Advocates Call on State and Federal Policy Makers to Prioritize Maternal and Infant Safety

WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 28, 2009)-Maternal and infant health advocates are calling on policy makers to take action to ensure that there are enough Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs), who are trained as experts in out-of-hospital delivery, to meet the needs of pregnant women in the event that a flu pandemic makes hospitals unsafe settings for the provision of maternity care.

“Hospitals filled to capacity with flu patients are unsafe and inaccessible places for healthy women to deliver their babies,” said Colette Bernhard, Vice President of Illinois Families for Midwifery. “Fewer than 3 percent of nurse-midwives have undergone the additional training needed to establish out-of-hospital practices, while legal and reimbursement barriers at the state and federal level prevent far too many Certified Professional Midwives, who already have the necessary training and equipment, to utilize their services to the fullest. Given the very real possibility of a flu pandemic, the need to fully incorporate CPMs into our health care system could not be more urgent.”

Certified Nurse-Midwives (CNMs), who are trained to practice in hospital settings, are legally authorized by all 50 states and are federally mandated Medicaid providers. CPMs are the only professional midwives in the United States whose educational and credentialing process requires them to develop the specialized skills necessary to safely deliver babies in private homes and in freestanding birth centers. However, CPMs are legally authorized to practice in just over half the states and are eligible for Medicaid reimbursement in fewer than a dozen states.

Recognizing the need for more midwives with expertise in out-of-hospital maternity care and risk assessment, as well as the ability to safely triage laboring women during a disaster, advocates called on state and federal policy makers to take immediate steps to safeguard maternal and infant health in preparation for a possible flu pandemic.

“First, all states need to get on board and license CPMs to practice legally,” said Russ Fawcett of The National Birth Policy Coalition. “But it is every bit as critical that our federal policy makers require Homeland Security to include CPMs-who function as mobile primary care facilities for pregnant women-in disaster planning at local, regional, and national levels and as eligible providers for the National Health Service Corps.”

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, members of the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood formed the National Working Group for Women and Infant Needs in Emergencies in the United States, and the group’s April 2007 report includes CPMs among those who can educate and train home-based delivery skills to institution-based birth providers.

The Big Push for Midwives is the first initiative of the National Birth Policy Coalition (NBPC), whose mission is to promote the autonomous practice of Certified Professional Midwives and Certified Nurse-Midwives and to ensure the availability of safe, evidence-based care during pregnancy, labor, birth, and postpartum. The Big Push is a nationally coordinated campaign to advocate for regulation and licensure of Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and to push back against the attempts of the American Medical Association Scope of Practice Partnership
to deny American families access to legal midwifery care.

Through its work with state-level advocates, the Big Push is helping to build a new model of U.S. maternity care built on expanding access to out-of-hospital maternity care and CPMs, who provide affordable, quality, community-based care that is proven to reduce costly and preventable interventions as well as the rate of low-birth weight and premature births.

Media inquiries: Steff Hedenkamp (816) 506-4630, steff@thebigpushformidwives.org.

Tuesday, May 5th, is International Midwives’ Day, and Ohio Families for Safe Birth and the Ohio Midwives Alliance are bringing the message home to our legislators: Now more than ever, OHIO needs midwives!

We are asking all Ohio midwifery supporters to come to the Mother of All Rallies at 9:30 a.m., Tuesday, May 5th, on the South Lawn of the Statehouse. The more people show up, the stronger the message to our legislators that Ohio families need midwives! So bring your family, your friends and neighbors!

Here is the Facebook page for the rally, and click here for directions and to RSVP so that we can arrange a face-to-face appointment with your representative — we’ll provide a handout, talking points, and a “lobbying buddy” if desired, so that you can let your rep know how important midwives are to you. We can also help connect you with others from your area to carpool — let us know what you need to make it to the rally next Tuesday. For more information please contact Kathy Skestos (Kathleen@skestos.com) or Audra Phillips (audralp@earthlink.net).

Hope to see you there!

The BBC News has reported on a a new study from the Netherlands, published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, on the safety of home birth. The study is the largest of its kind to date, including 530,000 births, and compared midwife attended births to low-risk women both at home and in the hospital. The Netherlands has the highest rates of home birth in the industrialized world, with a third of women choosing to give birth at home.

The study determined that there was no difference in the rates of death or serious illness for mothers or babies between the home and hospital groups.

Admin note — This is NOT an April Fool’s joke — CPMs really are now legally authorized to practice in over half of the States!

Physician and Midwife Groups Forge Unprecedented Alliance as Idaho Becomes the 26th State to Pass Legislation to Legalizing Certified Professional Midwives

BOISE, ID (April 1, 2009)—Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter signed into law today a bill to license and regulate Certified Professional Midwives, making Idaho the 26th state to legally authorize them to provide out-of-hospital maternity care. In a notable reversal of longstanding anti-midwife policies, medical groups worked together with legislators, midwives, and advocates to reach consensus on a law that provides for independent practice, mutual collaboration, and the rights of parents to choose where and how their babies are born.

“This is a great day for midwives and home birth advocates all across the country,” said Kyndal May of Idahoans for Midwives ( www.idahoansformidwives.org ). “We truly have reached the tipping point, breaking through the medical lobby’s longstanding opposition and developing a legislative consensus model that other states are looking to follow.”

Certified Nurse-Midwives (CNMs), who practice primarily in hospital settings, are legally authorized in all 50 states, while Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs), who specialize in out-of-hospital birth, until today were legally authorized to practice in just half the states. Representatives from The Big Push for Midwives Campaign noted that Idaho typifies recent legislative trends across the country, as a growing number of states come closer to passing CPM legislation.

“We’re seeing unprecedented advances this legislative season,” said Katie Prown, Campaign Manager of The Big Push for Midwives. “For the first time, physician groups are coming to the table and negotiating in good faith, and bills that had long been stalled in previously antagonistic committees are suddenly starting to move.” States that have recently seen significant legislative advances include South Dakota, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, North Carolina, and Alabama. Idaho joins Missouri and Maine as among the most recent states to legally authorize CPMs to provide maternity care.

“It’s clear that organized medicine has finally realized that, between current economic trends and the drive for healthcare reform, the demand for access to CPMs and out-of-hospital maternity care is only going to grow,” said Susan M. Jenkins, Legal Counsel for the Big Push. “It simply makes good sense to pass laws that provide for regulatory oversight, transparency, and accountability, all of which are necessary to ensure safe practice.”

Thousands of people from across the nation watched the Senate floor vote on live video from the Idaho statehouse last week, cheering on their fellow midwife advocates on Facebook, Twitter, and email groups. “It’s very exciting to be part of a growing national movement,” said Michelle Bartlett, CPM, Legislative Liaison for the Idaho Midwifery Council. “I’m humbled to hear from so many advocates in other states who are looking to us as a model for how to work with every stakeholder to craft CPM legislation that addresses the needs and concerns of all of us who care about the health and safety of mothers and babies.”

Idaho is a priority of The Big Push for Midwives Campaign, a nationally coordinated campaign to advocate for regulation and licensure of Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and to push back against the attempts of the American Medical Association Scope of Practice Partnership to deny American families access to legal midwifery care. Through its work with state-level advocates, the Big Push is helping to forge a new model of U.S. maternity care built on expanding access to out-of-hospital maternity care and CPMs, who provide affordable, quality, community-based care that is proven to reduce costly and preventable interventions as well as the rate of low-birth weight and premature births.