Greetings from the NACPM Chapter community!
We have many exciting Chapter updates including our new Google+ community platform for connecting and resource-sharing among chapters, our anti-racism and equity chapter collaboration calls, and updates from several different states about the work they’re doing. Our chapter network is ever-growing, and the map below shows that in addition to our 14 active chapters, midwives from 24 additional states have expressed an interest in chapter formation. Some of those states have begun the formation process, and others are simply exploring the possibility within their local communities. We’d love to connect you with others who are interested in chapter formation in your state! Please reach out to Susan at chapters@nacpm.org for more information. Our goal is to have 20 active chapters by 2018, and we would love for your state to be one of them!
Chapter Collaboration Call Equity Series
The October collaboration call “Toward Equity-Grounded State Midwifery Leadership: A Conversation” marked the beginning of the Chapter Collaboration Call Equity Series. Registrants received preparatory materials to read and explore before the call, which helped everyone to enter the conversation with some common ground. NACPM board member, Keisha Goode, Ph.D., punctuated her compelling presentation with opportunities for personal reflection in response to guiding questions. Participants submitted their thoughts, comments, and questions through the chat feature, and these were then used to spark live discussion at the end of the call.
Keisha’s presentation was deeply inspiring, and we had more participant comments than we could bring forward in the allotted time. What a great problem to have! Our hope was for this call to be the start of an ongoing conversation among NACPM Chapter leaders and members about how to create equitable organizations, and we were not disappointed. The December Collaboration Call on Monday, December 11 at 1:30 pm ET, will be a continuation of this conversation using the questions and comments submitted by participants as the framework for our discussion.
We also heard a specific request from call participants for NACPM to create an anti-racism toolkit for chapters to reference as they lay the groundwork for their organizations. We will be working to prepare an initial draft of this toolkit for review and input on the December call. We are learning so much about what it means to prioritize equity and anti-racism systemically, organizationally, and individually, and we have so much more to learn. We would love for you to join us in this learning. The quarterly Chapter Collaboration Calls are unique opportunities for chapter members and leaders to dig deeper into our shared vision and values. Chapter members even enjoyed a sneak peek at the NACPM Vision and the Midwifery Landscape Briefing Papers this summer. Please reach out to Susan at chapters@nacpm.org to be connected to your local chapter or for more information about forming a chapter in your state.
Chapter Updates
Each NACPM chapter is unique, and it can take time to create the right moment for chapter formation and to discern the focus for newly formed chapters. Midwives in Idaho and Alaska have officially begun the work of chapter formation, and in Connecticut, after years of discussing chapter formation, the midwives voted unanimously in favor of starting a chapter after Mary Lawlor went for a “Home Visit.” These visits are an opportunity for NACPM leadership to hear from midwives about their hopes and vision for a chapter and to share with them about the national picture for CPMs and the role that state chapters can play in unifying our profession.
Would you like to plan an NACPM Home Visit in your state? We love learning about each state’s unique landscape, answering questions, and sharing about the national perspective and unfolding directions for Certified Professional Midwives. Reach out to Susan at chapters@nacpm.org to schedule your Home Visit.
Corina Fitch, CPM, secretary of the Florida Chapter of NACPM reports “This has been a ground breaking year for Florida midwives due to legislative threats that we were faced with as well as a need for reorganization. The founding of our Florida Chapter was in direct response to both of these situations. FL NACPM focused its efforts this year on educating the midwifery community about the many benefits of joining the chapter, outreach for membership, and fundraising for our lobbyist fund. We labored collaboratively with the Midwives Association of Florida to put together a state midwifery conference in August.
We look forward to increasing membership in the coming year, along with continued fundraising efforts and providing opportunities for continuing education for midwives.”
Ellie Daniels, CPM, board member of the Maine Association of CPMs, past board President of NACPM, reports on the Maine Perinatal Quality Collaborative Symposium “Collaboration in Action”:
Three years ago in Maine, an unlikely collaboration was formed. Five organizations who had never imagined themselves sitting at the same table all together agreed to come together for the purposes of writing a licensing law for Certified Professional Midwives. These organizations consisted of the Maine Section of ACOG, the Maine Association of CPMs, the Maine Medical Association, the Maine Chapter of ACNM, and the Maine Chapter of AWHHON (perinatal nurses). The first agreements reached were related to how we would do our work, which was facilitated and by consensus. And from there, we went forward, meeting every two weeks, mostly in person, with many of us traveling an hour or more.
Over the course of two years, we got to know a lot about each other, about our respective philosophies of care, our particular skills, our concerns, our strengths and vulnerabilities, and most importantly, what we could agree upon. Those areas of agreement became a bill to license CPMs and CMs in Maine, that successfully passed through the legislature in 2016, overcame a Governor’s veto, and successfully returned to the Legislature in 2017 to gain funding for enactment.
This past Summer, we reflected upon the value and experience of our unique “Home Birth Collaborative”, and made a decision together to move on to another challenge. What would it take to form a Perinatal Collaborative for Maine?
Maine is one of five states in the country with no Perinatal Collaborative. Several states have strong PQCs, with active multi-stakeholder participation and robust funding sources. But very few, if any states, have invited CPMs to be at the table from the beginning. Here is an opportunity for a public health approach that holds moms and babies at the center of its vision, and considers data and quality improvement projects across the entire continuum of choice a family might make regarding place of birth and preference for provider.
Who are the stakeholders? They are the clinicians in all settings and the patients they serve. They are hospital administrators, public health departments, and emergency medical services. They are governmental agencies, and public and private health and liability insurers. PQCs are funded by public and private grants and donations, state budgets, hospital “tax”, federal monies, and support of all kind from state and federal CDC. PQCs rely on the collection of relevant data, and use it to effect meaningful change across provider groups and care settings. We believe that midwives in every care setting have a lot to offer.
