If its one thing midwives and women in general are not good at, its having each other’s backs and being empathetic and supportive, which is ironic since we are trained to be compassionate, caring professionals whose job title literally means with woman. I have only met a few midwives, who have not been through some sort of legal nightmare, able to have sympathy for those of us who have records so-to-speak. I don’t understand why it is so hard to imagine that at any minute, they could be me and the laws, rules, and decisions affecting my license suspension and denial could affect them. It is a bizarre occurrence that falls somewhere between ignorance, not caring, and denial of reality.
So, since my license in Florida is going nowhere, I email some Florida midwives in peer groups and associations. Recently the midwives in Florida have had to hire lobbyists to help them fight the sunset rule changes instigated by none other than ACOG. I think to myself that perhaps I can utilize these lobbyists, again if only to put political pressure on the Department of Health or maybe they could point me in the direction of some sympathetic legislators or even attorneys they would recommend. Since I only have 21 days to file an appeal, time is of the essence, and I need to decide what I am going to do.
While the Florida midwives I know locally and have worked with have been nothing short of amazingly supportive, concerned, caring, and helpful, I feel some midwives who are more vested in the licensing system could also benefit my cause. So, I send messages to a key player in midwifery politics about my situation. This midwife is also on the administrative staff at one of the Florida midwifery schools, so she knows laws, but more importantly, she is vested in making more midwives. I get a response on 9/7 that lobbyists may not be who I want, but this midwife knows of people on the council staff.
Yeah, that doesn’t help me because you see the Council of midwifery is just a bunch of figureheads. They do cursory things but nothing substantial like have any say in licensure. I explain this to the midwife and again I request the lobbyists contact information just so I can ask them for advice. I am even willing to pay them for their time.
She replies that she will send them my contact info because they are not actually willing to take phone calls from individual midwives.
Uh that is weird, but ok.
She continues stating that the lobbyists are not familiar with licensure pathways at all, but are purely for legislative recommendations and changes.
Ummmmmm, hold up sister midwife. If these lobbyists are designed to watch laws bring pushed through the legislature, shouldn’t they know what the rules are so they can make recommendations to the changes? If that is their job then heck yeah they will understand licensure pathways. But regardless, I have completed ALL the pathways to licensure in Florida and have been denied twice. So, it doesn’t matter which pathway we look at. I have successfully completed both. I actually exceed the education requirements for Florida licensure. Oh, you want a midwife who is a CPM and was licensed in two states? That is me. Oh, you want a midwife who has two degrees in midwifery, one of which is from a Florida school? Yup also me. At this rate, I think it would be easier for me to go to the Bahamas get my medical degree and come back to Florida as an MD.
Back to my communications with my Florida sister midwife… she suggests I listen in on a legislative-focused phone call where afterwards midwives will be able to ask questions.
Uhhhhh, a conference call about legislation is not the appropriate time nor place to discuss my licensing situation.
To be fair, my sister midwife is very kind and offers to give me contact info for the Department of Health’s key figures in licensing midwives, but she misses the mark in truly helping me at all other than providing lip service.
Again, I am not reaching out to my sisterhood for names and numbers I already have. The normal mechanism for licensure is broken in my case and I need to go to plan B or C or D at this point. A week later, I reach out to her again and ask if the lobbyists have received my info. I am a little miffed with this association. Again, I am on a strict timeline.
She indicated that the lobbyists felt they couldn’t really help me and again referred me again to the DOH who started the whole denial process.
Circles, circles I tell you. I do not understand why the Florida Association of Midwives has lobbyists that will not even consult the people who pay their salaries. And for someone whose job is working at a midwifery school, I really hope this sister midwife helps her students navigate the licensing nightmare more than she has helped me. Am I surprised that I cannot get more assistance from the groups spear-heading midwifery in Florida.
Don’t take it personally, I remind myself. Time to go read the four agreements again. Sigh.
My Journey as a Licensed Midwife in Louisiana 