NACPM Responds to Misinformation about CPM Regulation

Dear Members and Friends in the Midwifery Community,

We, on behalf of the NACPM leadership team, are writing to respond to misinformation that has recently been circulating in the CPM community, and to help address the resulting distress and concern among NACPM members and stakeholders.

The ACOG Toolkit,  State Legislative ToolKit: Licensure and Regulation of Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs), currently being circulated and causing distress and doubt, was published in 2011 and is outdated.   It does not reflect the ICM Global Standards on Regulation which support autonomous midwifery, the regulation of midwives by midwives, and full-scope midwifery practice in all jurisdictions.  It does not reflect ACOG’s own statements over the past year, supporting fully-integrated care for all childbearing women, and the ICM Standards as the basis of education and regulation for midwives.  It does not reflect the current progress that is being made by historic teamwork among maternity care stakeholders and providers.  And it does not reflect the exciting and heartening progress for several CPM licensure bills and regulations that have been passed or that are finally moving forward in many states, including Maryland, Rhode Island and Delaware – after being stalled for many years by the very kind of opposition prescribed in the outdated 2011 ACOG Toolkit.

NACPM, along with our US MERA partners, is fully committed to vigorous support for the midwives model of care, to an autonomous, collaborative midwifery profession in the U.S., and to increasing – not limiting – access to high-quality education that meets international standards for all midwives.  Our deep commitment to increasing affordability and access to education for all aspiring midwives is one of our principle reasons for partnering with US MERA.

NACPM is in the trenches for CPMs and families to do the hard work of resolving issues that have stood in the way of advancing midwifery and women’s access to midwives in the U.S. for far too long.  We are committed to supporting the necessary conversations within the CPM community and shaping partnerships with previous adversaries – for the sake of women, babies, families, communities and the nation.

In support of these commitments, NACPM has been a leader in the historic US MERA collaboration, where midwives who have been at odds for decades now have a 4-year history of resolve and effectiveness that is unprecedented.  NACPM has led in the development and convening of the Home Birth Summits for reaching common ground on our shared responsibility across the entire system for childbearing women in all birth settings.  We are making great strides in a sturdy launch of NACPM chapters, giving midwives in states across the country the opportunity to engage in these critical conversations with national leadership and with each other to promote direct-entry midwifery as a cornerstone for childbearing women in the U.S.

NACPM and our US MERA partners are currently working hard to be able to share the results of our collaboration’s 2015 Annual Meeting this past April.  The power of a coalition lies is in its ability to achieve consensus that all members of the coalition can fully support and stand behind.  As many of you know from experience, consensus – and the power that comes with it – takes time to achieve.  We recognize that this leaves an information gap at a time when our communities need to hear from us.  Please watch soon for a US MERA report and other opportunities to learn and engage.

And please work with us to keep open the dialogue that supports and allows for change and evolution, even in places that have been stuck for decades.  We are committed to creating a system of seamless, integrated, respectful, accountable care that will benefit all.

With great respect and faith,

Mary Lawlor, CPM

Executive Director, NACPM

Ellie Daniels, CPM

President, NACPM

National Association of Certified Professional Midwives







Recording and CEUs Available: State Licensure for CPMs Webinar

You can now access a recording of the first webinar in the State Legislation and Policy series:

An Overview of State Licensure for CPMs

Obtain CEUs
 

Viewing webinar recording is FREE, and 1.5 CEU’s are available at $15.

The State Legislation and Policy Webinar Series, co-sponsored by Citizens for Midwifery (CfM) and the Association of Midwifery Educators (AME), will provide key information to CPMs, advocates, and policy makers as we work together to secure licensing and policy in support of full scope autonomous midwifery for CPMs in all 50 states.

FULL NEWSLETTER

An Overview of State Licensing for CPMs: Webinar

Please join us for the first webinar in the State Legislation and Policy series:

An Overview of State Licensure for CPMs
Thursday April 9, 2-3:30 PM, Eastern Time

Register Now
 

Participation in the webinar series is FREE, and 1.5 CEU’s are available at $15.

CEU Link: An Overview of State Licensing for CPMs

The State Legislation and Policy Webinar Series, co-sponsored by Citizens for Midwifery (CfM) and the Association of Midwifery Educators (AME), will provide key information to CPMs, advocates, and policy makers as we work together to secure licensing and policy in support of full scope autonomous midwifery for CPMs in all 50 states.

DETAILS IN THE FULL NEWSLETTER

Improving Home to Hospital Transfer

Next Webinar:

Improving Home to Hospital Transfer
December 18, 2014 2:00-3:30 pm

Come hear about the Best Practice Guidelines: Transfer from Planned Home Birth to Hospital from the Home Birth Summit Collaboration Work Group and how they can support practice and care in your own community. Hear from regional perinatal collaboratives around the country, and the perspectives of the various provider groups, from midwives to receiving physicians to emergency medical personnel, on improving care for women across providers and birth settings. (1.5 MEAC CEUs applied for)

This is the first webinar in the on-going series:
CPM Practice and Association News

Register Now

 DETAILS IN THE FULL E-NEWSLETTER



New Website! Webinars and CEUs!