As a kick off to our Maine PQC, we held a Symposium on October 21, 2017. We invited attendees from across the stakeholder spectrum, and designed a program to excite people about the possibilities. The day was kicked off with Dr. Alan Picarillo, a neonatologist, who had been involved with the formation of a Neonatal QC in both New England and Virginia. He talked about the necessary steps and stakeholders, and particularly about the value of forming a culture of transparency around data, as a key to stimulating change in practice.
Following Dr. Picarillo was Dr. Larry Leeman talking about a QI project in New Mexico that is lowering the primary C-SEC rate. His talk focused on perinatal collaboration in action, and how a multi-stakeholder focus on the data as an indicator of better and best practice has resulted in lasting change.
Last up for the morning was Dr. Missy Cheyney, talking about data as a quality improvement driver. In particular, she discussed the project in WA state to merge data from the CPM MANA stats with hospital data, and the power of that project for showing evidence that supports a higher rate of physiologic birth overall.
Ethicist Frank Chessa at the Maine Symposium
The afternoon focused on looking at the Maine state birth data, and discussing the concept and value of forming a PQC for Maine. Going forward, we identified several projects worthy of focus, and people were interested in joining the Steering Committee.
As the Maine Home Birth Collaborative wraps up its legislative work, the Maine Perinatal Quality Collaborative has taken form. It has taken form from the steady work and commitment of a group of previously unlikely partners who now are creating a new and valuable culture of inter-professional collaboration in Maine, for the great benefit of families into the future.
April Kline, CPM, President of Ohio NACPM reports, “This year, we have focused on the first of our objectives as a professional chapter, offering CEU opportunities on nutrition and other relevant topics. We have also built a trusted circle of midwives for regular peer review which is offered at every quarterly meeting as well as by phone as requested. We are pleased with how our first year has unfolded and look forward to a new year to grow our chapter and continue our good work.”
Christy Santoro, CPM, President of the Pennsylvania Association of CPMs reports on their chapter’s activities around anti-racism and equity in midwifery:
Childbirth in the Shadow of the American Dream
On Sunday, October 16th, 2017, the Pennsylvania Association of Certified Professional Midwives hosted a Film Screening Fundraiser and discussion of The American Dream, directed by Paolo Patruno. The American Dream is a documentary that only begins to touch the surface of the maternal health crisis. The documentary allowed for the sharing and hearing the stories of Black mothers and their hospital experiences during prenatal, delivery and postpartum that are violent and disempowering.
Read more here (link to webpage)
The American Dream highlighted the work of Certified Professional Midwife Jennie Joseph, and her work to provide an alternative to prenatal care and birth than what the hospitals provide in Florida. The screening was attended by Birth Workers, Certified Nurse Midwives, Certified Professional Midwives, mothers and social justice activists in the Philadelphia area. The discussion after the screening asked the viewers to engage in questions around what “The American Dream” is for black and brown birthing persons in Philly and access to home birth.
Sponsorship for the event was provided by Acupuncture in Motion, Blossoming Bellies Birth, Christine’s Care and Compassion, Luna y Sol Midwifery & Family Wellness, Magnolia Moon Birth, Motherland Midwifery, Rachel Utain-Evans Photography, Sheila Pai: Presence Not Perfection and The Wooden Shoe. The money raised at the event supports the educational expenses of Marqui Taylor, black Student Midwife at Birthwise Midwifery School, and PACPM chapter member who is the founder of Birth Brown (formally The Philly Birth Project).
PACPM continues to be involved as a member organization in the PA Campaign for Women’s Health and the Maternity Care Coalition’s Community Breastfeeding TaskForce in Philadelphia. Several chapter members plan to attend a Racism in Medicine Conference in Philadelphia in November at the University of Pennsylvania and are working to establish a renewed presence at the State Board of Medicine Meetings by 2018.
Our newest chapter member, Ray Rachlin, of Refuge Midwifery, will be offering a workshop about trans-affirming birth practices for out-of-hospital practitioners in January 2018.
Korina Pubanz, CPM, Board member of the Wisconsin Chapter of NACPM reports, “As a new chapter in WI the beginning of the year was focused on finding a rhythm with meeting times, working on communication platforms for our meetings and figuring out ways to reach out to our midwifery community. One of our chapter goals right now is turning a focus toward providing regular educational opportunities. We are currently working on an educational event coming up in the late winter of 2018! This class will be a focus on anatomy assessment and suturing with MEAC approved credits.”
North Carolina and South Carolina NACPM CPM Chapters hosted their second annual Carolina Birth Junkies Retreat this summer. Christine Strothers, CPM, board member of the North Carolina Association of CPMS (photo on the right), and Lori Gibson, CPM, President of the South Carolina Chapter of NACPM (photo on the left), served as co-organizers for this event. Lori described the retreat as “another amazing weekend full of eagerness to delve deeper into Midwifery, relationships and self.” In addition to the educational workshops, they added recreational activities this year including kayaking, red tent temple, and a couples session on how to keep a marriage strong while doing birth work.
They also had a VBAC panel and breech case studies, which both got great reviews. With a total of 27 attendees over the course of the weekend, Christine said, “I think the balance of fun/team building with educational sessions was just right – lots of learning but also lots of time to relax and connect with other birth workers. Spending the whole weekend on an island really brings folks together.”
The retreat brought in $500 profit for each of the two chapters, and the South Carolina state association, PALM, sponsored several student midwives to attend at a reduced rate. Next year, they will have Karen Strange back for NRP plus many other exciting sessions. All are invited, so keep an eye out for next year’s Carolina Birth Junkies Retreat hosted by the North Carolina and South Carolina Chapter of NACPM!
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