You probably don’t know who Clark Dean is.
I didn’t either until just before the primaries.
The thing is, the medical industrial complex doesn’t sweat a guy who gets only 136 votes out of 20,000 cast for Georgia’s governor.
But something caught my attention in the midst of how unremarkable his run was. Something that’s not shouted from the rooftops at Fox News or CNN.
Something that wasn’t even on Clark’s main issues page.
I found it talking to his AI chatbot.
Pleasant Surprise
He actually had a platform plank to reform birth in Georgia.
Nothing big. Just allowing Certified professional midwives to practice.
But that’s more than anyone else has said in the 10 years I’ve lived here. And I hope that can continue beyond this race.
That may not seem important to my family in the twilight of our childbearing years. But robust options for birth are a strong magnet for the young workforce the state wants to attract. Especially when Georgia ranks as one of the worst places to have a baby.
What do I mean?
Begging for alternatives
Maternal deaths in Georgia are one of the highest in the nation.
Yes, distance to care and overall health play a part. But so does treating patients as a means of extracting revenue and nudging them toward higher value procedures.
Alternative birth options like a birth center look at the whole woman and reduce the incidence of needing interventions. Overall, much less expensive and less stressful on the mother long term.
Something that can’t happen with the current state of midwife licensing in Georgia.
Against the wind
That owes a lot to the state of insurance companies and the stranglehold that research hospitals have on the state legislature.
In Augusta, we’ve tried to have a freestanding birth center for well over the 10 years since I moved here. But the local hospitals won’t partner with them because they think they’re going to lose revenue and freestanding birth centers can’t operate without a hospital to fall back on.
The one we tried in Savannah eight years ago has since gone under.
We’ve been let go from practices because we dared to stand up for our rights against pushy OBs wanting to just get their job done and collect the insurance payment.
And on our birth this year, we would’ve gotten a lot more unwanted hands-on attention if it wasn’t our sixth. Instead, we were mostly left to our own devices.
First time moms aren’t so lucky.
The promise ahead
But standing up for your rights creates a better citizenry than going with the flow.
That puts critical thinkers into the workforce instead of cogs. Ones who will be able to find and broaden strategic advantages for Georgia businesses.
And it’s for the act that brings us into this world. Something that can effect incredible bonding and healing within a couple. Something that kicks off the vasopressin in men and oxytocin in women. Something that kicks off how we care for our kids.
Pushing birth toward more interventions optimizes for profit instead of connection. (Natural births among midwives are pretty cheap in comparison)
So instead of continuing to vote for a system that makes it easier for payments at the expense of patient care quality, maybe we can get a better option this election cycle.
Push the candidates for governor and Secretary of State to talk about birth. They’re already signing pledges to protect health freedom from experimental vaccines and pesticide shields. Birth is only a couple more steps through the door.
I want my kids to stay in Georgia when they grow up. They need better options to grow into this part of their adult lives.
That takes more than a mention on the back page of an unremarkable candidate’s website.
Affiliate corner
Campaigning for birth can be obscure. But you’re not alone when you’re with the good people at Tom Woods’ School of Life. Learn from the best who have changed their communities for the better.
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