RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, in memory of Puna, Hawaii resident Sarah Marie Faye, and Sarah's beauty, intelligence, and passion for life, the Legislature shares in the public outcry regarding the need to educate, collaborate, and develop strategies to address domestic violence; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that domestic violence, especially when exacerbated by substance abuse or alcoholism, involves important public policy concerns that require study and deliberation in order to identify strategies to reduce their prevalence in Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, it has been recognized that wellness education teaches, instead of reacting to stress, healthy development and peaceful co-existence of family members, and thus decreases domestic abuse, substance abuse, and alcoholism; and

WHEREAS, it is relatively well-known and accepted that the health and well-being of a pregnant woman is linked to her unborn child's health and well-being; and

WHEREAS, it has been suggested that the experience of birth imprints the basic personality of a child; and

WHEREAS, it has been asserted that domestic abuse and turmoil in a child's domestic environment may lead to a propensity for that child to abuse others in the future; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature recognizes the positive impact of trained birthing professionals and, in particular, birth doulas, who are professionals trained and experienced in childbirth who provide continuous physical, emotional, and informational support to the mother before, during, and just after childbirth; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2006, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Health, Maternal and Child Health Branch is requested to study the role of gestational environments, gentle birthing practices, domestic harmony awareness, and appropriate and sufficient touch, and the impact these practices may have on reducing substance abuse, domestic violence, and alcoholism; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health, Maternal and Child Health Branch is requested to report its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2007; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the Director of Health, and the Chief of the Maternal and Child Health Branch.

Report Title:

DOH, MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH BRANCH