The CPM Licensure Initiative is a statement that clarifies the mission and sums up the goals of Ohio Families for Safe Birth in advocating for a new state law licensing Certified Professional Midwives. This is the statement that groups or individuals are signing on to when they join the coalition.
Ohio Families for Safe Birth CPM Licensure Initiative:
Increasing Access to Out-of-Hospital Maternity Care Services through state regulation of Certified Professional Midwives
MISSION
Ohio Families for Safe Birth (OFSB) is a consumer-driven effort to create a statewide coalition of families and professionals promoting legislation and policies grounded in the Midwives Model of Care which support families’ access to safe, appropriate, evidence-based care during pregnancy, labor, delivery and postpartum. Our purposes are:
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Supporting legislation that licenses Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) in Ohio;
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Raising awareness and support for families choosing an out-of-hospital birth as a safe, appropriate option;
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Supporting safe family and baby initiatives in all birth settings.
PREAMBLE
WHEREAS in 2005, Ohio Department of Public Health Vital Statistics documented 969 home births in Ohio;*
WHEREAS childbirth is a normal, healthy event for the majority of women, and includes important emotional and social components not usually addressed by hospital-based maternity care;
WHEREAS healthy women giving birth in hospitals are increasingly subjected to routine interventions, which may not be evidence-based or beneficial for their specific circumstances;
WHEREAS each woman and family is unique and deserves the maternity care provider and setting that best addresses individual needs and preferences;
WHEREAS the American Public Health Association supports efforts to increase access to out-of-hospital maternity care services and increase the range of quality maternity care choices available to consumers, through recognition that legally-regulated and nationally certified direct-entry midwives can serve clients desiring safe, planned, out-of-hospital maternity care services;1
WHEREAS studies have demonstrated dramatically lower cesarean rates in out-of-hospital birth settings, an issue of great significance at a time when 29.3% of Ohio mothers are giving birth by major abdominal surgery with all of its attendant risks and the rising rate of cesarean sections nationwide is increasingly recognized as a serious public health problem;
WHEREAS Certified Professional Midwives are nationally certified providers of out-of-hospital maternity care services;
WHEREAS Certified Professional Midwives are licensed in 24 states;*
THEREFORE, we the undersigned members of Ohio Families for Safe Birth support and acknowledge the following:
The interest of the State of Ohio in the health care of its citizens;
The right of the State of Ohio to regulate licensed professionals;
The right of parents to receive qualified care from a well-trained professional;
The right of families to choose safe alternatives to hospital birth including free-standing birth centers and home birth;
The proven safety of direct-entry midwife-attended birth;
The right of parents to choose a direct-entry midwife to provide care during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum;
The right of direct-entry midwives to practice without unwarranted governmental harassment;
The Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) credential as a mechanism to ensure entry-level competence of direct-entry midwives;
The implementation of legislation providing for direct-entry midwife licensure, using the CPM credential as a basis for licensure requirements in Ohio.
* Statistics updated periodically
[1] American Public Health Association Position Paper 2001-3: Guidelines for Licensing and Regulating Birth Centers. APHA Public Policy Statements, 1948 to present, cumulative. Washington, D.C.
