Obtaining a Governor's/Mayor's Proclamation

The steps to obtaining a proclamation from the Governor's or Mayor's office may vary slightly from state to state, but it is usually a fairly simple procedure. You may request the Governor/Mayor to grant a public signing, but the most important thing is to get the proclamation. We encourage you to create your own social media event (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok) and unique #hashtag to publicize and raise awareness the proclamation if the Governor/Mayor does not grant a public signing.

Call your Governor's/Mayor's office (you can access the information here by searching for your "politician" or it's easily available by a quick internet search) and ask to speak with the staff person in charge of requesting a proclamation. Most Governor's/Mayor's offices will ask that you submit a proposed proclamation with your request. Be sure to get the address to mail this request and the time frame for submitting the request for a proclamation during the first week of October. In the cover letter, request the Governor/Mayor to proclaim the first week of October (Sunday through Saturday) as Midwifery Week for your state/city. If you can arrange to have some midwives, physicians, consumers, and media present, you should also request that the Governor/Mayor grant a public signing for this proclamation.

Proclamation signings can be great photo opportunities that grab the local media's attention. Arrange for your mayor to perform a signing ceremony officially proclaiming National Midwifery Week in your community, and let the media know about it in advance. Call each local news station's and newspaper's assignment desk the day of the signing (as early as 4:00 a.m.), encouraging them to include the event in their "daybook" to take the steps needed to make informed decisions regarding their health.

If other midwives or organizations have been obtaining this proclamation previously, we encourage that you check with them before initiating this request. If they are already planning to work on a proclamation for this year, volunteer to work with them. Utilize this as an opportunity to network and build coalitions with colleagues. The more people who are working on this, the more activities and visibility midwives can generate this October!

Sample 2022 Mayoral/Gubernatorial Proclamation

Whereas this year, National Midwifery Week is celebrated during the week of October 2 – 8, 2022; and

Whereas the national organization, the American College of Nurse-Midwives, headquartered in Silver Spring, MD, is the official organization for the nearly 13,000 certified nurse-midwives and certified midwives throughout the United States and the official sponsor of National Midwifery Week on a national level; and

Whereas this national event is an opportunity for people nationwide to recognize and celebrate midwives and the health care services they provide; and

Whereas midwives have been a vital and growing part of the advancement of sexual and reproductive health services across the lifespan in (City/State) since (Date), and are collectively responsible for (number) percent of all births in (State) and continue to serve as frontline essential health care providers during the COVID-19 pandemic; and

Whereas midwifery care is associated with decreased pregnancy-related racial and ethnic health disparities; and

Whereas National Midwifery Week recognizes the important role of midwives - whether assisting a pregnant person as they give birth, or providing personalized health care, midwives are truly dedicated and essential providers.

We proclaim the week of [DATES] to be [STATE OR CITY] Midwifery Week.

In witness hereof, I hereunto set my hand this (Date) day of (Month), (Year).

(Signature)