Midwife Autonomy Endangered by MANA President Sarita Bennett

sara badger: As a midwife in a state that is autonomous I would think that every state needs to move toward that to make midwifey available to more women and communities.

Sara Arias: Signing as a student nurse midwife

Sandra Blankenship: Sarita needs to be removed immediately, as she certainly does not hold the best interests of CPMs future as an ideal.

Salli Gonzalez: Please uphold advocacy for US OOH midwives.

Rose Mitchell: This is truly outrageous. Not only is Dr. Bennet threatening to undo decades of professional advocacy, but if these opinions are translated into policy, they will drastically increase the barriers to midwifery that our country so desperately needs to dismantle.

Rosanna Davis: As a board member of MANA, Dr. Bennett has a fiduciary responsibility (to put the organization and mission above her own personal and professional needs) to the organization and the organization's mission, purpose and beneficiaries. It appears that Dr. Bennett has developed a professional conflict of interest with the mission and goals of MANA and the midwifery profession. The MANA board has a responsibility to remove Dr. Bennett under such circumstances. If the MANA board refuses to take action, then Dr. Bennett should do the right thing and resign immediately, making it clear to the public that she was asked to leave for having failed in her fiduciary responsibility to MANA and the midwifery profession. If midwives in California were required to collaboration with and be supervised by physicians in California, physiological birth would completely die away and VBAC care would go underground again. In the meantime, 550 LM/CPMs in California have excellent outcomes and our state association fights daily to maintain autonomous practice. Next, I will take this issue to California Association of Licensed Midwives to sign on as an organization. I'm sure that if I started advocating for the end of autonomous practice of midwives in California that I would be removed from the CALM board, and as spokesperson and president.

Renee Stewart: The mission of the Midwives Alliance of North America is to unite, strengthen, support and advocate for the midwifery community and to promote educational, economic, and cultural sustainability of the midwifery profession. The Midwives Alliance of North America envisions Midwifery as a thriving, diverse, autonomous profession in service to families throughout North America.

Rejoyce Lunceford: I worked with VA grassroots movement 16 years ago; I’m not letting the work we did go down without a fight.

Rachel Zaslow: Thank you

Rachel Stoltzfus: This is preposterous! When will the persecution of midwives stop?? Please remove this woman from presidency of MANA and please continue to protect the rights of midwives.

Rachael Hubbard: Sarita Bennet must be removed from president of MANA, this behavior is so outside of the midwifery model of care that it is shocking.

Quincy J Bates: Fire Dr Bennett NOW! She does not have our best interests in mind, completely opposite!!!

Priya Morganstern: Sarita Bennett needs to be dethroned.

Phyllis K Buehler aka Kayti: I urge the MANA board to take seriously the removal of Dr Sarita Bennett and act in the best interests of independent professional midwives across North America.

Paula Ross: People who don’t advocate for midwives and the families they serve do not belong in a leadership role of a midwife advocacy organization.

Paula Davis: As the ATM President I am saddened and horrified that a leader of any midwifery organization would work to undermine the very midwives in which she is privileged to serve. Dr Bennett should be removed from her position.

Patti Del Vecchio: Preserve midwifery autonomy

Patsy Cooner: I would not have had access to the amazing out of hospital birth at a birth center if midwives were required to have physician oversight. My care was professional, safe, and incredibly supportive.

Patricia Edmonds: Midwifery functions best in direct service to families when midwives have complete autonomy. MANA should not have any control over how midwives serve. Or presume to interfer with the care we provide. The is NOT MANAS function. It is an over reach over power it was never meant to have. It's function is not to userp but to suppprt how we serve. MANA needs to re evaluate this breach and not choose to be self serving.

Patricia Burkhardt: Mana needs to fix this. Midwifery has enough enemies outside the profession. Having one as the President of MANA is outrageous and intolerable.