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:

• Supporting legislation that licenses Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) in Ohio;
• Raising awareness and support for families choosing an out-of-hospital birth as a safe, appropriate option;
• Supporting safe family and baby initiatives in all birth settings.

PREAMBLE

WHEREAS in 2007, Ohio Department of Public Health Vital Statistics documented 1029 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.