Breaking
News
Report of a
Midwife-Friendly Paper
Published by the APHA
"Supporting Access to Midwifery Services in the United States."
American Journal of Public Health,
March 2001, Vol 91, No. 3, pp. 482-485
www.apha.org/journal
Increasing Access To Out-Of-Hospital Maternity Care Services
Through State-Regulated and Nationally-Certified Direct-Entry Midwives ~
This is a very important acknowledgement of the safety of skilled midwifery, home-based
birth services and the value of NARM certification of direct-entry midwives
Just in time for International Midwives Day (May 5th), the American Public Health Association (APHA) has published a position paper titled,
"Supporting Access to Midwifery Services in the United States."
(American Journal of Public Health, March 2001, Vol 91, No. 3, pp. 482-485).APHA urges "all state legislatures to legalize the practice of midwifery and promulgate regulations" for midwives. The policy paper describes Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) as nationally certified midwives who are trained to "practice in predominantly out-of-hospital settings."
You can find out how to order a copy of the March Journal by visiting www.apha.org/journal. The position paper also says APHA should "communicate in writing with the major professional organizations whose members provide health care to women urging them to recognize nationally certified midwives as independent and collaborative practitioners." APHA has a state representative for each state, and it would be worth contacting him or her to find out how you might work together on state legislative issues. You can find state chapter contact information at www.apha.org.