CLICK HERE to donate to the Coalition for Illinois Midwifery
CLICK HERE to donate to Chicago Community Midwives
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead
Birth is important.
The experience that a mother and her baby have during birth has a life-long impact. For too many mothers and too many babies, this impact is negative, traumatic, painful or even cruel, leaving birth as an experience to heal from. When mothers are respected, listened to, empowered and treated with dignity, when babies are treated with gentleness and reverence, when the family is respected as a sacred connection, birth is magical. Birth can be empowering, healing, enlightening, transcendant- even blissful, ecstatic. Birth has the power to transform. When birth is gentle, the positive impact for the mother, for the baby, for the family is immeasurable and profound. We wish that experience for ALL mothers and babies. All of us, parents, families and birth professionals like doulas, midwives, childbirth educators, nurses and doctors, work hard every day to ensure that gentle birth is protected, and is available. This dedication is the powerful nexus where the Community Counts! Better Birth Initiative was born.
We strive to dedicate ourselves to bettering birth, to healing mothers and to improving the birth experience not only one mother, one baby, one family at a time but for every family for generations to come. How do we do that? Giving back to our gentle birth community. Each member of the Community Counts! Better Birth Initiative dedicates a small part of each fee we earn for our work caring for these families to a greater cause: to making gentle birth more available for generations to come. We pool our resources and as a birth community create much greater, lasting good for all mothers and babies.
Community Counts! Better Birth Initiative members commit a portion of every fee they receive for services caring for mothers, babies or families, to one of our exceptional nonprofit organizations working tirelessly to improve birth locally in the Chicago area. Members give at the level of their choice, either $10, $20, $3o, $50, $75 or $100+ level. For each client we serve, part of our dedication, love and support flows back to our gentle birth community, strengtening our collective impact on birth, creating lasting gentle birth options for years and generations to come.
Here are the excellent, efficient, effective organizations we are supporting as a Chicago area birth community:
The Coalition for Illinois Midwifery is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization working tirelessly to expand gentle birth options by working to license Certified Professional Midwives in Illinois. (CFIM is a 501c4 organization and donations are not tax deductable.)
Chicago Community Midwives is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization dedicated to improving maternal-child health through programs for the public and professionals focused on the Midwives Model of Care, out-of-hospital birth and breastfeeding. (CCM is a 501c3 organization and donations are tax deductable.)
Please join us today! Show your unwavering support for gentle birth. Become a member. Together, we can change the world.
Here is our Community Counts! Better Birth Commitment:
“I am deeply committed to improving the lives of mothers, babies and families and I commit a portion of the proceeds of my work caring for birthing families. Here, I begin to Pay It Forward and make a difference in the lives of mothers, babies and families for generations to come.”
Signed, Community Counts! Better Birth Initiative Members:
Jacque Shannon-McNulty CD (MMCI) , Doula, Childbirth Educator and Midwife’s Assistant, Member since 1/20/2010 dedicating $20 in honor of every doula client jacque@blissfulbirth.com http://www.blissfulbirth.com
Rachel Dolan Wickersham CD (DONA), LCCE Doula, Childbirth Educator and Midwife’s Assistant, Member since 2/5/2010 dedicating $20 in honor of every doula client chicagodoula@aol.com
Shannon Mackenzie Doula and Childbirth Educator in Lake County, IL, member since 1/31/2010 dedicating $10 in honor of every doula client shanahan1327@hotmail.com
Nancy Cowans CD (DONA) Doula in Evanston, IL, member since 2/22/2010 dedicating $20 in honor of every doula client ncowans@hotmail.com
FAQ
How does this work?
Community Counts! Better Birth Initiative is not an oranization. It is an idea. It is a collective and individual commitment to our community. This website is a portal where we come together and give directly to the organizations doing the most effective work in our community right now, today. It is a way to remind us to give back, and a vehicle for doing so in a way that makes the biggest impact on gentle birth in the Chicago area.
How do I become a Community Counts! Better Birth Initiative member?
Our birth community is rooted in integrity and we empower our members to honor their own commitment to our gentle birth community. Here’s how it works: each member declares her or his commitment level by posting here in the comments section, or by e-mail privately to jacque @ blissfulbirth . com , with your name, title, e-mail address and per-client commitment level. Then we will post your name, title, e-mail address and commitment level; we’ll even include a hyperlink to your website URL if you will link to us on your website too. With every client, you as a member will come to the Community Counts! Better Birth Initiative website (here 
) and click on the organization’s link to make your committed donation to either the Coalition for Illinois Midwifery or to Chicago Community Midwives.
What do I get as a Community Counts! Better Birth Initiative member?
Better birth for the mothers and babies we serve. The satisfaction of knowing that we are making a difference. That alone is priceless. In addition, members receive a listing on the Community Counts! Better Birth Initiative website, including your e-mail address and a link to your website if you link back to the Community Counts! Better Birth Initiative website. Additionally, you earn the title: Community Counts Better Birth Initiative Professional. This can be used on your website, brochures, professional listings, business cards, marketing materials, promotional materials, etc. Members can share with the world that they are making a long term difference for gentle birth. For each of your clients, you can send a special annoucement of your donation saying that in their honor, you are making a donation to the Coalition for Illinois Midwifery or to Chicago Community Midwives or generally to the Community Counts! Better Birth Initiative.
Become a member of the Community Counts! Better Birth Initiative today! Decide your per-client commitment level- either $5, $10, $20, $30, $50 or $100+- and post your name, title, e-mail address, per-client commitment level.
Thank you so much for your dedication to making birth better for the mothers, babies and families we serve!
