# Midwife in need of support!



## indiegirl (Apr 15, 2002)

Dear Families,

Please send faxes,emails, or call Dept of Health employees
and/or your legislators ASAP in support of midwife Shaheeda Pierce, whose
license is
being threatened next week in a dept of health hearing for her attendance at
a breech birth. Mothers and babies are fine. A surgeon had complained that
to
the state that all breech babies must now be born via surgical birth,
because the obstetricians have decided so.

It is now impossible to obtain a non-surgical breech birth at Seattle and
Tacoma, WA area hospitals. Shaheeda is the only person attending births on
her rural island of 10,000 people. No other doctors or midwives provide
maternity care there past 6 months of pregnancy. If the state takes away her
license, which is what they propose, then she could only attend women for
free as an unlicensed midwife. Ferry boats don't run to and from her island
in the middle of the night, and the island has no bridge. Many women would
have to have their babies unassisted or with EMTs if Shaheeda lost her
license and did not practice for free, unlicensed.

There is no Washington law or rule that prohibits a midwife from attending
breeches. Many Washington midwives have attended breech births through the
years.

Another Washington midwife is being formally charged for attending women who
have had a cesarean before- also not illegal for midwives. Once again, a
surgeon filed an opinion that women who have had cesareans are now high risk
and should not be attended by anyone but a surgeon.

Please call, or speak from your heart, to any of the attached officials, and
also to your legislator.

Ask them to drop all charges and allegations against Shaheeda Pierce. Tell
them that the Dept of Health is endangering community safety by trying to
eliminate midwives, and the midwives have not broken any laws.

Tell them you value families' right and responsibility to make their own
choices.

Please ask for an independent audit of the midwifery dept, who has spent all
its money for 5 years prosecuting licensed and unlicensed midwives- now the
dept is bankrupt and no one is held accountable for this misuse of funds.

Please act soon- the hearing is Sept 19-21, 9 am each day, if you can
attend.
At: Dept of Health
310 Israel Rd SE (new room assigned: 152)
Tumwater, WA 98501

Please attend if you possibly can- the state intends to make this a test
case to see if obstetricians can define women's access to midwives for
non-cesarean birth> Cesarean rates are 30% and climbing!

Please send any donations for legal expenses to:

Shaheeda Pierce
10307 SW Cemetery Rd
Vashon Island, WA 98070
206-463-6246

Feel free to circulate this to homebirth supporters.

Some of the experts testifying in Shaheeda's case are: Ina May Gaskin,
Rahima Baldwin Dancy, Dr. Marsden Wagner of the World Health Organization,
Mabel Dzata, a representative from North American Registry of Midwives, Anne
Frye, Holly Scholles, approx 7 Washington midwives, representative from
International Cesarean Awareness Network, and more.

If you have a letterhead, please use it.
If you have letters behind your name use them.

Public Health <mailto







[email protected];>
Mary Selecky
Secretary
Health Department
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
1112 SE Quince St.
PO Box 47890
Olympia, WA 98504-7890
(360)236-4030
(360)664-0064 TTY
(306)586-7424 FAX

Regulatory Agency Governing Nurse-Midwifery (why r they governing non-nurse
midwives?)
Paula Meyer, RN, MSN, Executive Dir.
Washington State Nursing Care Quality
Assurance Commission
Dept. of Health
[email protected] <mailto







[email protected]>
1300 Quince Street SE
Olympia, WA 98504-7864
(360) 236-4740
(360) 236-4738 FAX

Kendra Pitzler <mailto:[email protected]>
Manager, Midwifery Dept
PO Box 47864
Olympia, WA 98504-7864
FAX: 360-236-4738
[email protected]

[email protected]

Governor Christine Gregoire fax: 360-753-4110 Brian
Sonntag, State Auditor (if asking 360-664-0157 For audit of Midwifery Dept.)
Alice Blado, Assistant Attorney General fax: 360-586-3564


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## daekini (Jun 17, 2004)

oh my!!!


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## indiegirl (Apr 15, 2002)

Caravaning to Oly w/other mamas on Wednesday. PM me for details.

Jesse


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## hotmamacita (Sep 25, 2002)

Please update us.








: for Shaheeda.


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## Earth Angel (Dec 13, 2004)

So....are the results in yet? What happened? Please update when you can. This is such a horrible story....I hope it turns out for the best.


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## nikirj (Oct 1, 2002)

I got this too late to do anything, but have we heard the results of this hearing yet?


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## calicokatt (Mar 14, 2005)

Just found this and am deeply disturbed. PLEASE somebody update!!


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## indiegirl (Apr 15, 2002)

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...0&page=2&pp=20

I don't know the outcome, but here's a thread where one might be posted. I went be had to leave early on day 3 because my kids were too hard to manage in the courthouse.

Jesse


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