Upset with SB 1208? Call Upon Your Midwife

If Senate Bill 1208 has your stomach in knots, call upon your midwife.  If you're concerned for CPMs and their future in Michigan, call upon NARM and the organizations that support them.  

Ask them why there are not consistent standards for education.  Ask them why there is no defined scope of practice.  Ask them why those among them who like to take on risky births, and brag about them later are worshiped.  Ask them why dead babies are ignored and the "allegations" department offers only "peer review" with NO mandatory changes in practice.  In fact, NARM doesn't even ask that the "notes" be turned in after a peer review.   Ask them why midwives who carry and use illegal drugs are not sanctioned or monitored.  Ask them why they don't report their outcomes.  Ask them what their risking out criteria is.  

Call upon your midwives to make their standards for education consistent and in line with international standards at the very least.  Tell them you care about midwifery and its future and you'd like the option of home birth to be as safe as it possibly can be.  Tell them you want safer options and a higher standard of care.  Tell your midwives  you want a licensed, insured, accountable care giver to serve the women of Michigan.  

If midwives were doing their jobs well enough, there wouldn't be a need for any bill, Senate or House.  Problems need to be addressed and women who value midwifery need to have higher expectations.  Midwifery as a profession needs to hold themselves to higher standards.  Ladies, we can do better.  

Perhaps consumers should take a moment to consider what midwifery looks like in other countries, and then start to ask more questions.  

"I have to thank the home birthers for trumpeting the Netherlands study results constantly. Once I asked and discovered what the standards of care were in the Netherlands, it gave a fantastic contrast to how home births are handled in the United States. It also gave us a model of care to use in asking for change. After all, the MIDWIVES like the results so obviously they would be more than happy to support the process, right? 

Maybe we need to start asking: Why don't we have two midwives at a home birth? Why don't we have better trained midwives? Why don't midwives work with OBs so that transfer of care can happen smoothly whether it's at 20 weeks or 41 weeks? Why don't midwives carry insurance to protect themselves and their patients?

Why are we using the Lone Ranger model of midwifery care where the midwife can ride off into the sunset at any time, for any reason?" ~ Anj Fabian

I leave you with these questions, Why is our current model of midwifery in Michigan acceptable?  If there really is a need for excellent midwives and a crisis in maternity care, why aren't our CPMs and lay midwives filling that gap with appropriate training and standards for practice?  Why do we tolerate sub standard care that would literally be unacceptable in any other first world country?  Why is it wrong to ask more of our midwives?  Time to raise our standards Michigan, and demand ethical, responsible practices of our midwives.  

NARM

Friends of MI Midwives

Michigan Midwives Association

Self Inflicted Controversy: CPMs Under Fire

I found profound insight from a fellow Michigan mom and blogger that expresses the reason CPMs have no one to blame but themselves for being under scrutiny.  Her post also notes many double standards running amok in conversations about birth.  

The links below are an accurate observation of where NARM has led its midwives.  This is precisely why regulations are needed for those pretending to regulate themselves.  Please also see the related post entitled, What We're Seeking Defined Scope of Practice, to hear from midwife apprentices about the need for improved standards.  

Sara Savel: Make Midwifery Safer Now! 

Navelgazing Midwife: Succinct Reasons CPMs/DEMs Need to Get Their Act Together 

The links below represent a collection of resources where you can learn more about proposed bills currently in MI's legislature.  I encourage you to become familiar with the issues at hand and take action to ensure safer practices and improved standards for all Michigan Midwives.  

Next week Wed, look for a post entitled: Tell me about this credential: "CPM or Certified Professional Midwife" for more on this topic from student midwives.

Other Related Links:
Why HB 5070 Would do More Harm Than Good

Actions Speak: Senate Bill 1208

The Marriage Between Legislation and Choice
The Big Bill Debate: HB 5070 & SB 1208
The Big Push Back
Upset with Senate Bill 1208?  Call Upon Your Midwife
www.michiganmidwifebill.org

More mis-information from FOMM: Will Michigan outlaw your midwife?

The Friends of MI Midwives recently posted a lovely piece of fear mongering on their blog entitled, "Will Michigan Outlaw Your Midwife?"  in their response to Senate Bill 1208

Safer Midwifery for Michigan would like to address each point of their position and address the misconceptions: 

SB 1208 will outlaw all non-nurse midwives = FALSE
SB 1208 requires RN training to be eligible for midwifery licensure, but does not require AMCB training as an advance practice nurse and certified nurse midwife for entry into practice. The state is allowed to permit a license to a midwife with an RN license and additional training in midwifery. Please read this carefully, this does not limit licensure exclusively to certified nurse midwives. 

Eliminate access to out-of-hospital birth in most of our state = FALSE
FOMM is saying that since few CNMs practice OOH, this will limit the availability of OOH midwifery practices. The first fault in this reasoning is assuming that this bill limits licensure exclusively to nurse-midwives. This is false. Please see our first point.
    

Elminate the designation of Certified Nurse Midwife and create a new category of licensed midwife = TRUE
This bill aims to license all midwives practicing in the state of Michigan in an attempt to standardize practice guidelines.  Some may have to boost their coursework or skills, but the opportunity is present for all midwives to earn a license.  A few of our blog readers have commented that this has the potential to restrict hospital based CNM practice. This is not the intent of this bill, and I am confident the language will be revised.  
    

New York State licensed midwives under a board of midwifery in 1992. The credential permitted to practice under this law was the AMCB trained CM. And in the past 20 years, some CPMs have become licensed as CMs in New York.  This is another potential revision.
   

Legislate many new restrictions on which births can take place at home = FALSE
Safer Midwifery for Michigan advocates for the safe practice of midwifery. It is in the state’s interest to minimize risk of injury or death during homebirth, especially if state is authorizing license for these professionals, as well as state-funded Medicaid payments to these professionals.  Note – this bill does not criminalize home birth. It restricts who can use the term “midwife” or “licensed midwife” in providing home birth services and outlines a safe practice guidelines for licensed midwifery practice.
   

Eliminate free-standing , independent birth centers by requiring them to work under hospital supervision = FALSE 

Let's look at the SB1208 language regarding birth center licensure:

(B) PRESENT PROOF SATISFACTORY TO THE DEPARTMENT THAT THE

FACILITY HAS A CONTRACTUAL RELATIONSHIP WITH AN OBSTETRICIAN-

GYNECOLOGIST WHO IS LICENSED AS A PHYSICIAN UNDER ARTICLE 15, A

GROUP OF PHYSICIANS LICENSED UNDER ARTICLE 15, OR A HOSPITAL

LICENSED UNDER ARTICLE 17, THAT AGREES TO PROVIDE CONSULTING

SERVICES DURING DELIVERIES.

Providing proof of a relationship with a OB/GYN is not hospital supervision - it is a way for providing accountable, quality assurance to the clients of the birth center.  The Midwives Model of Care includes:

"Identifying and referring women who require obstetrical attention."

This provision is included in SB 1208 to assure that licensed birth centers provide care that is consistent with their own widely-publicized Midwives Model of Care statement.

To everyone supporting HB 5070 - please be informed consumers, and do your research. Don't believe everything you're told by your midwife, or by those purporting to be "friends" of midwives. Do your homework. Read the bills yourself. Take responsibility for your legislation. You are capable of making an informed, autonomous choice, and knowing the facts. Midwives are experts at supporting your individualized, informed decisions. Don't let them tell you what to do.