Idaho Midwifery Council

Greetings to all of you across the state! By the time you read this, the lilacs will be long gone, but for the moment I am savoring their heady aromas! Along with celebrating the beauty and bounty that Spring bestows upon us, I am also extremely proud and happy to celebrate and congratulate all the recently approved Licensed Midwives in Idaho! I know that Barb was really hoping that we would have our 1^st group of midwives licensed by May 5^th –Midwives Day, and that is exactly what happened. What a great day to celebrate all of our accomplishments. As of June 1^st, the Idaho Board of Midwives has licensed 16 CPM’s! We anticipate that another 14 midwives will be licensed by the July 1^st deadline. That’s exciting news!

Speaking of Midwives Day, some of the Region 1 midwives celebrated the day by going bowling after our quarterly Peer Review. We all agreed that we are much better Midwives than bowlers! See photo elsewhere in the newsletter.

The IMC board continues to meet via cyberspace once a month. At our last meeting we voted to disband Region 5, and merge it into Region 3 and 4. As we only have a few members in that region it was thought that it made more sense to place them in these 2 regions. So for now, we are back to having just 4 regions. If you are in Region 5, you will be contacted soon by your new Region Rep.

Region 4 has been busy planning the annual IMC conference and Meeting. This year it will be held at Lava Hot Springs Resort at the end of August. This is a wonderful opportunity to connect, learn, laugh, cry, eat, and play together! I encourage you all to try and make it to this fun, nurturing, and educational gathering. For detailed information, see Region 4 report elsewhere in the Newsletter.

In my Presidents Message for the winter Newsletter, which apparently got lost in cyber-space, I made several announcements regarding some changes to several positions on the Board. These are the changes. Paula Wiens resigned her positions as IMC Treasurer and as Newsletter Editor. Paula is focusing her attention on her fast growing midwifery practice in Boise. Paula has been the treasurer of IMC since it was revitalized in 2005, as well as wearing the hat of Newsletter Editor. Thanks Paula, for all your years of service to IMC. Carrie Blake, CPM, and Merrilyn Reeves, CPM, LM, were recently appointed by the IMC board to fill these positions vacated by Paula. Carrie is our new Treasurer, and Merrilyn is our new Newsletter Editor. Thank you both for your willingness to step up to the plate and assume these positions!

The IMC board also recently appointed several experienced midwives to the Midwifery Review Board. Continuing to chair this board is Annette Lewis, CPM, from Emmett, Id. Joining her on this board are Noel Leithart, CPM, LM from Moscow, ID., Merrilyn Reeves, CMP, LM from Plummer, ID. and Kathy LeBaron, CPM, from Idaho Falls. (By the time you read this, I am confident that Annette and Kathy will also be licensed in Idaho.) The Midwifery Review Board was established by the Idaho Midwifery Council to review complaints or concerns about midwives practicing in Idaho. It is our hope that the MRB will be able to resolve any grievances without further involvement of NARM or the Idaho Board of Midwives. Thank you, ladies, for your willingness to sit on this board. It can be a hard job! For more information about the MRB, please go to: www.idahomidwives.org.

I would like to remind you all that IMC is still selling baby T-shirts as a fundraiser. These cute T-shirts are available in pink, blue, or white, and say “My midwife helped me out.” To order, please contact Barb Rawlings at: rawlings@ nidaho.net.

Please know that I am available to you anytime for questions or concerns you may have. Please don’t hesitate to contact me. Remember to mark your calendars and plan on attending the IMC Conference & Meeting in August.

Update on the Licensing Progress

The Board of Midwifery will meet again on June 10 to review applications received since the May meeting and will meet one last time on June 30 to complete all business prior to the July 1 enactment of mandatory licensing.

MID-1 and MID-2

Congratulations to Idaho’s new Licensed Midwives!!

Teresa Acheson, Inga Arts, Michelle Bartlett, Sherry Bushnell, Nancy Draznin, Jerusha Goodwin, Megan Kirsch, Noel Leithart, Denise Midstokke, Ian Penwell, Rose Penwell, Vickie Penwell, Barbara Rawlings, Merrilyn Reeves, Sherry Riener, Julia Swart

Congratulations to all of us who now can legally save the lives of those we care for :).

Just a reminder to everyone that Baby Birth and Beyond carries all the meds that we are entitled to. You may now order them on the website without having to call in. A copy of your license must be on file with us. You can fax a copy to 208.209.3120.

You can view all items available on www.babybirthandbeyond.com. Thank you in advance for supporting your local birthing supply company. Please check out our prices as we are VERY competitive. If you don't see something you need, please let us know and we will try to obtain it for you.

Happy & Safe Birthing to you all
Inga Arts, LM, CPM

IMC’s website www.idahomidwives.org has a new page, “Documents for Midwives.” This page provides access to practice documents, consent forms and other forms used by midwives in their practices. Permission to use each of these documents is granted by contributor. If you would like to use any of these forms in your practice, alter the form to reflect your own practice information.

Do you have documents to submit? This is a great way to help other midwives and to benefit from the work others have expended on their own forms. Documents must comply with the new licensing regulations, as appropriate. All are invited to submit and share so all may benefit. Please forward your documents to Merrilyn Reeves at midwife8269@aol.com.

If you have visited us lately, you have seen some of our new photos. We would love to have more midwife, birth, baby and family photos. Please get permission to use any photos you send and forward photos, suggestions, corrections and the like Merrilyn Reeves at midwife8269@aol.com.

Baby T-shirts are available in pink, blue, or white, and say “My midwife helped me out.” To order, please contact Barb Rawlings at: rawlings@ nidaho.net.

Current bank balance is $5100.21 with $400 pending deposit and no outstanding debts.

The current membership of the Idaho Midwifery Council is 48. If you know of any Midwives or student midwives that are not currently members, please encourage them to join our state organization. Membership includes a quarterly newsletter, discounts on IMC sponsored conferences, and workshops, as well as statewide networking and referrals. Fees are $35/year. Fees are due on Jan. 1^st of each year, and are valid through Dec. 31^st. Membership forms are available on the IMC website: idahomidwives.org.