Direct Assessment Webinar Recording Available

Watch for Free, 1.5 MEAC CEUs $15

We are thrilled to be able to share with you a very special webinar, presented by the US MERA Task Force on Direct Assessment:

Leveraging Competency-Based Education and Direct Assessment to Advance Midwifery Education

The Task Force is providing access to the recording for free, and we encourage you to share it widely with colleagues in midwifery and/or education.

DETAILS IN FULL NEWSLETTER







NACPM Responds to Misinformation about CPM Regulation

Dear Members and Friends in the Midwifery Community,

We, on behalf of the NACPM leadership team, are writing to respond to misinformation that has recently been circulating in the CPM community, and to help address the resulting distress and concern among NACPM members and stakeholders.

The ACOG Toolkit,  State Legislative ToolKit: Licensure and Regulation of Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs), currently being circulated and causing distress and doubt, was published in 2011 and is outdated.   It does not reflect the ICM Global Standards on Regulation which support autonomous midwifery, the regulation of midwives by midwives, and full-scope midwifery practice in all jurisdictions.  It does not reflect ACOG’s own statements over the past year, supporting fully-integrated care for all childbearing women, and the ICM Standards as the basis of education and regulation for midwives.  It does not reflect the current progress that is being made by historic teamwork among maternity care stakeholders and providers.  And it does not reflect the exciting and heartening progress for several CPM licensure bills and regulations that have been passed or that are finally moving forward in many states, including Maryland, Rhode Island and Delaware – after being stalled for many years by the very kind of opposition prescribed in the outdated 2011 ACOG Toolkit.

NACPM, along with our US MERA partners, is fully committed to vigorous support for the midwives model of care, to an autonomous, collaborative midwifery profession in the U.S., and to increasing – not limiting – access to high-quality education that meets international standards for all midwives.  Our deep commitment to increasing affordability and access to education for all aspiring midwives is one of our principle reasons for partnering with US MERA.

NACPM is in the trenches for CPMs and families to do the hard work of resolving issues that have stood in the way of advancing midwifery and women’s access to midwives in the U.S. for far too long.  We are committed to supporting the necessary conversations within the CPM community and shaping partnerships with previous adversaries – for the sake of women, babies, families, communities and the nation.

In support of these commitments, NACPM has been a leader in the historic US MERA collaboration, where midwives who have been at odds for decades now have a 4-year history of resolve and effectiveness that is unprecedented.  NACPM has led in the development and convening of the Home Birth Summits for reaching common ground on our shared responsibility across the entire system for childbearing women in all birth settings.  We are making great strides in a sturdy launch of NACPM chapters, giving midwives in states across the country the opportunity to engage in these critical conversations with national leadership and with each other to promote direct-entry midwifery as a cornerstone for childbearing women in the U.S.

NACPM and our US MERA partners are currently working hard to be able to share the results of our collaboration’s 2015 Annual Meeting this past April.  The power of a coalition lies is in its ability to achieve consensus that all members of the coalition can fully support and stand behind.  As many of you know from experience, consensus – and the power that comes with it – takes time to achieve.  We recognize that this leaves an information gap at a time when our communities need to hear from us.  Please watch soon for a US MERA report and other opportunities to learn and engage.

And please work with us to keep open the dialogue that supports and allows for change and evolution, even in places that have been stuck for decades.  We are committed to creating a system of seamless, integrated, respectful, accountable care that will benefit all.

With great respect and faith,

Mary Lawlor, CPM

Executive Director, NACPM

Ellie Daniels, CPM

President, NACPM

National Association of Certified Professional Midwives







Recording and CEUs Available: State Licensure for CPMs Webinar

You can now access a recording of the first webinar in the State Legislation and Policy series:

An Overview of State Licensure for CPMs

Obtain CEUs
 

Viewing webinar recording is FREE, and 1.5 CEU’s are available at $15.

