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How We Help

The Big Push for Midwives Campaign is MAKING THE DIFFERENCE

Utilizing a network of birth activists and professionals, the Big Push for Midwives Campaign meets its PushStates where they are, providing tools and support no matter where they stand along the continuum of organizing their advocacy efforts. Like a political campaign, the Big Push has no board of directors, and its members are self-selected—consumers and midwives from those states who are participating in some stage of legislative activity leading to licensure of CPMs.

The Big Push campaign is fiscally sponsored by the Sustainable Markets Foundation (SMF), a not-for-profit organization recognized as tax-exempt under Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)3. SMF is a public charity that has sponsored multiple projects, two of which are large, similarly structured campaigns.

PushServices

The Big Push for Midwives Campaign provides a number of services to its member PushStates:

• Policy Initiative Support
• Media Advocacy and Communications Support
• Research and analysis, design, creation and distribution of advocacy messaging, materials, presentations, and related Public Education and General Advocacy PushTools
• Professional Facilitation to aid with State Coalition Building, as well as to help Assess and Develop State-Level Organizations
• Advocacy Training and Exchange Programs
• Regulatory and Policy Environment Monitoring and Evaluation
• Community Event Planning Support
• Legal Counsel

The Big Push for Midwives Campaign is based on the understanding that winning grassroots campaigns are built by individuals who join or form coalitions to expand the strength and reach of their message. By sharing our collective public policy and public education experience, highlighting strategies and best practices that have worked, and discussing tactics to avoid that have proven ineffective, we more efficiently empower states to advocate for CPM legislation across the nation.

In each state we work with local midwives, consumers and advocates who know their districts well. Together, we develop effective messaging operations in their work toward the regulation and licensure of CPMs using locally relevant and appropriate messages.

We provide high-quality, professional media relations and social networking services to publicize the efforts of the campaign nationally, as well as to help states to promote their efforts in local and regional media. We help convey consistent campaign messages and offer professional news release, op-ed, advertisement and communications templates.

In addition, a rapid response team is in place to ensure that the Big Push campaign and the PushStates can respond quickly to any disinformation from the American Medical Association, its affiliated state associations and other opposition organizations, such as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Also, we provide a campaign Web site that effectively integrates vital information generated and used by the campaign for multiple stakeholders, including consumers, PushState coordinators and members, policy makers, PushAngels making donations, and media.