VABirthPAC
:: legislative summary::
ACTION ALERT From Commonwealth Midwives
Dear Mothers, Midwives,
and Birth Choice Advocates-
Some of you may already
be aware that there is a critical threat to access to home birth in
On Thursday, February
21, the Virginia Board of Medicine voted to initiate a review of regulations
for Licensed CPMs with a focus on adding specific restrictions on which
women/babies will be “allowed” to have a CPM attended home birth. This decision was not based on any evidence
of a problem, but on two letters sent to the Board by maternity care providers
with no experience in home birth, or knowledge about the CPM credential.
In restricting access to
home birth for women who make informed decisions concerning their own health
care, the Board of Medicine is supporting a process of eliminating choice for
women.
There are many critical
points along the way where the voice of the public not only must be heard, but
can actually stop this threat in its tracks!
Please take action right now and then forward this request to everyone
you know who cares about autonomous decision making in health care.
Urgent Action:
The first step in a NOIRA (Notice Of Intention
for Regulatory Action) is for the Board of Medicine to send it to the Governor
for approval. Therefore, the Governor
needs to hear from the public RIGHT NOW.
Please let him know that, as a citizen of the Commonwealth, you
support the practice of midwifery by CPMs and that you are satisfied with the
current regulations that allow for autonomous discretion by the midwife and her
client regarding acceptance into care.
Address your letter to:
Office of the Governor Timothy M. Kaine
Points to make in your
letter (please choose one or two of these and then add your own to make it
personal):
- The General Assembly passed the CPM licensing
statute in 2005 because women were already choosing to birth at home with
or without qualified providers to attend them.
- The CPM statute
specifically states that no women can be forced to see a physician during
their care.
- The current C-section rate in
- Forcing women to have a baby in the hospital cannot be done. By restricting the practice of CPMs, the
BOM will be re-creating an unsafe situation. Women who want to resist the threat
of unnecessary, non evidence-based care will likely once again choose to
birth at home without skilled attendants to monitor them and their
baby. Restrictions such as those
proposed will essentially be a requirement for CPMs to abandon their
clients in specific situations.
You can view the CPM
statute and regulations here:
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?051+ful+CHAP0719 (statute)
http://www.townhall.virginia.gov/chapter/ViewChapter.cfm?Vac=127&Chapter=130
Please send your letter
to the Governor right away. We suggest
you also send a copy of your letter to each of your legislators. You can find out who your legislators are by
clicking http://conview.state.va.us/whosmy.nsf/main?openform
Thank you for your
continued support of midwifery and access to care. In three short years some have forgotten what
VA families are willing to do to maintain their rights and freedoms.
Thank you for your continued
support and attention-
Brynne
Potter, CPM
Julie Martin, CPM
Policy
Coordinators, Commonwealth Midwives
At the February 8 meeting of
the Midwifery Advisory Board, two letters were included in the agenda for
review. These letters were written by
Certified Nurse Midwives who were not representing the
state chapter. As the Commonwealth
Midwives Alliance stated in its letter to the Board of Medicine it is clear
that the authors of the letters were misinformed about the specifics of
existing regulations that affect the scope of practice of Certified
Professional Midwives who are licensed in the Commonwealth to practice
midwifery.
The clear concern of the
authors of these letters involves the scope of practice of CPMs and exactly
which women are appropriate for home birth.
Despite the lack of evidence showing safety concerns for most women
seeking VBAC (Vaginal Birth after Cesarean), the authors and members of the
Board of Medicine want to restrict CPMs from attending VBAC mothers at home. For
more facts on VBAC visit our Facts
About Birth section here,or visit www.ican-online.org.
Copies of these letters can
be seen here: [CNM_letters.pdf]
Commonwealth Midwives
Alliance letter to the Board of Medicine can be seen here: [CMA_letter_to_BOM.pdf]
Birth Matters Virginia
response to the VA ACNM chapter can be seen here: [www.birthmattersva.org]
On
Thursday, February 21, the Virginia Board of Medicine voted to initiate a
review of regulations for Licensed CPMs with a focus on adding specific restrictions
on which women/babies will be “allowed” to have a CPM attended home birth. Following is a link to the February 21st
Board of Medicine minutes as well as a link to the February 8th
Midwifery Advisory Board minutes.
Next
Steps:
This vote by the Board of Medicine will initiate what is called a “petition for rulemaking”. An outline of the process and a timeline is available at the Virginia Regulatory Townhall website: http://www.townhall.state.va.us/UM/chartpetitionpublic.pdf
Our understanding is that
the process will take longer than the 4-5 month process outlined on the website
as the Board of Medicine plans to create an ad-hoc committee to review the
request and all public comment before it goes back to the full Board for
another vote. We expect the process to
take as long as 2 years.
We need you continued help
and attention to this matter. Please
stay tuned and do what you can to support our efforts today. Take Action NOW