Today NACPM launches a completely new website, designed to better serve our members and provide more information to others interested in midwifery and our work.  Whether it’s the latest news from the MAMA campaign for federal recognition of CPMs or the schedule for our webinar series on health care reform, you’ll be able to find it all in one central location. We are also thrilled to announce the first webinar, scheduled for May 22, 2014, at 2 PM, Eastern time. Please join NACPM and presenter Becky Martin for the first webinar in NACPM’s Affordable Care Act webinar series.

READ THE FULL E-NEWSLETTER

Exciting News from the United States Midwifery Education, Regulation and Association Workgroup

On behalf of the NACPM Board of Directors, we are excited to share news with you from the United States Midwifery Education, Regulation and Association (US MERA) Workgroup!

In addition to NACPM, this Workgroup includes the Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education (ACME), American College of Nurse Midwives (ACNM), American Midwifery Certification Board (AMCB), Midwifery Education Accreditation Council (MEAC), Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA), and North American Registry of Midwives (NARM).

Last weekend marked our second annual facilitated in-person meeting outside of Washington, D.C. There we reached an historic milestone, agreeing to work together on several critical action steps to ensure the future of midwifery in the United States.

Please read our joint statement, “2014 US MERA Meeting: A Summary Report”

Propelled by the needs of childbearing women around the country, representatives of each of the seven organizations have worked together for almost three years to find essential common ground. We strive to expand and ensure all women’s access to normal physiologic birth in all birth settings and to high-quality maternity care and the care of midwives. We are directed and inspired by the International Confederation of Midwives’ (ICM) vision of a strong and autonomous midwifery workforce around the globe, and by the support of ICM’s Global Standards for Education, Regulation and Association to achieve this vision.

To support the rapid development of a robust, diverse and accessible midwifery workforce in the U.S. to meet the needs of women, we have engaged with each other in challenging conversations and recognized the need for some changes in the positions of all of our organizations. We also all remained true to our core values and committed to building on our strengths.

We recognized several urgent and critical needs:

  • licensing for all nationally certified midwives in all 50 states

  • the ability to practice to the full extent of our training and experience

  • the need to promote innovation and accessibility in midwifery education through multiple pathways

  • the necessity of integrating midwifery care seamlessly into the U.S. health care system

We acknowledged the value and role of accreditation by agencies recognized by the U.S. Department of Education (MEAC and ACME) in the development of, and the ability to scale up, direct-assessment, competency-based midwifery training programs that will build on the innovations and affordability of the Portfolio Evaluation Process pathway.

Of great importance, we committed to continued collaboration and to engaging our members and stakeholders in further development and clarification of the paths forward to achieve licensure for nationally credentialed midwives in all 50 states and to innovate to expand access to affordable accredited education for all midwives. We are committed to the time it will take to operationalize these goals, and to communicate what it will take to achieve them. We welcome your questions and concerns as we develop an FAQ, with regular updates, to include you in this process. Please write to us at executivedirector@nacpm.org

We are excited by the commitment of U.S. midwifery leadership to doing the hard work of resolving issues that have stood in the way of advancing midwifery in the U.S. for far too long. We are counting on you to inform us with your questions and concerns as we stretch for new and creative solutions to meeting the needs of midwives and women in the U.S.

With great faith and hope,

Mary Lawlor, CPM
Executive Director, NACPM

Ellie Daniels, CPM
President, NACPM

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Towards Eliminating Disparities and Eradicating Racism

In a recent NACPM survey of members, over 90% of respondents included eliminating perinatal disparities and eradicating racism in midwifery as important priorities for NACPM.   NACPM is committed to advancing these priorities .  Now comes an important opportunity to join with others from around our country and the world to examine challenging concepts of privilege and oppression and to find solutions and identify strategies to work toward a more equitable world. 

 Please join NACPM in supporting and attending the 15th White Privilege Conference:  Building Relationships!  Strengthening Communities!  Seeking Justice! on March 26-29 in Madison, Wisconsin.  Follow the lead of the Wisconsin NACPM Pilot Chapter in promoting social justice in the midwifery profession and reducing health inequities for childbearing women.  Read below for opportunities to support and participate.

 In recognition of Black History Month in February, NACPM honors the foundational role that African American midwives have played and continue to play in the lives and health of women and babies in the U.S.  NACPM honors the role of community leaders around the country for their unflagging leadership in the critical effort to eliminate birth disparities.  Please read below for a small sampling of their work.  Take a look at Claudia Booker’s Black History Midwife Calendar for a beautiful tribute to many of these national leaders.

With all best wishes,

Mary Lawlor, CPM
Executive Director, NACPM

 

Join NACPM at the White Privilege Conference

The 15th White Privilege Conference:  Building Relationships!  Strengthening Communities! Seeking Justice!  brings together 1500 people annually for a comprehensive look at issues of privilege including: race, gender, sexuality, class, disability, etc. – the ways we all experience some form of privilege, and how we’re all affected by that privilege.   

