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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 17833 signatures

Number	Date	Name	Organization	Location
17833	November 20, 2009	Danielle Crow		, CA
17832	November 20, 2009	Heather Schwarz		, CA
17831	November 19, 2009	Dorothy Lemoult		seattle, WA
17830	November 19, 2009	Dorothy Lemoult		seattle, WA
17829	November 19, 2009	wendy wilkinson		woodacre, CA
17828	November 19, 2009	Christy Stroud	none	Middletown, CA
17827	November 19, 2009	mia terziev		, CA
17826	November 19, 2009	Mark Hall		, MN
17825	November 19, 2009	Becca Hall		, MN
17824	November 19, 2009	Leslie Munchhof		, MN
17823	November 19, 2009	Katie Hall		, MN
17822	November 19, 2009	valerie feld		San Diego, CA
17821	November 18, 2009	Sophia Shen		, CA
17820	November 18, 2009	Lisa Radock		, PA
17819	November 18, 2009	Laura Genne		, WI
17818	November 18, 2009	Bethany Wagler		Partridge, KS
17817	November 18, 2009	Mackenzy Walt		, WI
17816	November 18, 2009	Angela Schweiberger		Hibbing, MN
17815	November 17, 2009	Victoria harshall		Lake Orion, MI
17814	November 17, 2009	Kellie Peach Nash		San Francisco, CA
17813	November 17, 2009	Carissa Young		Richfield, MN
17812	November 17, 2009	Alisha Anderson		Richfield, MN
17811	November 17, 2009	Maddie King		Richfield, MN
17810	November 17, 2009	Jonathan Furst		Oakland, CA
17809	November 17, 2009	Joanna Swift		, MA

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