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HB645 Midwifery Licensure Act

February 8, 2005 -- February 8, 2005, the Regulation and Registration Committee of the Illinois House of Representatives heard testimony on HB645, the Certified Professional Midwife Licensure Act.



Consumer supporters of the Midwives Model of Care have been pushing similar legislation for decades. Supporters are hoping that 2005 will be the year to make real progress on assuring access to this evidence-based model of maternity care. With fewer and fewer options for homebirth providers, the public response to this bill has been overwhelming this legislative session. Springfield secretaries of legislators assigned to the Regulation and Registration Committee have been flooded with phone calls.So many calls are being received that the secretaries have stopped taking names and addresses.



Certified Professional Midwives are professionals specialized in out-of-hospital birth. Certified Professional Midwives practice the Midwives Model of Care (http://midwivesmodelofcare.org) which recognizes childbirth as a physiological process rarely requiring medical intervention. The Midwives Model of Care is not anti-medicine. It includes identifying and referring women who require obstetrical attention. The process of becoming a Certified Professional Midwife is rigorous, nationally recognized and has been scrutinized by esteemed scientists in the field of jobs analysis. Most importantly, the Midwives Model of Care is safe (http://www.cfmidwifery.org/citizens/pdf/safety.pdf).



The need for enabling legislation for Certified Professional Midwives has never been greater than it is in 2005. A recent judicial decision has rendered direct-entry midwifery illegal in Illinois. In many other states, like Minnesota, California, Florida and Vermont, Certified Professional Midwives are licensed professionals, providing evidence-based maternity care in a collaborative environment. Though all families deserve equal access to this kind of care, in Illinois, access is close to zero.



In the Chicago metropolitan area, there are a handful of physicians and nurse-midwives providing homebirth services but they certainly do not meet the demands of the state. Outside of the Chicago metropolitan area, homebirth services are scarce and in the southern part of our state (south of I88) homebirth services are virtually non-existent. Enabling legislation for Certified Professional Midwives will help serve this need. Even without legal access to Certified Professional Midwives, families are still seeking their services. Because nurse-midwives are hospital-trained, many consumers, invested in having a midwifery-managed homebirth, seek the services of non-nurse midwives. Without licensing, consumers have no protection, no recourse, and no access to collaborative care. This is the status quo in Illinois, and it is a public health nightmare.



The popularity of out-of-hospital birth and direct-entry midwifery care is growing. Women are learning about this evidence-based maternity care option from word of mouth, from birthing literature and from the media. The growing list of celebrities who have chosen home birth includes: Cindy Crawford, Demi Moore, Lucy Lawless, Carol King, Meryl Streep, Lisa Bonet, Pamela Anderson, Enrykah Badu, Julianne Moore, Jade Jagger, Thandie Newton, Kelly Preston and Rikki Lake. Additionally, cable birthing shows are bringing the Midwives Model of Care into our living rooms with frequent broadcasts of births attended by Certified Professional Midwives. More and more states are recognizing the benefits of the Midwives Model of Care by passing enabling legislation licensing Certified Professional Midwives. With the recently passed legislation in Vermont and Minnesota, the number of states licensing Certified Profession Midwives is 19. In about nine other states, consumer groups are actively pursuing licensing legislation. (There are a number of other states that permit the practice without requiring licensure. This is substandard and subject to the policies of changing administrations).



Support for the Midwives Model of Care and Certified Professional Midwives can be found in many national organizations, including the Pew Center for Health Professions, the Maternity Center Association, the American Public Health Association, Ohio State University, the National Commission for Certifying Agencies, the US Department of Education, the American Public Health Association, the National Organization of Women (NOW), and even the Veteran's Administration (VA) which reimburses the cost of the CPM written exam.



Please do not hesitate to contact me for additional information, such as scientific references.



The Coalition for Illinois Midwifery Steering Committee

Michelle Breen, MHS, Public Health Consultant

Rachel Dolan Wickersham, CD, LCCE, Chicago Community Midwives

Jacque Shannon-McNulty, President, Chicago Community Midwives

Gail B. Karlovsky, CD, BCCE, Chicago Community Midwives

Pat Cole, President, Illinois Families for Midwifery

Colette M. Bernhard, Illinois Families for Midwifery



Contact:   


Michelle Breen, MHS

731 S. Vista Dr.

Algonquin, IL 60102

Phone:   


847-658-2318

224-522-4784 (cell)

Email:   
   


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