June 3, 2008
 

We are just a week away from IMCHC’s Annual Luncheon and 20th Anniversary Kickoff on June 10th at Maggiano’s Little Italy in Chicago. If you haven’t reserved your ticket, there are still a few seats available for this event.

Our featured speaker, Jennifer Block, will talk about her book Pushed: The Painful Truth about Childbirth and Modern Day Maternity Care, and how some of her findings and recommendations tie into IMCHC’s work to reduce maternal and infant mortality.

In Pushed, Ms. Block presents a full picture of maternity care in America. She traveled the country to witness several births (from a planned cesarean to an underground home birth) and to report the experiences of women today. She finds that:

• More than half of women who give birth in the U.S. are given drugs to induce or speed up labor.
• For nearly a third of mothers, childbirth is major surgery: the cesarean section.
• For women who want to avoid the hospital, the alternatives can be hard to come by, unaffordable or even illegal.

Luncheon tickets are $30 for IMCHC members and $35 for non-members. Download a brochure from IMCHC’s website or contact Lilah Handler at 312-491-8161 for more information.

Legislative Updates

From the Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and Human Rights:

• Residential Treatment and Transition Center for Women – $1.2 million appropriated to the Department of Corrections to fund a pilot community-based diversion program for non-violent female offenders who are mothers.
• Supportive Housing – $4 million added to the Supportive Housing Program within the Department of Human Services to fund services for new supportive housing units.
• TANF cash grant payment levels – A 9% increase in Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) cash grant payments included, effective July 1, 2008.
• Refugee Social Services - $541,000 included to maintain the current level of resettlement and mental health services to refugees in Illinois.

Several bills IMCHC tracked also passed the legislature and await the Governor’s signature.

They include:
HB4456 – Creates the Commission for Children and Youth to work collaboratively and strategically across diverse service delivery systems to support and enhance a more intentional, aligned, coordinated and comprehensive set of children and youth service systems in Illinois.
HB4369 – Creates the Commission on the Elimination of Poverty that will come up with a plan to cut extreme poverty in half by 2015 in Illinois
HB1432 – Amends the Illinois insurance code to ensure mental health parity for eating disorders by classifying anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa as “serious mental illnesses”.
SB2012 – Creates a task force to make recommendations on reforming the delivery system for chronic disease promotion and health promotion; ensuring adequate funding for the infrastructure and delivery of programs; and the role of promotion and chronic disease prevention in support of state spending on health care.
SB2472 – Revises advertising requirements for energy drinks that contain more than 0.5% alcohol by volume.

Email Kathy Chan or contact her at 312-491-8161x24 with questions.

Summary of School Health Center Conference

Archived Topics

Visit our newsletter archive to read about recently listed articles from past issues. Past topics include:
•    Court Ruling Issued for Health Care Expansions
•    Upcoming CAIC Immunization Toolkit Trainings

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Campaign for Better Health Care’s Summer Gathering

The Campaign for Better Health Care’s Summer Gathering will take place on Monday, June 9th at La Decima Musa Restaurant, 1901 S. Loomis in Chicago from 4:30pm – 6:30pm. Join your colleagues in the fight for health care justice for refreshments and speakers, as we reflect on the past legislative year, and plan for the next!

Visit CBHC's website or call Kathleen Duffy at 312-913-9449.

“Leadership, Legacy and Community” Maternal and Child Health Retreat – July 16-18

Early registration for Leadership, Legacy, and Community: A Retreat To Advance Maternal and Child Health Scholarship and Practice from July 16-18, 2008 at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) will be available through June 13, 2008.

Leadership, Legacy, and Community is a professional development retreat designed for interdisciplinary, intergenerational MCH practitioners and scholars. In this retreat, we will convene to discuss, make recommendations and identify strategies to address major evidence-based challenges we face in MCH. Visit UIC’s website to register online.

Please email Kris Risley or call her at 312-996-2875 with any questions.

PA Court Rules Lay Midwife Can Continue Home Birth Practice

A Pennsylvania Court recently ruled that lay midwife, Diana Goslin, was not practicing medicine without a license by assisting with home births. This court decision lifts a cease-and-desist order from the State Board of Medicine against Goslin. Goslin was initially charged because she is not a nurse midwife, but a lay midwife, typically defined as midwives trained through apprenticeship.

Pennsylvania only allows persons with nursing degrees with licenses to practice midwifery, but state law does not prohibit the practice of lay midwifery. Nearly 50% of Pennsylvania's 3,481 out-of-hospital births were attended by lay midwives in 2004.

Source: National Partnership for Women and Families Daily Health Policy Report – May 28, 2008

MA High School Clinic Officials Resign, Cite Lack of Support for Contraception Program

A school health center medical director and primary nurse practitioner resigned from their positions last week after the center’s sponsoring hospital would not support a proposal to make contraceptives available at the school clinic.

The proposal was motivated by a spike in teen pregnancies at the host school, Gloucester High School, which currently has 17 pregnant teens in school, compared with four or five in a typical year. The clinic has also conducted 150 pregnancy tests since September 2007. Nearly 95% of Gloucester's students are enrolled in the clinic.

The proposal was prepared by the school health center advisory committee, which includes representatives from the school, pediatricians, the local health department and sponsoring hospital.

Hospital officials expressed concerns regarding liability if a student experienced side effects from hormonal contraception, the community's reaction to the proposed program and whether the community wanted such a program.

The school superintendent has said that if the "hospital's position is non-negotiable," the school district "will seek to open up an alternative route for the state funding to the health center."

Source: National Partnership for Women and Families – May 28th, 2008

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Immunization Toolkit Training Sessions
Chicago Area Immunization Campaign/Chicago Department of Public Health
June 6th and June 20th at IMCHC’s office
1256 W. Chicago Avenue
RSVP to Melissa Ponce, CAIC Project Associate

IMCHC Annual Meeting and Luncheon – 20th Anniversary Kickoff
June 10th at Maggiano’s Little Italy
516 N. Clark Street in Chicago
Tickets are $30 for members and $35 for non-members
Reserve your tickets online or by emailing Lilah Handler or calling her at 312-491-8161

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IMCHC 20th Anniversary Benefit
September 10th at the Garfield Park Conservatory, Chicago
If you are interested in sponsorship or host committee opportunities,
please contact Lilah Handler.

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