 Participants will include high school and college students, teachers, university faculty and higher education professionals, nonprofit staff, activists, social workers and counselors, healthcare workers, and members of the spiritual community and corporate arena.  We are excited to have the opportunity to examine the stubborn problems of equity and disparities in maternity care through this lens, and in the company of others who are thinking about privilege in this country as it impacts education, health care, business and more!

NACPM is a sponsor of the White Privilege Conference and will send three NACPM board members and staff to this important gathering. We encourage CPMs throughout the country to join us in supporting and attending this event – we look forward to seeing you there!

 

Wisconsin NACPM Chapter Leads the Way to the White Privilege Conference

The Wisconsin NACPM Chapter and the Wisconsin Guild of Midwives are working to promote racial justice in the midwifery profession and reduce health inequities for childbearing women. They are excited that the White Privilege Conference is being held in Madison, Wisconsin – their very own state. To further their racial justice work, together they are co-sponsoring the conference at the $1000 level, sending representatives to this event, and raising money for students to attend.

Wisconsin challenges your NACPM Chapter and/or state midwifery organization to join them in supporting the conference:

  • Become a supporter

  • Register for the conference!

  • Donate for a student to attend. Send a check in any amount, with “WPC/NACPM donation” in the memo line, to:

Tehmina Islam

46 North Lakewood Gardens Lane

Madison, WI 53704


 Black History Month

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Friday, February 28th, was the last day of the 2014 Black History Month.  With roots dating back to 1926, Black History Month is an annual observance in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom for remembering important people and events in the history of the African Diaspora. 

 In one of many national tributes to midwives during Black History Month, Claudia Booker shared the story of South Carolina nurse midwife, Maude Callen.  In 1951, LIFE Magazine published a stunning photo essay of Maude Callen’s life as she delivered babies and educated midwifery students in a 400-mile area crippled by poverty in the 1950s and “veined with muddy roads.”  We urge you to view this beautiful photo tribute.


Midwife of Color Initiatives to Eliminate Birth Outcome Disparities

The following are a small sampling of efforts around the nation led by midwives of color. NACPM will feature additional initiatives in future newsletters.

 The JJ Way©:  Toward Eliminating Disparities

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In her blog , Jennie Joseph, CPM, reminds us of “the foundational role that African American midwives played in the provision of maternity care for both Black and White women from slavery on upwards.” The overarching goal of Jennie’s model of maternity health care “is to see that every woman has an opportunity for the healthiest possible pregnancy, birth and postpartum, regardless of the color of her skin or her socio-economic status; a model where babies, mommies, families and communities thrive because the emphasis is on access, connections, knowledge and empowerment – quality care for every woman, every time.”



NABCC:  Eliminating Disparities through Birth Centers of Color

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The National Association of Birth Centers of Color (NABCC) was founded in February 2012 by a group of CPMs committed to serving all women, but particularly women of color, through community-based maternity clinic and birth center services. With a vision to eliminate racial disparities in birth outcomes,each founding midwife member has experience working with women of color through her own clinic and/or birth center, and has achieved better health and better care within her population through culturally-competent, evidence-based, comprehensive and cost-efficient midwifery and maternity-care home models.


NACPM is  a supporter of NABCC.   We urge you to become a member and support the critical work of this organization. 

 ICTC Leads the Way:  Reimbursing Doulas to Reduce Disparities

Thanks in good part to the leadership of Shafia Monroe and the Center for Traditional Childbearing (ICTC), the Oregon legislature passed a law in 2011 requiring the Oregon Health Authority to investigate how doulas and other community health workers can improve the birth outcomes of underprivileged and underserved women.  After a further two-year process with the Oregon Health Authority and the legislature, ICTC recently announced a stunning victory:  certified doula services are now reimbursed by Medicaid! 

 ICTC is an approved Oregon Health Authority training organization. ICTC’s Full Circle Doula Training Program builds on a tradition and history of midwifery practice in the African American community and has trained over 400 doulas of color since 1991.  One-third of those trained have continued on to become midwives.  Congratulations and many thanks to ICTC and the doulas and childbearing women of Oregon on achieving Medicaid reimbursement for doulas!

 NACPM supports ICTC and we urge you to do so as well!

 Birth Workers of Color Grand Challenge: Critical Need to Educate Midwives of Color

 Spearheaded by Vicki Penwell, CPM, Claudia Booker, CPM, and Jennie Joseph, CPM, the Scholarship Solution and Grand Challenge from Mercy in Actionis a challenge to schools and other birth worker training programs to each offer a scholarship to a woman of color every year.  A data base of scholarship and support opportunities for students will be collected and shared with aspiring students of color.  Read how you can support and participate.

 Please join NACPM in our ongoing work to advocate for quality improvements in national maternity care.

 Form a pilot chapter in your state and enhance CPMs’ national influence to improve the maternity care system in the U.S. for all women, and promote, protect and defend the profession. Learn more from our website, and contact our Administrative Assistant for further information and help getting started. Also feel free to download and print the Pilot Project description and policy.

Join or renew your membership, if you haven’t already; invite others to join; and like us on Facebook today to help spread the word.

Sincerely,

Mary Lawlor, CPM

Executive Director, NACPM

 Ellie Daniels, CPM

President, NACPM