2000 More Signatures Needed – Sign the AZ Petition for Birth Choices

Arizona Women and Midwives Need Your Support! 

Currently, laws in Arizona prevent a woman from choosing a licensed midwife to attend her birth at home if she has had a prior Cesarean section).   We need YOUR help to spur change and allow women the right to choose and manner and setting of their births.

A petition is being signed and forwarded to the AZ Dept of Health to allow licensed midwives to attend home VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean).   The group needs 2000 more signatures to meet their 3000 signatures goal!

ANYONE in ANY state can sign this petition.  It takes less than one minute to sign and could make a lifetime of difference to mothers, babies, and their families…and maybe even YOU.

The Arizona Dept of Health currently is not allowing women their right to choose the setting and professional of their choice for birth if the woman has experienced a VBAC in the past. We are petitioning AZDHS to change this decision and allow women full freedom of choice. We are collecting names from this online petition to add to a separate written petition that we will be submitting to the Arizona Dept of Health.

A copy of the petition verbiage is below:

In order to protect all women choosing to birth at home with licensed midwives, we the undersigned call on the Arizona Department of Health to open the rules and regulations governing licensed midwives. The rules and regulations currently governing licensed midwives in the state of Arizona are severely out of compliance with the current standard of care in regards to pregnancy, labor, birth and postpartum care. We are demanding that the licensed midwives of this state be allowed to provide adequate, complete and safe care to all women choosing to birth at home. In addition we the undersigned, respectfully request that R-9-16-108 (A) (1) be removed allowing, with informed consent, women to birth at home after a caesarean section.

Note that even the ACOG (The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) agrees that for many women a Trial of Labor After Cesarean (TOLAC) and VBAC can have several benefits and fewers risks that a repeat Cesarean section.  While they reference hospital birth, read more on the safety of VBAC below from the ACOG website:

Attempting a vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) is a safe and appropriate choice for most women who have had a prior cesarean delivery, including for some women who have had two previous cesareans, according to guidelines released today by The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

After a successful TOLAC, many women will be able to give birth through the vagina (called a vaginal birth after cesarean delivery, or VBAC).

TOLAC is not the right choice for every woman, but it is a good choice for many women.

There are many reasons why a woman may want to consider TOLAC. Compared with a planned cesarean delivery, a VBAC after successful TOLAC is associated with the following benefits:

• No abdominal surgery
• Shorter recovery period
• Lower risk of infection
• Less blood loss

For women planning to have more children, VBAC may help them avoid problems linked to multiple cesarean deliveries. These problems include hysterectomy, bowel or bladder injury, and certain problems with the placenta.