Please forward this template email to GetUp! to help save midwifery...

[BellyBelly]

>>>Please cut and paste the below email to campaigns@getup.org.au and let your friends and family know so they can do the same. We've done this before but they didn't have the numbers, now it's time to make sure we do...<<<


Dear GetUp!

I am writing to ask for GetUp's help. The government has passed a draft legislation that will effectively make homebirth illegal in Australia by July 2010. This removes women's right to choose how and where to birth their babies and forces women into a hospital or to freebirth at home with no trained support.

We want to highlight the absolute injustice of this move, which is driven by political and economic motives and not by concern for the safety and health of women and babies. A recent Dutch study of 500,000 women showed homebirth to be as safe as hospital birth. The reason that homebirth will become illegal is that all health practitioners must have indemnity insurance to be registered and currently the insurance companies will not offer this indemnity insurance to homebirth midwives.

The campaign's message is 'Protect women's right to choices in childbirth'

The campaign could ask members to contact the health minister and their Federal MP, and to attend the Save Homebirth Rally in Canberra on September 7.

The target audience is really all women and possible parents in Australia.

We need to act on this issue urgently as the draft proposal is already in parliament.

[BellyBelly]

Everyone please keep bumping this thread... we need numbers to make sure GetUp! see this as an issue many feel strongly about... they have rejected us before for not being an 'important enough issue' but now it's become pretty damn important... let's do this...

[Jaycee]

I've sent it to getup!
Will re-send it every day if I have to!

[Bathsheba]

All done I hope they are able to help this time!!!

[Lady-bug]

Done!

[BellyBelly]

This is so so so important. Homebirth midwives are VERY skilled midwives. Some do breech, VBAC - they know loads of great things for birth. To lose them would be losing so many important skills and knowledge.

[The[cookie]Doctor]

done!

[Bella29]

Done

My husband wouldn't cope with a home birth for a vbac... but that doesn't mean I don't deserve the right to choose, or support the right of every woman to choose!

[Kass79]

I have sent the email

[Nangsi]

gee if I knew that my email to Get Up was going to be sent out to this many people I would have spent longer on it!!!

[Fire]

Sent and forwarded to friends.

[BellyBelly]

Doesn't matter hon you did great!!! We needed something fast Time is slipping away, we can't let this bill pass....

[Bambie]

Done!

[MrsB26]

done, bumpity bump

[kipling]

Done!

[Cam & Coco]

Done.

[only1micp]

all done!

[BellyBelly]

Well seems like everyone got the same autoreply.... does anyone actually want to help us? Seems not... what hope do we have but that of our own... if WE don't do it no-one will...

Dear Kelly,

First of all, please accept our sincere apologies for the delay in getting back to you. We must consistently manage a backlog of the many emails we receive, which we don't always have the resources to address.

Many thanks for taking the time to contact us and suggest a campaign on recently passed draft legislation affecting Homebirths.

This certainly is an area of concern, and something we are aware of here at GetUp. However, the limited capacity and small staff base of the GetUp team means that we are unfortunately unable to focus on and pursue as many campaigns as we would like.

However, we are aware that this is something that is important to GetUp members. I have passed on your email to the rest of the team and we will continue to monitor the issue.

All the best,

Chris, for the GetUp team.



Christopher Brew
Manager of Operations