August 1, 2025 • 10 mins
State Senator Lakesia Collins is leading the charge for birth justice in Illinois. In this episode of The Sound of the State, she explains how legislation she carried this year removes barriers for certified nurse midwives and expands access to care, particularly in underserved communities.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to this episode of the Sound of the State
podcast for the Illinois Senate Nocredit Caucus in Springfield. I'm Colbiehoff,
joined on Zoom today by State Senator Lakisha Collins. Senator,
an opportunity to have a conversation about a subject that
I know you are extremely passionate about, and that is
birth equity. Specifically, today, we're going to chat about a
bill that you carried during the spring session, and that
is House Bill twenty six point eighty eight involving Certified
(00:22):
Nurse midwives and maternal care here in Illinois. So we'll
start with the obvious. Senator, talk to us about House
Built twenty six eighty eight and the inspiration behind that.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
This bill was about listening to mothers across the state
who felt overlooked, as well as midwives who wanted to
serve them more effectively. This bill is about expanding safe,
qualify care, about empower wringing our certified midwives to practice
to full extent of their training. This is a really
important bill and I was just really happy to sponsor.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
It's talk about the term midwives for just a second here,
Senator Collins, because I think for a lot of people
who didn't use one in the process of bringing their
children into the world. It's a term they're not familiar with,
other than perhaps an old definition that brings certain preconceptions
to mind that may or may not be accurate today.
What exactly is the role of a midwife as we
talk about them here in the year twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
I think the old turn was like the mother of mothers.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
They were considered to be the women who would help
assist in deliveries. This term goes all the way back
to I think Greece and even in slavery, where a
lot of the times they would be the big mamas,
and so they were known to be the ones to
deliver the babies. They were the ones to help the
mother throughout the pregnancy to care for the baby. And
(01:35):
over the centuries they were pretty much locked out of
this field, and that one on one connection, which was
pretty much the bond between the families that kept the
families together, kind of depleted over centuries and went into
modern healthcare, and so they were kind of left out
of that field even though they were still around, but
they lost a lot of their.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Certification to do the work.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Pretty much was made illegal now we're making it illegal
again because we realized how a century role that they
play in the maternal health space.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
What are we accomplishing with this bill, specifically, Senator Collins
House built twenty six eighty eight. So what are we
changing for certified nurse midwives here in the state.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
It removes major barriers by reforming how nurse midwives operate
under collective bargaining agreements with physicians. It ensures that these
agreements can't prevent madwives from performing home births or practicing
in birth centers. It also clarified that doctors aren't liable
just for signing an agreement unless there is a gross misconduct.
(02:32):
This will open up the door for more midwives to
work independently, especially in underserved communities, and.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
We do have a number of communities unfortunately, that would
meet to that definition in the states. So talk to
us a little bit about access and why this bill
is so important to that.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Specifically, we have entire regions in Illinois classified as maternity
care deserts, especially west side the South side of Chicago,
places where there are no hospitals with these services and
no obgyns nearby.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Talk about the rural areas.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
This bill gives certified nurse maidwives the ability to step
in and provide care in those areas. It's also about equity.
It's meeting people where they are and it saved lives,
especially with the numbers that we see in infant mortality rates.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
State Senator Lakeisha Collins or Chicago with me today on
the Sound of the State podcast. Senator, are there any
worries perhaps that this bill might reduce oversight that physicians
currently have in maternity care.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
It will not reduce the oversight, but this will improve
the quality of care. This bill is about safety and
expanding access. These are highly trained professionals that have already
handled births and services safely every year. Our bill puts
guard rails in place, but also respects the expertise about
bad the madwives.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Senator, let's get personal for just a second, thinking back
to some of your remarks on the Senate floor as
this bill is being discussed. I know that you yourself
are a parent, you used a nurse midwife for your pregnancies.
Can maybe shed some lights on the subject through some
of your own experiences.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Yes, I have three boys and I was a former
youth and care and so my experience was just a
little bit different from the many of women who did
not have a successful outcome. And so I actually had
a nurse midwife, and I'm very fortunate to have the
experience because it really taught me the importance of breastfeeding.
It taught me the importance of how my body worked
(04:22):
postpartum care. Those resources that were available to me are
not necessarily available to most in the African American community.
