Helpful Info
The Big Push
Pushing Today for Certified Profesional Midwives (CPMs)
JOIN US! The Big Push for Midwives Campaign is building winning, state-level advocacy campaigns towards successful regulation and licensure of Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. We are envisioning a new model of U.S. maternity care built on expanding access to out-of-hospital maternity care and CPMs, who provide affordable, quality, community-based care that is proven to reduce costly and preventable interventions as well as the rate of low-birth weight and premature births.
We can no longer afford a system that produces inferior results at premium costs. We need safe and less-costly maternity care now. There is much to be done, and a formidable, entrenched, and well-financed opponent before us, and we welcome more hands to make light work of the labor ahead!
Advocates from the campaign's participating "PushStates" are pooling their collective resources and experience to coordinate and optimize advocacy efforts during 2010.
PushGoals
- To promote the key to system change in maternity care: the creation of an Integrated Model that includes both midwives and physicians working in complementary fashion for the benefit of mothers and families.
- To expand the number of states from 25 to 50 that legally authorize CPMs to practice.
- To solve the unconscionable racial disparities in childbirth in this country.
- To authorize freestanding birth centers and CPMs to qualify for Medicaid reimbursement.
- To establish equitable Medicaid reimbursement rates for midwives.
- To educate the people in power at the insurance companies and in the hospital administrative offices about the improved outcomes and reduced costs associated with midwifery care in all settings and share the stories of U.S. citizens who choose midwives as their maternity care providers.
- To advocate for local, county, state, and federal policy that effectively and comprehensively supports evidence-based maternity care.
- To highlight the importance of family healthcare choices during a deep U.S. economic crisis that is forcing families to shop around for more affordable maternity care, which should be covered by private and federally funded insurance.
