This year, ACNM's goal is to encourage Representative on the Energy & Commerce Committee and Senators on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee who have not yet cosponsored HR 1209/S 628, the Improving Access to Maternity Care Act, to take that important step.

To find out if your Representative or your Senators fall into this group, take a look at this gDoc.  If your legislator is listed there, then you have an opportunity!

If your legislators are not yet color coded as co-sponsors, use the contact information in the gDoc to reach out to their local staff and set up a meeting.

1.  Setting Up a Meeting

Requesting a meeting is easy and can typically be done via email or phone.  You need only ask for a few minutes of their time.  If possible, take other midwives with you, or reach out to your OB/GYN colleagues and take them along too.  ACNM and ACOG have worked arm in arm on this legislation and having both maternity care professionals in on the meeting would be powerful.

When requesting the meeting, identify yourself as a constituent, let them know you want to talk about HR 1209/S 628 and that the bill is about identifying areas of the country where there are shortages of full scope maternity care providers.

2.  Background Information

ACNM has provided talking points and background information on our site.  Read through some of the information before you go so you'll be familiar with the topic and bring along a printed version of the talking points to leave behind.  

3.  What to Say at the Meeting

If you haven't done one of these meetings before, don't worry.  You're the expert on this topic!  

• Start by giving them a brief overview of what a midwife is and what you do.  
• Let them know you want them to cosponsor HR 1209/S 628.  
• Tell them that the main point of the legislation is to identify areas of the country experiencing a shortage of full scope maternity care providers.  This is important because we are in the midst of what is going to be a worsening shortage of such providers and it is important to know where these shortages are most acute.  Also, the legislation would let the National Health Service Corps target the placement of maternity care providers to where they are most needed (without increasing expenditures).  
• When you close, let them know again that you are asking that they cosponsor the legislation.
• Ask when you can follow up to see what their decision on co-sponsorship has been.
• Thank them for their time and their work for you and their other constituents.

4.  Follow Up

After the meeting, send a thank you note to the legislator or staff person, thanking them for their time.  Then follow up at the agreed upon point to see what their decision is.  If they haven't yet decided, ask when you can call back again.  Finally, let ACNM's Director,  Advocacy and Government Affairs, Amy Kohl, know what happened.

Good luck!!