Black women are three to four times more likely to
die from pregnancy related complications, and we see that number
increasing year by year, and it's actually frightened, right. We
also see that in poor or rural communities where there
(04:45):
are lack of access to hospitals and midwives and things
of that nature. And so I use my own personal
experience with this because I understood the importance of having
a midwife, understood the importance of having a doula.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
I understood how it helped me as a.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Parent with my three young sons and the benefits that
came along with it. And to be able to now
have the opportunity to address those needs with many new
parents who again I know, I was scared. I didn't
know what to do, but having someone by your side,
that's walking through your pregnancy, that's listening to you when
you are having concerns with certain side effects or Braxton Higgs,
(05:23):
not knowing if that's a real contraction or not, and
having someone explain that to you what signs to look
out for is really beneficial to someone who was beginning
this journey as a parent. And so I understand the
importance of what this bill is doing, and I know
how beneficial it would be from moms all across this state.
And so that was one of my main motivations to
(05:44):
carry this piece of legislation. It's going to save lives,
it's going to increase safety.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
He said something they're Senator Collins that I want to
go back to and expand upon. You said something about
mothers being listened to during the childbirth process and in
fact the entire pregnancy. Unfortunately, it is a fact of
the way our society currently operates, and that oftentimes mothers
aren't listened to, and it seems to again unfortunately, have
more of a prevalence in minority communities. Can you expand
(06:11):
on that a little bit gives some insight.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
So oftentimes when a woman of color goes into the
doctor while she's pregnant and you may have constant headaches.
We don't know what that's due to. So you go
when you ask your doctor, hey, I'm having this issue.
I might have some bleeding going on that I feel,
you know, because we know our bodies, right, and so
if something unusual is going on, like a constant headache
(06:35):
or swelling in the feet, or constant cramps, or no
movement from the baby at a certain period of time
in the stages of your pregnancy, and the doctor tells you, oh,
that's normal or there's nothing to worry about, or don't
take an additional test, or don't refer you to a specialist.
Because we know that in the African American community that
(06:56):
oftentimes we're dealing with other health complications prior to you
pregnancy or during pregnancy, like pregnancy related diabetes or camorrah
dream all types of things, right, and a lot of
these women are going unheard. You're being told that it's normal,
that is your age range, it's your family history, but
there's no real follow up. And so when these cases persist,
(07:20):
its life threatening. And a lot of these cases, eighty
percent of them are preventable. And so when you have
a nurse midwife who is trained and who understands. Then
that's that one on one contact and they're culturally connected
to the person.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
It makes a really big difference.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
The consistency with having the same midwife births all three
of your kids is important. I had the same nurse
midwife with all three of my kids, and in fact,
they actually retired after the last one, and then I
had the same doula with all three. So it does
become a community of family because now you trust this person.
You had a successful pregnancy, so now hey, you get
(07:57):
pregnant again, you're gonna want to see the same person
and again. And it's the trust, it's the hey, you
see me, you hear me, and I trust you ultimately
with my life and we've given birth to my child
because I know that you're listening to what I'm telling you.
And so we need that when it comes to birth justice,
we definitely need someone who is intentional about making sure
(08:19):
that the patient voice is being heard and not this
unconscious bias.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
That happens Oftentimes.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
These are the results which is ultimately deaf, that could
have been prevented just by simply ignoring women of color.
And I mean throughout history, it has been known to
be said that for whatever reason, black women can tolerate
pain at a very high level, and that is just
not true, right. I think here in the state of Illinois,
what we've done is we listen to the experts, we
(08:46):
listen to the people who are the most impacted by
these policies, and we're addressing them one step at a time,
and we're improving the outcomes for many families to come.
And this is something that has been in the making
for decade where women have spoken out about these horrific
stories where families had to choose between the parent or
the child or lose both in that situation, and eighty
(09:09):
to ninety percent of these cases are preventable.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Senator Collins, I think you've hit on this next question
already in a broad sense, but let's narrow it down
a little bit. What is the message that you want
this bill to get across to people in Illinois.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Simply that we see you that your health matters no
matter who you are, where you are in this state,
whether you are on the West side of Chicago or
all the way southern rural area of Illinois, that you
have the right to choose how and where you give
birth and that should be respected and supported. And so
House Built twenty six eighty eight is one step towards
(09:42):
a system that trusts women, that trust our values, and
it trusts our midwives.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Final thoughts today, Senator Collins.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
One, thank you again for having me to explain House
Built twenty six eighty eight. I'm super excited about this
piece of legislation. I think it's going to save lives.
