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Colorado ACNM Affiliate Meeting Minutes: December 2021

Writer's picture: Gillian BrautigamGillian Brautigam

December ’21 Colorado Affiliate Meeting


Location: Seasons Midwifery and Birth Center


Date: Tuesday, December 7, 2021


Time: 6:30 p.m.




Board Members Present:


Jeanne Bair (president), Elisa Patterson (VP), Gillian Brautigam (secretary), Denise Smith (treasurer), Kala Kluender (member-at-large), Kelsey Magnuson (student representative


17 in-person attendees + 5 virtual attendees = 22 total attendees (CNMs & SNMs)




Jeanne, President – Call to Order


- Announcement to apply for the Betty award -$1,000, no one applied last year


- There will be a winner to receive a scholarship to the hybrid ACNM Annual Meeting & Exhibition in Chicago this year




Jessica Anderson, Region VI Update


Annual meeting


- ACNM meeting this year will be in May, hybrid (virtual + in-person options) in Chicago


- New vendor and new abstract site


- Call for abstracts extended due to conversion to this new vendor and site


- Midwifery Works – Christy Bryant organized this conference – in Memphis, in person


Fellow application open


- FACNM: Fellowship application is open, ask a fellow to help you submit an app


ACNM Connect


- ACNM Connect: have paused some of the lists due to feedback from members


o Now you must choose to be put into group (select the groups you want to be put in to) – it is no longer automatic (people were receiving emails that they did not want to be included on and were receiving too many emails)


o Goal: place to post happenings/announcement, there will be interest groups


National Awards – keep an eye out for emails


- Awards are going to be open soon – consider nominating someone (preceptor, instructor, etc.) from Colorado for one of these awards, to be given at National Meeting in Chicago


ACNM National wants to hear from you


- Reach out to the Board to have your voice heard


- National Office – new leaders, new CEO, so much happening - reach out, website has info, read their emails, follow ACNM on IG (Instagram) and FB (Facebook)




Discussion: CO Affiliate email communications:


- Ideas to improve email/communication/connection: Restart a list serve, Trouble shoot Connect, Advertise the website


- Jane Avery, SNM and Dec graduate has offered to be social media manager


- Will work to improve IG and FB presence and keep website up to date




Denise Smith, Treasurer Update


- Denise provided 4th quarter report update on CO ACNM Affiliate finances


- Costs:


o Lobbyist accounts for large majority of budget (cost)


o Region VI speaker series & DEI speaker series were also a cost


o CO PAC and BIPOC scholarship fund were also costs


- Income:


o Income primarily through dues (~$13K)


o Spent money on speaker series – “break even” endeavor


- Ended in the neg by $4K – due to dues income and symposium income both being down


- Total current assets: $37,038


- Symposium yielded $4,368 and speaker series $105




Elisa Patterson, Legislative Update


State Legislation


- Major legislative effort for CO that will take 3 years (advocacy, lobbying and educating people about midwives)


- Start in January and do it until legislation is put together


- Application for Sunrise process for Certified Midwife (CM) – can only practice as DEM and cannot prescribe based upon legislature


o Application to DORA to have a whole new profession (CM) licensed in the state of CO, put together in 3 weeks


o Over the next 10 mos – we will get an analyst assigned and put together a stakeholder group – Oct 15th they put out a report > goes to legislative writers > bill > statute in CO legislature > then the push to teach everybody (CO constituents) gets even bigger > 2023 session would go through stakeholders


o We learned a lot, had to teach the lobbyist a lot, CMAC (certified midwife action coalition) – joined CM’s in other states and they have helpful hints and suggestions and willing to come testify, 3 other states that are farther along than us, National Advocacy Summit – did a whole presentation on midwifery terminology (get a copy of that and go through it), it’s been said it was powerful and very well presented, Amy Kohl thought it was very good


o We really need to improve CO communication before this gets underway so we can coordinate with people


o To add them to the BON (board of nursing) is an exception to the BON – we have a precedent that midwives were licensed as an exception under the board of medicine


o CNM – I in Kansas being that you can only practice OB care (another example of a nuance in another state)


o 37% of counties in CO have no maternity care, there are 80,000 nursing slots and a long line to get into nursing school but midwives who want to be CM’s will not take up those spots – you still have to get a bachelor’s degree and then become a CM rather than take a slot in nursing school


- Birth control:


o Uninsured and undocumented women could have birth control for a year after birth, not going to take place until Spring


o There are places those women can go now until the Spring when it is passed


National Legislation


- ACNM Summit in Nov at National Office is going to happen every November, hired a company that is going to put the meetings together for everyone – take the place of “On the Hill” day


- Access to Midwifery Care: Healthy Moms Act – HR3352, Sen Bill 1697: Midwives for Maximizing Optimal Maternity Services Act: establishes new funding under Title 7 & 8 to expand midwifery education/funding/preceptors (mentions CNMs, CMs and CPMs) – goal of creating a more diverse and equitable work force


o End of Jan – Senator Bennett, go visit him in Jan


- Privileging Bill: if you have full staff privileges – you should have full voting privileges within the hospital/institution




JEDI Committee Update


- Have hosted a JEDI speaker series over the past year


- Shared speaker with Region VI – last speaker was at the symposium


- They are meeting to decide what will happen next year – want to increase awareness


- They put together a BIPOC scholarship, goal- is to endow the scholarship through the foundation


- Application after Jan 1 – awarded at National Meeting


- Denver Health Midwives – initiated a walk during National Midwifery Week – raised $8,000 toward scholarship


- Goal is to raise $10,000/year, members voted yes to dedicate $3,000 toward the BIPOC scholarship ($1,000 from research scholarship not given this year or last)


- BIPOC committee: seeking participants and anyone who wants to join – committee, ideas, fundraising




Miscellaneous Affiliate Business


- Need someone to run the symposium going forward


o looking for suggestions for fundraising in lieu of symposium, need volunteers to spearhead symposium if we do it again


- Annually donate to a non-profit org at the December meeting: suggestions are Colorado Perinatal Colorado Quality Collaborative (CPCQC), Gathering Place


o CPCQC – Colorado Gives Day – birth equity work, could directly impact midwifery care and the families we care for


o Colorado Doula Project – suggested by Shannon Pirrie


o Please donate!



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