The Weekly Newsletter for Heart of Houston Birth and Wellness Friends and Families
Spring has sprung!
Happy Spring friends! Can you believe we are FINALLY on the other side of my least favorite time of year, winter? I realize of course that the sweltering heat is just around the corner but my people were not made for cold temperatures so you can catch me and my girls outside enjoying the sunshine! Tis the season of gratitude over here, y'all.
HISD and other area school districts have given parents an unexpected gift this school year. Twice a year exhausted parents are forced to add or subtract an entire hour to their child's daily routine for the sake of daylight savings. This year the clock springs ahead the day before spring break! This means nothing for parents with preschoolers but those of us with school-age kiddos can rejoice at having a full week to adjust routines before school is back in session. For folks with younger kids, we recommend adjusting your baby's schedule 10 minutes at a time over the course of the week leading up to the time change. Hopefully someday soon we can get rid of the antiquated practice and tired parents everywhere can rejoice at never having to deal with grumpy kids ever again. LOL, I'm hilarious.
Finally, We're planning our very first Heart of Houston Reunion for Sunday, April 23rd. Save the date now and we'll have more details next week!
We need your help!
Speaking of helpful legislation, Texas midwives and other advanced practitioners need our help.
Mary Love, APRN, CNM, NP-C explains what's at stake.
This morning, Texas Senator Blanco introduced SB 1700 titled the HEAL (Healthcare & Expanded Access Locally) Texans Act. This bill will help provide more access for Texans in every part of the state, and remove unnecessary barriers standing in the way of APRNs and their patients. Believe it or not, passing this bill can directly impact you!
Texas is one of a growing minority of states that restricts the practice of Advanced Practice Nurses (APRNs). This group includes Nurse Midwives, Nurse Practitioners, and Nurse Anesthetists and requires them to have a supervisory and/or prescriptive delegation agreement in order to engage in patient care.
You might think, hey that is great, healthcare providers should always collaborate with one another, however the terms and rules of supervision don’t really equal collaboration. Did you know as a CNM I don’t have to have an OB/GYN or even Family Practice Doc as my delegating physician? It could be an ENT, or a psychiatrist, or even a Pathologist! Just someone with an MD behind their name.
When you really delve into the intricacies that make obtaining and maintaining a supervising/delegating physician agreement more about restricting trade and practice, rather than about safety and promoting health. Study after study has found that restricting APRN practice doesn’t improve outcomes or healthcare dollars.
What does all this mean for the Heart of Houston? Long story short, if you ever had Bethany or I write you a prescription, if you received medications for postpartum bleeding, or used nitrous during your labor - all of this was thanks to that delegating agreement. So much of that we do hinges on grace and goodwill from a friendly physician.
So what can you do to help? Senator Blanco’s office is asking for stories from Texan’s whose lives were impacted by APRNs to send in a short selfie video of themselves on their smartphone (filmed horizontally for best angle). You can tag us in these videos (@Texans4HCAccess for Facebook, @Texans4HCAccess for Twitter, or @texans_for_healthcare_access for Instagram) or email them to Erin Cusack at erin@texasnp.org. (if you can also #heartofhouston that would be awesome too!)
Not sure what to say? Here is a sample script to get you started:
“My name is ____, from_____, and I support the HEAL (Healthcare Expanded & Accessed Locally) Texans Act because all Texans deserve access to health care and quality APRN providers like Certified Nurse-Midwives. My CNM positively impacted my life by_____. Stand with patients. Support the HEAL Texans Act!”
Thank you all for your support!
For Judy
I'm super proud to share this next piece with you written by first time submitter, long time Bumpdate editor, and my little sister, Naomi Gonzales. My sister is using her Librarian super powers in the disability justice movement through her work as a federal contractor who specializes in digital accessibility.
On Saturday, March 5, 2023 the disability community lost one of its fiercest advocates, Judy Heumann. Not only was she the founder of Disabled in Action (one of the nation’s first disability advocacy organizations), she led the Section 504 sit-in in 1977 which ultimately led to more protections and access for individuals with disabilities and paved the way for the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (also known as the ADA).
You might be thinking, “Okay, cool history lesson but what does this have to do with me?”.
Well, those curb cuts you use to get a stroller onto the sidewalk from the street? A direct result of the ADA. Have you ever pressed an automatic door button when your hands were full with grocery bags and a toddler on your hip? Thank the ADA for that one too. Have you been able to keep your job even though you’re experiencing postpartum depression and might need to work fewer hours or change your schedule? That is also largely in part thanks to anti-discrimination protection put in place by the ADA. What about those captions for the delightfully trashy reality TV you watch on mute while pumping at 2am? Yep. You got it. That’s a public accommodation as covered in the ADA.
According to the CDC, 1 in 4 adults in the United States has a disability – a whopping 26%! That’s A LOT of us! And when you think about it, it’s likely we’ll all end up with at least one disability as we age (I’m already making the font size on my kindle bigger). If you need a reason to fight for equal access and justice for the disabled community, you don’t have to look far. I share all this not to make you feel guilty or beat you over the head about how important the ADA is,
but because sometimes it’s easy to forget that when one marginalized group of people is lifted up and protected, we are all protected too. Let’s keep up the fight to create an accessible future and make Judy proud.
If you’re interested in learning about the disability justice movement and history, here are some recommendations:
Books:
Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir by a Disability Rights Activist by Judith Heumann
Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
Visual Media:
Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution - documentary available via Netflix
Judith Heumann’s Fight for Disability Rights (feat. Ali Stroker) - Drunk History (some, uh, creative liberties have been taken in this video, but if you’re short on time this is the one to watch)
March Events
Don't forget Yoga Every Monday at 10am Please Register
RSVP on all Calendar of Events page
New address 6550 Mapleridge Ste 100
Monthly Ongoing Events
Wednesday Virtual Postpartum Support Circle: Second and fourth Wednesday of each month from 10-12 on Zoom. HOH clients and Whole Heart Collective members. Email Jessica if you need more information.
Thursday In Person Postpartum Support Circle: 10-12 in the community room. Open to current HOH & WHC members. Feeding clinic first and third Thursdays of each month.
Queer Parent Circle: Second Sunday of every month 2-4pm Open to the public.
Parents of School Age Kids Circle: First Sunday of every month 11-1pm Open to the public.
Babywearing Meetup: Third Saturday of each month Class with various topics 4-5pm $25 non members Open to the Public 5-6pm Citywide Meet up FREE Open to the Public
Birth workers Circle: Second Sunday of every month 11am-1:30pm midwives, student midwives, doulas, birth assistants, Obs and L&D nurses are all welcome to attend.
Mindful Movements: First and second Saturday of each month 10:30-12
Yoga with Bee: Every Monday from 10-11am Open to the public members donation based register here.
Various Childbirth Education Curriculums starting soon: Rebel Birth weekend intensive or Bradley Method with Anne Zwicky
That's all for now! Have a great week everyone.