I think is going to be another step forward to
birth justice, and it's really going to help families. I
think about reunification of families, that strong connection that it
(10:09):
builds with their medwives, and so I'm just really grateful
to have the opportunity to even pass legislation that makes
a really big difference. It's an honor to serve the
constituents in the fifth Senate District and across the state
of Illinois.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
State Senator LII Kisha Collins, Oh Chicago, thank you so
much for joining the Sound of the State podcast today.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Thank you
Welcome to this episode of the Sound of the State
podcast for the Illinois Senate Nocredit Caucus in Springfield. I'm Colbiehoff,
joined on Zoom today by State Senator Lakisha Collins. Senator,
an opportunity to have a conversation about a subject that
I know you are extremely passionate about, and that is
birth equity. Specifically, today, we're going to chat about a
bill that you carried during the spring session, and that
is House Bill twenty six point eighty eight involving Certified
(00:22):
Nurse midwives and maternal care here in Illinois. So we'll
start with the obvious. Senator, talk to us about House
Built twenty six eighty eight and the inspiration behind that.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
This bill was about listening to mothers across the state
who felt overlooked, as well as midwives who wanted to
serve them more effectively. This bill is about expanding safe,
qualify care, about empower wringing our certified midwives to practice
to full extent of their training. This is a really
important bill and I was just really happy to sponsor.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
It's talk about the term midwives for just a second here,
Senator Collins, because I think for a lot of people
who didn't use one in the process of bringing their
children into the world. It's a term they're not familiar with,
other than perhaps an old definition that brings certain preconceptions
to mind that may or may not be accurate today.
What exactly is the role of a midwife as we
talk about them here in the year twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
I think the old turn was like the mother of mothers.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
They were considered to be the women who would help
assist in deliveries. This term goes all the way back
to I think Greece and even in slavery, where a
lot of the times they would be the big mamas,
and so they were known to be the ones to
deliver the babies. They were the ones to help the
mother throughout the pregnancy to care for the baby. And
(01:35):
over the centuries they were pretty much locked out of
this field, and that one on one connection, which was
pretty much the bond between the families that kept the
families together, kind of depleted over centuries and went into
modern healthcare, and so they were kind of left out
of that field even though they were still around, but
they lost a lot of their.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Certification to do the work.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Pretty much was made illegal now we're making it illegal
again because we realized how a century role that they
play in the maternal health space.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
What are we accomplishing with this bill, specifically, Senator Collins
House built twenty six eighty eight. So what are we
changing for certified nurse midwives here in the state.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
It removes major barriers by reforming how nurse midwives operate
under collective bargaining agreements with physicians. It ensures that these
agreements can't prevent madwives from performing home births or practicing
in birth centers. It also clarified that doctors aren't liable
just for signing an agreement unless there is a gross misconduct.
(02:32):
This will open up the door for more midwives to
work independently, especially in underserved communities, and.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
We do have a number of communities unfortunately, that would
meet to that definition in the states. So talk to
us a little bit about access and why this bill
is so important to that.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Specifically, we have entire regions in Illinois classified as maternity
care deserts, especially west side the South side of Chicago,
places where there are no hospitals with these services and
no obgyns nearby.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Talk about the rural areas.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
This bill gives certified nurse maidwives the ability to step
in and provide care in those areas. It's also about equity.
It's meeting people where they are and it saved lives,
especially with the numbers that we see in infant mortality rates.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
State Senator Lakeisha Collins or Chicago with me today on
the Sound of the State podcast. Senator, are there any
worries perhaps that this bill might reduce oversight that physicians
currently have in maternity care.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
It will not reduce the oversight, but this will improve
the quality of care. This bill is about safety and
expanding access. These are highly trained professionals that have already
handled births and services safely every year. Our bill puts
guard rails in place, but also respects the expertise about
bad the madwives.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Senator, let's get personal for just a second, thinking back
to some of your remarks on the Senate floor as
this bill is being discussed. I know that you yourself
are a parent, you used a nurse midwife for your pregnancies.
Can maybe shed some lights on the subject through some
of your own experiences.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Yes, I have three boys and I was a former
youth and care and so my experience was just a
little bit different from the many of women who did
not have a successful outcome. And so I actually had
a nurse midwife, and I'm very fortunate to have the
experience because it really taught me the importance of breastfeeding.
It taught me the importance of how my body worked
(04:22):
postpartum care. Those resources that were available to me are
not necessarily available to most in the African American community.
