Defend our Midwives!

Hi, My name is Larissa and I’m 8 months pregnant. Like all women, I want to feel in control of how I give birth and who is by my side. I was so grateful to have access to my midwife at Danbury Hospital. Benefits of midwifery care include decreased infant mortality rates, decreased risk of needing a cesarean and increased chance of having a positive start to breastfeeding, just to name a few! We all need more midwives but hospitals and the big business administrations are making it more and more difficult every year.

Women like me in Connecticut are now at risk of not getting the care and the birth experience that we choose because of the bullying from Danbury Hospital. I hope that we can come together in this fundraiser to support midwives and the women who need them.

 

A little background, for over 20 years the midwives at Connecticut Childbirth and Women’s Center have helped deliver thousands of babies and created a reputation for their extraordinary level of care. They respect women and support them in having an empowered pregnancy and birthing experience.

 

 

CCWC is a private practice that has had a long and wonderful relationship with Danbury Hospital, in fact, they continue to have a wonderful relationship with the doctors and nurses.

 

 

When Danbury Hospital was taken over by Nuvance Health the challenges began. It became clear that the administration at Nuvance do not respect midwives, continuously finding ways to make their job difficult and most recently showing a complete overreach of power.

 

 

A patient at CCW sent a complaint to Danbury Hospital about a midwife even though the incident happened at the private practice. That same complaint was first reviewed by the midwives and it was determined that every protocol was followed, no harm was done to the patient and no outcome altered. Danbury hospital's administration took this one complaint from a private practice to take away all hospital privileges. It became abundantly clear to the midwives and their community that this complaint was a poor excuse to follow their agenda and limit the midwives.

With hospital privileges revoked this creates a staffing issue which may result in CCWC not being able to facilitate ANY hospital births.

If this complaint had happened to any doctor, a proper investigation would have taken place; instead, because of Nuvance administration’s lack of respect for midwives, they made claims unsupported by evidence and the unfair decision to steal the midwife from our community and the families who seek her care.

This type of bullying is happening all over the country and we are ready to fight back!

There will be an appeals process and the midwife has the right to counsel. I am raising this money so the midwives have a fighting chance by hiring an attorney who will stand up for the midwives and those who need them.

 

Please donate to this fundraiser if :

 

-You’ve had a positive experience with a midwife and understand the importance of the care they provide

-You believe big business hospitals must stop bullying small private practices

-You believe hospital should provide more resources to pregnant women, not less

-You believe that every woman should be able to give birth safely in a way that feels empowering.

 

I hope to have my baby at Danbury Hospital with my midwife by my side. I hope that thousands of other women can still have access to this type of care. I hope that by taking legal action we are not only defending one midwife, but also showing hospitals around the country that we will not stand for bullying and unfair treatment.

Please help us make this possible by donating today and sharing with all your friends and family.