this time next year. It is never too early to let us know if your LHJ would like to volunteer!

Email whales@doh.wa.gov for more information.

Click here to read the whole WHALES newsletter

Professional Use of Digital and Social Media

"Digital and social media quickly are becoming universal in modern medical practice. Data sharing, online reviews and ratings, and digital privacy concerns likely will become a part of most every physician's practice, regardless of his or her use of social media. The widespread use of social media in the United States brings unprecedented connectivity that opens new horizons for physicians, ranging from interactions with patients, to communication with peers and the public, to novel approaches to research."

Click here to read the full document.

Call For Talented Volunteers!

MAWS, as most of you know, is 90%+ run by volunteers. This means we rely on them a bunch! We are looking for a few people willing to lend us their strengths and help us make MAWS even better! Here are just some of the positions we are hoping for help with:

Volunteer Coordinator: This person would keep track of and correspond with the volunteers for our conferences and hold the volunteer coordinator's email address. They would also help with pre-conference packet stuffing and day-of conference volunteer coordinating.

Fundraising Committee Chair and Members: The fundraising committee exists to ensure that MAWS secures adequate funding to pursue its mission. The chair would collaborate with it's members to brainstorm fundraising events and other fundraising activities. Members would be required to be active participants in the committee.

Continuing Education

GOLD Midwifery Online Conference

GOLD Conferences attract thousands of delegates every year, and we look forward to being able to bring you the latest research on midwifery care from around the world. Through our unique online format, we provide the opportunity to receive education from the world's leading researchers, clinicians, and educators while remaining close to your workplace and clients. Participate in LIVE lectures or view recordings at a time and place that best suits you.

Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders

PALS presents this Advanced DoulaTraining,

taught by Heidi Koss
Saturday, February 28th, 2015
8:30 am - 12:30pm
2100 24th Ave S, Seattle WA 98144, Community Room A Register here

Birth Center Survey

Have you had the chance to take our survey on how to best handle the representation of birth centers in Washington State? We would love all the feedback you can give us.

This is only a 5 question survey and should only take a few minutes of your time. Thank you!

Please visit survey by clicking here

HSD Announces $75,000 to Fund Birth Doula Services for Low Income Women

"...The Seattle Human Services Department announced $75,000 in available funding to nonprofit agencies for birth doula services for low income women of color. The funding is available through request for qualifications (RFQ) process and is open to nonprofit, public, or private business models that have the capacity, certification, and experience to provide birth doula services.

Birth doulas will provide support to pregnant women before, during, and in the weeks following birth. Services include supportive home visits in the last trimester of pregnancy, attendance during labor and delivery, and postpartum home visits after babies are born. In working with vulnerable populations, Birth Doulas also serve as cultural and relational brokers with public health and other medical providers, social services, and government agencies.

The selected provider organization must have three years of experience providing birth doula services, be currently providing birth doula services at the time of application and must demonstrate capacity for immediate implementation of birth doula services upon contract award. Priority participants are low-income pregnant women of color, who may also be immigrant, refugee, homeless, or limited English speaking, and live in the City of Seattle."

For the rest of the qualifications, read the whole article here.

The Obamacare Loophole That May Be Denying

Coverage to Pregnant Women

Have you been seeing this in your practice?

"Although Obamacare has made big strides in expanding coverage for women's health services, including mandating maternity coverage in the plans offered on the marketplaces, some pregnant women may be falling through the cracks.

A coalition of nonprofit organizations that includes Planned Parenthood, the March of Dimes, and Young Invincibles says the Obama administration needs to tweak its current special enrollment policy, giving pregnant women the opportunity to sign up for new plans year round.

Right now, there are several big life changes - turning 26 years old, graduating from college and losing a student health plan, moving to a new home, getting married, and having or adopting a baby - that qualify Americans for a special enrollment period outside of the regular three-month window to sign up for coverage during open enrollment. They're known as "qualifying life events" under the health law.

But when it comes to maternity coverage, the groups say there's something of a loophole.

ACOG Affirms Birth Centers, Midwives

ACOG affirmed all types of midwives - including CPMs, CNMs, CMs, and LMs - as appropriate primary maternity care providers in the birth center setting, according to the recent joint consensus statement released by ACOG and the Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine.

In this recent write up by Science and Sensibility, MANA applauds the ACOG statement. MAWS joins MANA in calling on ACOG to expand their definition of place of birth for low-risk women to include the home setting.

Are You on Facebook?

"Like" the MAWS Page!

If you're on Facebook, visit us and "like" our page, and encourage your friends to "like" us, too. This is a great way to get the word out on MAWS' legislative work and events.

This is your newsletter. Please send any feedback or suggestions to Amanda Anderson. We welcome suggestions for future topics, popular articles or research to include.

Would you like your story shared in the MAWS newsletter? Please email us!