The Big Push for Midwives Campaign

The Big Push for Midwives is a nationally coordinated campaign to advocate for regulation and licensure of Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and to push back against the attempts of the American Medical Association Scope of Practice Partnership to deny American families access to legal midwifery care.

The Big Push for Midwives Campaign was born from the National Birth Policy Coalition, which has coalesced around the following organizing statement:

"Increasing access to the Midwives Model of Care in all settings is essential to the health and wellbeing of childbearing women and their babies. The National Birth Policy Coalition supports legislative initiatives that promote the autonomous practice of Certified Professional Midwives and Certified Nurse-Midwives, and that ensure the availability of safe, evidence-based care during pregnancy, labor, birth and postpartum."

Visit The Big Push Campaign website at www.TheBigPushforMidwives.org

National “Big Push for Midwives Campaign” Launches January 24th, 2008 in Chicago. Click here for a pdf with more information.


 Citizens for Midwifery's Statement of Support:
Citizens for Midwifery is proud to be part of the National Birth Policy
Coalition, and strongly supports the Big Push for Midwifery campaign, which
is in alignment with the mission of Citizens for Midwifery.

Citizens for Midwifery supports fair licensure for midwives, and supports
the Certified Professional Midwife credential as the basis for licensing.
Licensing of midwives benefits women and families by increasing access to
midwives and by providing for appropriate regulation and accountability.

For mothers and babies, access to maternity care is a primary concern, but
increasingly women are also concerned about the kind of maternity care they
will receive. Does care avoid unnecessary interventions? Is it based on
best practices and good evidence? Is it effective in promoting healthy
mothers and babies? Are care-providers respectful of mothers and the
process of birth? Certified Professional Midwives, who practice in line
with the Midwives Model of Care, satisfy these concerns. The Midwives
Model of Care is a woman-centered model of care that has been proven to
reduce the incidence of birth injury, trauma and cesarean section.

Citizens for Midwifery supports the respectful, evidence-based Midwives
Model of Care as the standard for maternity care in all settings. However,
the economic incentives inherent in current health care institutions make
the Midwives Model of Care virtually non-existent except for midwifery care
provided outside of hospitals.

Citizens for Midwifery deplores the actions of medical and obstetrical
professional organizations to prevent passage of midwifery licensing bills
and to limit the ability of certified midwives (Certified Professional
Midwives and Certified Nurse-Midwives) to provide care to the full extent
of their education and credentials. Such actions, and the beliefs and
attitudes they represent, harm mothers and babies by impeding access to
providers practicing the Midwives Model of Care.
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