Susan Lane for the MN Better Birth Coalition:
“We have four bills, one almost done, one introduced but not heard and two in preparation.
The one that passed the Senate today (SF 401) gives women in Minnesota hospitals the right to continuous doula from a certified doula of her choice; it’s expected to pass the House on Monday. [Susan Lane led the way on this bill with our legislator heros.]
[Senator Berglin’s bill] has been introduced but not heard in committee [and] would establish free standing birth centers (SF 0780).
The two that are being written for introduction this year include one that protects women seeking a vaginal birth after cesarean, and one that would require insurers to pay for evidence-based applications that are currently not consistently covered, such as doula care, home birth, and childbirth education.
All legislation is based on the findings of the Milbank report, and the MN Better Birth Coalition exists to pursue the recommendations in that report.
Overall, the report reveals that as costs for childbirth have risen, the outcomes for both mothers and babies have declined. The very good news in this report is that the way to reverse that trend, to have better outcomes for mothers and babies, is to apply less costly, low tech methods, to have greater transparency and better informed mothers. We can save money and have healthier women and babies.
For details of this report, see www.childbirthconnection.org and enter Milbank Report in the search.
