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THE “I PUSHED FOR OUT-OF-HOSPITAL MATERNITY CARE" PETITION

WE, THE UNDERSIGNED, support including out-of-hospital maternity care and Certified Professional Midwives, who are specially trained to provide it, in federal health care reform legislation.

In response to misinformation being circulated by special interest groups seeking a monopoly on maternity care in the United States, we who support access to Certified Professional Midwives for all women, including those on Medicaid, assert the following:

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1) Certified Professional Midwives are the only maternity care providers in the United States who must undergo specialized clinical training in out-of-hospital settings to confer expertise in the provision of out-of-hospital maternity care.

2) The definitive study of home birth published by the British Medical Journal [ BMJ 2005;330:1416 (18 June)] confirms that babies delivered to low-risk women planning a home birth under the care of Certified Professional Midwives (the vast majority of whom train by completing didactic and clinical apprenticeships under the supervision of senior midwives) experience outcomes equal to those of low-risk women giving birth in the hospital, but with far fewer costly and preventable interventions, including a five-fold decrease in cesarean section.

3) Research also shows that babies delivered under the care of Certified Professional Midwives have reduced rates of prematurity and low birth weight, two of the leading contributing factors to racial and ethnic disparities in birth outcomes and to the costs associated with long-term care.

4) Across the country in rural and urban communities, CPMs are meeting the needs of pregnant women and their infants who have nowhere else to go. The more barriers that there are to prenatal care -- travel distance or length of wait to obtain appointments -- the less likely a woman is to pursue care. Community-based CPMs provide thorough and personalized maternity care at a time when many other maternity care providers have abandoned these communities to practice in more affluent suburbs and exurbs.

5) David Anderson, Professor of Economics at Centre College with a specialization in the costs of out-of-hospital maternity care, calculates that increasing use of Certified Professional Midwives and of out-of-hospital maternity care by less than 10% would result in savings of $9.1 billion annually, while actually improving outcomes.

6) The state of Washington reports a savings of $3.1 million over a period of two years to the state Medicaid system when women experiencing healthy, low-risk pregnancies give birth with licensed midwives instead of in the hospital.

7) The CPM credential, issued by NARM, is nationally accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA), which is the accrediting arm of the National Organization for Competency Assurance (NOCA). The NCCA accredits more than 200 professional credentials such as nurse-midwives, nurse anesthetists, nurse practitioners, and critical care nurses.

8) Certified Professional Midwives meet the international midwifery educational standards promulgated by the International Confederation of Midwives, which:

-- Recognize and support multiple routes of entry into midwifery that result in a variety of educational programs based on the needs of member nations

-- Require that midwifery instructors are skilled and current in their theory and clinical practice

-- Recognize the vital role that continuing education plays in the safety and currency of midwifery practice.

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0-25 of 17930 signatures

Number	Date	Name	Organization	Location
17930	February 09, 2010	Tracey Wingold		, VA
17929	February 08, 2010	Stephanie Hewitt	Midwife in training	Grand Prairie, TX
17928	February 07, 2010	kim slade		quincy, MA
17927	February 07, 2010	Nancy Mullane		Winthrop, MA
17926	February 06, 2010	James Mullane		Danbury, CT
17925	February 06, 2010	Mark Murphy		Winthrop, MA
17924	February 06, 2010	Mark Murphy		Winthrop, MA
17923	February 05, 2010	Bree Sizer	Empowered To Push Doula Services	Ankeny, IA
17922	February 05, 2010	Johanne Pino		, MA
17921	February 05, 2010	John Clucas	Personal	Winthrop, MA
17920	February 05, 2010	Shannon Viera		, MA
17919	February 04, 2010	Jessica Maday		, WA
17918	February 03, 2010	Rachel Golden		Franklin, TX
17917	February 02, 2010	Sarah Jackson		Seattle, WA
17916	February 02, 2010	Tawnya Jones		, UT
17915	January 31, 2010	Maggie Jennings		Temecula, CA
17914	January 29, 2010	Tiffany McCormack		Winder, GA
17913	January 29, 2010	Candice Hyland		, CA
17912	January 27, 2010	Christina Oliveri-Ceballos		, NY
17911	January 27, 2010	Renee Centore-Kelly		Enfield, CT
17910	January 27, 2010	Dana Gause		, ID
17909	January 26, 2010	Carrie Sutherland		Valley Park, MO
17908	January 25, 2010	Bryan Thousand		, TX
17907	January 25, 2010	Rebecca Thousand		Montgomery, TX
17906	January 21, 2010	sara jagdfeld		Mobile, AL

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