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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 18178 signatures

Number	Date	Name	Organization	Location
18178	October 19, 2012	Victoria Parks		lawrenceville, GA
18177	October 19, 2012	Victoria Parks		lawrenceville, GA
18176	October 08, 2012	Jane Grady		, GA
18175	September 30, 2012	Alee Link		, GA
18174	September 26, 2012	Kayla Harvey		Robins AFB, GA
18173	September 17, 2012	Miranda Rickenbaker		, GA
18172	September 14, 2012	chamadine hamilton		covington, GA
18171	September 13, 2012	Miranda Browne		Athens, GA
18170	September 12, 2012	Jordan Epping		Evans, GA
18169	September 11, 2012	Rhonda Frazier		, GA
18168	September 09, 2012	Pam Ahern	Consumer	ATLANTA, GA
18167	August 25, 2012	britany rowlett		savannah, GA
18166	July 09, 2012	Stephanie Hauser		, GA
18165	July 05, 2012	georganna wiley	Savannah Midwifery	savannah, GA
18164	June 26, 2012	Jessica Dillard-Wright		augusta, GA
18163	June 18, 2012	Billie Jo Matthews		Monroe, GA
18162	June 05, 2012	Amariy Halahawi	Edenic Light Integrative Family Life Care	Atlanta, GA
18161	June 05, 2012	NaTasha Turley		Valdosta, GA
18160	June 01, 2012	Christina Bramlett		, GA
18159	May 27, 2012	Sara Yurman		DECATUR, GA
18158	May 14, 2012	Renee Hougey		, GA
18157	May 13, 2012	rachel gardiner		, GA
18156	May 07, 2012	Erika Tangerman		, GA
18155	April 13, 2012	Jamie Kennedy		savannah, GA
18154	April 12, 2012	Sharon Benton		Atlanta, GA

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