We can especially use your help if you live in the following districts: 3rd (Ormsby and Riccelli), 23rd (Rolfes), 38th (Robinson), 43rd (Macri), 45th (Dhingra)
Dear MAWS Members & Supporters:
Please contact your legislators ASAP to ask them to support our request for increased Medicaid reimbursement for births at home and in freestanding birth centers! 

We don’t have the fancy software that will do action alerts for you, so please take a few moments to follow the steps below:.
  1. Type in your address here and your 3 WA reps will be listed. Once you know your district #, you can also find their contact info here 
  2. Click individually on each of your 3 “State District Legislators” to send them an email or give them a call
    • Note if they are a Senator or Representative as your message to them will vary slightly (sample text below)
  3. Use the sample below but add at least a few words about how this will make a difference in your district 
  • Be sure to adapt the highlighted sections with your own name & info

​SAMPLE TEXT you can adapt for your personal message: 

Dear Representative/Senator _______,
I’m writing to you today as Licensed midwife/constituent of ___your practice name_____, we are an independent midwifery practice that serves families across ___County including heavily from districts __your district/surrounding___.

I am saddened to tell you that we are losing practicing community-based midwives due to burnout and very low reimbursement. Every time a practice closes, options for birthing families in _______ County are severely limited. 

Outcomes for midwife-attended births in a birth center or at home are as good or better for similar low-risk families in the hospital, yet are reimbursed not even a quarter as much in comparison. We are requesting a budget proviso to help ensure families have access to high quality midwifery care. Please contact Senator Emily Randall/Representative Monica Stonier to support their budget request for increasing birth center facility reimbursement to $4900 per birth and home birth supplies to $1000 per birth. 
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This appropriation will make a big difference to these small businesses, but the cost shift (when families choose community birth) results in savings for the state, as birth care is an entitlement and the alternative is families going to a hospital. Taking this action will simultaneously increase access to care for birthing families, keep midwives and birth centers in practice, and save the state money. The more families choosing midwifery care, the better the outcomes, and the more money the state will save!
Midwives and birthing families across our county and Washington State thank you for your support!

Sincerely,
[Your name here]
Land Acknowledgement 
MAWS acknowledges that we live and work on the unceded ancestral lands of the Coast Salish tribes and pay our respects to all of the ancestral homelands and traditional territories of Indigenous peoples who have been here since time immemorial. We recognize that this land touches on the shared waters of tribes and bands within the Duwamish, Puyallup, Suquamish, Tulalip and Muckleshoot nations. We recognize we are grateful to be guests in these lands and commit to show solidarity for the continued fight for Indigenous sovereignty. ​