America's midwives to promote better women's health awareness

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 06 Feb 2005 - 23:00 PDT

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Raising awareness about women's health concerns will be the focus of a public awareness campaign launched today by the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM), the nation's oldest women's health organization. Under the banner 'WithWomen(reg)' on its new site http://www.WithWomen.org, and with its new advocacy wristbands, ACNM hopes to draw more attention to the myriad of major issues in women's health care, including the precipitous rise in unnecessary and dangerous elective c-sections and the 'gap' in access to care between women of color and white women.

"The purpose of the WithWomen(reg) campaign is to create a virtual network of health care organizations that believe women count and are working to improve the lives of women and their families," according to Deanne Williams, CNM, the organization's executive director. "Via this network, it is our intent to educate and activate. The first step to better health is knowledge."

ACNM's dark teal wristbands marked with the campaign's slogan and Web site, will be an active reminder to campaign supporters and will draw attention in communities across the country. Wristbands are available for $1.00 per wristband (available only in quantities of 10) via ACNM's online bookstore at http://www.ShopACNM.com. Net proceeds from the sale of WithWomen(reg) wristbands will support the campaign and the A.C.N.M. Foundation's scholarship programs.

Visitors to http://www.WithWomen.org will learn about the most pressing issues in women's health and will be connected directly to the key organizations combating those issues. ACNM hopes that the site's visitors will be inspired to take better care of themselves, their families, and their communities.

One of the key messages, for example, is the widening gap between African-American and white women with regard to access to quality health care services. http://www.WithWomen.org will connect its visitors directly to important Web sites such as the influential Kaiser Family Foundation.

"To commit your life to be WithWomen(reg) may mean you chose a health care career as your life's work," Williams continued. "It may mean that you become an educator, someone who helps others find the information they need to live a healthy life. Or, it may mean that you become an activist who cares enough to speak out about a problem that can be solved. The possibilities are endless."

For more information, please contact Tim Clarke, Jr., ACNM Communications Manager at (240) 485-1821 or via email at tclarke@acnm.org.

With roots dating to 1929, the American College of Nurse-Midwives is the oldest women's health care association in the U.S. ACNM's mission is to promote the health and well-being of women and infants within their families and communities through the development and support of the profession of midwifery as practiced by certified nurse-midwives and certified midwives. Midwives believe every individual has the right to safe, satisfying health care with respect for human dignity and cultural variations. More information about ACNM can be found at http://www.midwife.org.

8403 Colesville Road, Ste. 1550, Silver Spring, MD 20910-6374 http://www.midwife.org

Tim Clarke, Jr. -- Communications Manager
American College of Nurse-Midwives
8403 Colesville Road, Suite 1550
Silver Spring, MD 20910-6374

http://www.WithWomen.org

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