HR0431

LRB094 12324 DRJ 46272 r






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HOUSE RESOLUTION


 
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    WHEREAS, The Constitution of the State of Illinois provides 
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for "the health, safety and welfare of the people" and the 
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"opportunity for the fullest development of the individual"; 
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and

 
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    WHEREAS, Four thriving Illinois nurse-midwifery homebirth 
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practices have closed or discontinued homebirth services in the 
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past ten years; and
 
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    WHEREAS, One of these practices, Alivio Medical Center in 
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Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood, combined the services of 
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nurse-midwives and direct-entry midwives to provide innovative 
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and culturally-sensitive homebirth services for an 
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under-served, low-income, low-literacy, Mexican-American and 
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immigrant community (93 percent Medicaid patients) and was 
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recognized by the American College of Nurse Midwives' Kitty 
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Ernst Award in 1998, and won the Unicef Safe Motherhood 
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Initiative-USA Model Awards in 1999 and 2000; and
 
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    WHEREAS, Seventeen Illinois direct-entry midwifery 
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homebirth practices have closed following the issuance of cease 
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and desist orders in 1997; and
 
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    WHEREAS, While the above-mentioned closing of the 
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midwifery practices occurred for a variety of reasons, 
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including the malpractice crisis and the issuance of cease and 
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desist orders, the overall impact on families is a detrimental 
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reduction of maternity care options; and
 
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    WHEREAS, Legally recognized homebirth practices 
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(nurse-midwifery and/or physician practices) are found in only 
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5 of 102 Illinois Counties (Cook, Bureau, DuPage, Lake, and 
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Winnebago counties), and all of these practices are located in 
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the northern half of the State; and
 
 


 






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    WHEREAS, According to a survey of Illinois birth 
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certificates, in 2003, 738 Illinois births occurred without a 
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trained birth attendant (neither a medical person nor a 
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midwife); and
 
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    WHEREAS, Unattended birth is less safe than birth attended 
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by trained providers; and
 
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    WHEREAS, All well-designed homebirth studies show that for 
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women with low-risk pregnancies, planned homebirth attended by 
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a trained maternity care provider is as safe as hospital birth; 
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and
 
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    WHEREAS, Oprah Winfrey, J. D. Salinger, Roseanne Barr, 
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Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Duke Ellington, Mother Theresa, 
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Albert Einstein, Andy Warhol, U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch, and 
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Presidents Calvin Coolidge, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, 
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Richard Nixon, and John F. Kennedy were all born at home; and
 
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    WHEREAS, Cindy Crawford, Rikki Lake, Demi Moore, Lucy 
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Lawless, Meryl Streep, Lisa Bonet, Carol King, Pamela Anderson, 
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Jade Jagger, and Kelly Preston have all given birth at home; 
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therefore, be it

 
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    RESOLVED, BY THE  HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE 
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NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that 
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the House of Representatives  finds it unacceptable that many 
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Illinois mothers are without adequate maternity care 
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providers; and be it further

 
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    RESOLVED, That it is in the State's best interest to ensure 
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access to all safe maternity care options; and be it further
 
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    RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives recognizes 
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that home births are a healthy method of delivering babies; and 
 


 






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be it further
 
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    RESOLVED, That Illinois families, in order to best meet 
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personal needs and desires, should be free to choose among all 
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safe, nationally recognized maternity care options, including 
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free-standing birth centers and home birth; and be it further
 
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    RESOLVED, That as the General Assembly grapples with 
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solving the crisis
in OB/GYN service, the roles of midwives be 
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included in the discussion.