Black women are three to four times more likely to
die from pregnancy related complications, and we see that number
increasing year by year, and it's actually frightened, right. We
also see that in poor or rural communities where there
(04:45):
are lack of access to hospitals and midwives and things
of that nature. And so I use my own personal
experience with this because I understood the importance of having
a midwife, understood the importance of having a doula.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
I understood how it helped me as a.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Parent with my three young sons and the benefits that
came along with it. And to be able to now
have the opportunity to address those needs with many new
parents who again I know, I was scared. I didn't
know what to do, but having someone by your side,
that's walking through your pregnancy, that's listening to you when
you are having concerns with certain side effects or Braxton Higgs,
(05:23):
not knowing if that's a real contraction or not, and
having someone explain that to you what signs to look
out for is really beneficial to someone who was beginning
this journey as a parent. And so I understand the
importance of what this bill is doing, and I know
how beneficial it would be from moms all across this state.
And so that was one of my main motivations to
(05:44):
carry this piece of legislation. It's going to save lives,
it's going to increase safety.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
He said something they're Senator Collins that I want to
go back to and expand upon. You said something about
mothers being listened to during the childbirth process and in
fact the entire pregnancy. Unfortunately, it is a fact of
the way our society currently operates, and that oftentimes mothers
aren't listened to, and it seems to again unfortunately, have
more of a prevalence in minority communities. Can you expand
(06:11):
on that a little bit gives some insight.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
So oftentimes when a woman of color goes into the
doctor while she's pregnant and you may have constant headaches.
We don't know what that's due to. So you go
when you ask your doctor, hey, I'm having this issue.
I might have some bleeding going on that I feel,
you know, because we know our bodies, right, and so
if something unusual is going on, like a constant headache
(06:35):
or swelling in the feet, or constant cramps, or no
movement from the baby at a certain period of time
in the stages of your pregnancy, and the doctor tells you, oh,
that's normal or there's nothing to worry about, or don't
take an additional test, or don't refer you to a specialist.
Because we know that in the African American community that
(06:56):
oftentimes we're dealing with other health complications prior to you
pregnancy or during pregnancy, like pregnancy related diabetes or camorrah
dream all types of things, right, and a lot of
these women are going unheard. You're being told that it's normal,
that is your age range, it's your family history, but
there's no real follow up. And so when these cases persist,
(07:20):
its life threatening. And a lot of these cases, eighty
percent of them are preventable. And so when you have
a nurse midwife who is trained and who understands. Then
that's that one on one contact and they're culturally connected
to the person.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
It makes a really big difference.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
The consistency with having the same midwife births all three
of your kids is important. I had the same nurse
midwife with all three of my kids, and in fact,
they actually retired after the last one, and then I
had the same doula with all three. So it does
become a community of family because now you trust this person.
You had a successful pregnancy, so now hey, you get
(07:57):
pregnant again, you're gonna want to see the same person
and again. And it's the trust, it's the hey, you
see me, you hear me, and I trust you ultimately
with my life and we've given birth to my child
because I know that you're listening to what I'm telling you.
And so we need that when it comes to birth justice,
we definitely need someone who is intentional about making sure
(08:19):
that the patient voice is being heard and not this
unconscious bias.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
That happens Oftentimes.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
These are the results which is ultimately deaf, that could
have been prevented just by simply ignoring women of color.
And I mean throughout history, it has been known to
be said that for whatever reason, black women can tolerate
pain at a very high level, and that is just
not true, right. I think here in the state of Illinois,
what we've done is we listen to the experts, we
(08:46):
listen to the people who are the most impacted by
these policies, and we're addressing them one step at a time,
and we're improving the outcomes for many families to come.
And this is something that has been in the making
for decade where women have spoken out about these horrific
stories where families had to choose between the parent or
the child or lose both in that situation, and eighty
(09:09):
to ninety percent of these cases are preventable.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Senator Collins, I think you've hit on this next question
already in a broad sense, but let's narrow it down
a little bit. What is the message that you want
this bill to get across to people in Illinois.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Simply that we see you that your health matters no
matter who you are, where you are in this state,
whether you are on the West side of Chicago or
all the way southern rural area of Illinois, that you
have the right to choose how and where you give
birth and that should be respected and supported. And so
House Built twenty six eighty eight is one step towards
(09:42):
a system that trusts women, that trust our values, and
it trusts our midwives.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Final thoughts today, Senator Collins.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
One, thank you again for having me to explain House
Built twenty six eighty eight. I'm super excited about this
piece of legislation. I think it's going to save lives.
I think is going to be another step forward to
birth justice, and it's really going to help families. I
think about reunification of families, that strong connection that it
(10:09):
builds with their medwives, and so I'm just really grateful
to have the opportunity to even pass legislation that makes
a really big difference. It's an honor to serve the
constituents in the fifth Senate District and across the state
of Illinois.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
State Senator LII Kisha Collins, Oh Chicago, thank you so
much for joining the Sound of the State podcast today.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Thank you
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