Kentucky Birth Coalition

Kentucky families advocating for expanded birth options in the Bluegrass. #ky4midwives #ky4birthcenters

[Kentucky Birth Coalition @KentuckyBirth]

SB17 for freestanding birth centers passes the KY Senate! Now it moves on to the House. 🥳

[KY Senate Majority @KYSenateGOP]

ICYMI: Birthing centers bill wins Kentucky Senate approval for first time

“Senators stood and clapped after the vote. The bill now heads to the House, which last year approvedlegislation aimed at removing hindrances to opening birthing centers.”

Read more from @KYLantern here:
https://t.co/S8B21eokUr @FunkeShelley

[KY Association Nurse Practitioners & NurseMidwives @KyNPsLead]

Great news from the Senate as SB 17 Passes on the floor, 34-0-3! Thanks to your advocacy work, SB 17 will move on to the House for consideration. Be on the lookout for more legislative news and alerts. YES on Birth Centers in Kentucky!

[AFP Kentucky @AFPKentucky]

@FunkeShelley’s SB 17, the free standing birth center bill has passed the KY Senate with 34 yea votes.

This bill repeals the Certificate of Need on birthing centers with 4 or fewer beds!

Giving women in KY more options for their prenatal, deliver, and postpartum care.

[AFP Kentucky @AFPKentucky]

Thank you @FunkeShelley for sponsoring SB 17, the free standing birth center billl.

This bill repeals the Certificate of Need on birthing centers with 4 or fewer beds!

Giving women in KY more options for their prenatal, deliver, and postpartum care

[KY Senate Majority @KYSenateGOP]

@FunkeShelley @JRAforKY @tichenor4ky Sen @JRAforKY and @tichenor4ky spoke is support of the bill.

[KY Senate Majority @KYSenateGOP]

SB 17 passes in a bipartisan fashion!

This bill was discussed in the #kyga2024 interim in the Commission on Race and Access to Opportunity committee meetings.

[KY Senate Majority @KYSenateGOP]

Sen @FunkeShelley spoke on the bill and received applause for its passage, as the bill will offers birthing options for women across the commonwealth.

[KY Voices for Health @kyvoices4health]

@JRAforKY @tichenor4ky SB17 passes the Senate w 34 yes votes & 3 pass votes! 🎉🎉🎉 On to the #kyga25 House next. Stay tuned and don’t forget to call 1.800.372.7181 & thank the Senators who voted to support SB17 & then ask YOUR State Representative to vote YES on SB17!

[Americans for Prosperity @AFPhq]

Kentucky says it wants to promote small businesses, but outrageous Certificate of Need (CON) fees—ranging from $10,000 to $100,000—are dragging down independent health care clinics.

[AFP Kentucky @AFPKentucky]

“There is a lot of small business out there that wants to succeed, and the Certificate of Need is stopping that”

Check out Rebecca’s story ⬇️

[KY Association Nurse Practitioners & NurseMidwives @KyNPsLead]

KANPNM was happy to sponsor this informative visit for our lawmakers and greatly appreciates the hospitality and expertise of the Tree of Life freestanding birth center for their support. https://t.co/dlzC95babg

[KY Voices for Health @kyvoices4health]

We had a great time visiting with our Kentuckiana neighbors at Tree of Life. More and more women are choosing birthing centers in other states... but right now Kentuckians have to make the same trip we did. #KYGA24

[Kentucky Lantern || bsky @kentuckylantern.com @KYLantern]

"I wanted people to see what ‘safe’ looks like," says GOP state senator @FunkeShelley.
By @ladd_sarah
https://t.co/srW0NEZ54E

[Kentucky Birth Coalition @KentuckyBirth]

Thanks @ladd_sarah for covering the visit.

[Kentucky Birth Coalition @KentuckyBirth]

We had a great time. Thank you Tree of Life Family Birth Center!

[KY Senate Majority @KYSenateGOP]

Sen. @FunkeShelley Frommeyer, R-Alexandria, and other Kentucky legislative leaders toured the Tree of Life Family Birthing Center in Jeffersonville, Indiana. They were exploring the unique capabilities and challenges birthing centers face in Indiana so that Kentucky might work toward a similar solution to the current maternal health crisis.

“We are experiencing a maternal health crisis like never before in Kentucky and want to explore how a neighboring state is successfully bringing this needed capability to mothers in the commonwealth,” said Funke Frommeyer.

Kentucky last had freestanding birth centers in operation in the 1980s. Nearly 60 percent of the annual births at Tree of Life are Kentucky families who traveled there from across state lines, some from as far as two hours away.

“We are building on the momentum of the 2024 legislative session, which experienced bipartisan support for a birthing center framework to be built in Kentucky,” Frommeyer said.

Frommeyer and Rep. @jmnemes, R-Middletown, filed companion bills in both chambers during the 2024 legislative session. Nemes’ bill was House Bill 199 and dubbed the Mary Carol Akers Birth Centers Act. Frommeyer filed the Senate version in Senate Bill 103. Both legislators intend to file similar, companion bills in 2025.

According to the American Association of Birth Centers, a birth center is a health care facility for childbirth where care is provided in the midwifery and wellness model. The birth center is freestanding and not part of an existing hospital.

Birth centers are an integrated part of the health care system and are guided by principles of prevention, sensitivity, safety, appropriate medical intervention, and cost-effectiveness. While midwifery and the support of physiologic birth and newborn transition may occur in other settings, this is the exclusive model of care in a birth center.

Other lawmakers who joined Frommeyer and Nemes included Sen. Julie Raque Adams, R-Louisville; Sen. @tichenor4ky, R-Smithfield; Sen. Adrienne Southworth, R-Lawrenceburg; @SenatorSchickel, R-Union; and Rep. @RachelRoarx , D-Louisville.

The @KentuckyBirth , Kentucky Association of Nurse Practitioners & Nurse Midwives, @MetroUnitedWay, and Kentucky Voices for Health co-hosted the collaborative visit.

[Kentucky Birth Coalition @KentuckyBirth]

If you have had a previous cesarean delivery (anywhere) & had a subsequent birth (C-section or vaginal) that took place in Kentucky, please take this survey or pass it along to someone you know who is eligible. It will take 10-15 minutes. https://t.co/ZnimNtqLHS

[Kentucky Lantern || bsky @kentuckylantern.com @KYLantern]

Champions of freestanding birthing centers are renewing their push in #KYGA24 with legislation that addresses concerns raised by opponents in the past.

Republican lawmakers are fighting for freestanding birthing centers in KY (again):

From @ladd_sarah:

https://t.co/A8ELWh523W

[KY Senate Majority @KYSenateGOP]

The Commission on Race & Access to Opportunity is discussing Birthing Centers and Kentucky overdose rates this afternoon. More information can be found here: https://t.co/4bj57EBoaA

[Kentucky Birth Coalition @KentuckyBirth]

#GiveForGoodLou is on NOW! Help us reach our goal of at least 100 donors before 11:59pm today, Sept 14. We are working hard in KY to make freestanding birth centers a reality, and for Medicaid coverage for LCPMs. #ky4midwives #ky4birthcenters