The State Legislation and Policy Webinar Series, co-sponsored by Citizens for Midwifery (CfM) and the Association of Midwifery Educators (AME), will provide key information to CPMs, advocates, and policy makers as we work together to secure licensing and policy in support of full scope autonomous midwifery for CPMs in all 50 states.

FULL NEWSLETTER

An Overview of State Licensing for CPMs: Webinar

Please join us for the first webinar in the State Legislation and Policy series:

An Overview of State Licensure for CPMs
Thursday April 9, 2-3:30 PM, Eastern Time

Register Now
 

Participation in the webinar series is FREE, and 1.5 CEU’s are available at $15.

CEU Link: An Overview of State Licensing for CPMs

The State Legislation and Policy Webinar Series, co-sponsored by Citizens for Midwifery (CfM) and the Association of Midwifery Educators (AME), will provide key information to CPMs, advocates, and policy makers as we work together to secure licensing and policy in support of full scope autonomous midwifery for CPMs in all 50 states.

DETAILS IN THE FULL NEWSLETTER

Improving Home to Hospital Transfer

Next Webinar:

Improving Home to Hospital Transfer
December 18, 2014 2:00-3:30 pm

Come hear about the Best Practice Guidelines: Transfer from Planned Home Birth to Hospital from the Home Birth Summit Collaboration Work Group and how they can support practice and care in your own community. Hear from regional perinatal collaboratives around the country, and the perspectives of the various provider groups, from midwives to receiving physicians to emergency medical personnel, on improving care for women across providers and birth settings. (1.5 MEAC CEUs applied for)

This is the first webinar in the on-going series:
CPM Practice and Association News

Register Now

 DETAILS IN THE FULL E-NEWSLETTER



New Website! Webinars and CEUs!

Today NACPM launches a completely new website, designed to better serve our members and provide more information to others interested in midwifery and our work.  Whether it’s the latest news from the MAMA campaign for federal recognition of CPMs or the schedule for our webinar series on health care reform, you’ll be able to find it all in one central location. We are also thrilled to announce the first webinar, scheduled for May 22, 2014, at 2 PM, Eastern time. Please join NACPM and presenter Becky Martin for the first webinar in NACPM’s Affordable Care Act webinar series.

READ THE FULL E-NEWSLETTER

Exciting News from the United States Midwifery Education, Regulation and Association Workgroup

On behalf of the NACPM Board of Directors, we are excited to share news with you from the United States Midwifery Education, Regulation and Association (US MERA) Workgroup!

In addition to NACPM, this Workgroup includes the Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education (ACME), American College of Nurse Midwives (ACNM), American Midwifery Certification Board (AMCB), Midwifery Education Accreditation Council (MEAC), Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA), and North American Registry of Midwives (NARM).

Last weekend marked our second annual facilitated in-person meeting outside of Washington, D.C. There we reached an historic milestone, agreeing to work together on several critical action steps to ensure the future of midwifery in the United States.

Please read our joint statement, “2014 US MERA Meeting: A Summary Report”

Propelled by the needs of childbearing women around the country, representatives of each of the seven organizations have worked together for almost three years to find essential common ground. We strive to expand and ensure all women’s access to normal physiologic birth in all birth settings and to high-quality maternity care and the care of midwives. We are directed and inspired by the International Confederation of Midwives’ (ICM) vision of a strong and autonomous midwifery workforce around the globe, and by the support of ICM’s Global Standards for Education, Regulation and Association to achieve this vision.

To support the rapid development of a robust, diverse and accessible midwifery workforce in the U.S. to meet the needs of women, we have engaged with each other in challenging conversations and recognized the need for some changes in the positions of all of our organizations. We also all remained true to our core values and committed to building on our strengths.

We recognized several urgent and critical needs:

  • licensing for all nationally certified midwives in all 50 states

  • the ability to practice to the full extent of our training and experience

  • the need to promote innovation and accessibility in midwifery education through multiple pathways

  • the necessity of integrating midwifery care seamlessly into the U.S. health care system

We acknowledged the value and role of accreditation by agencies recognized by the U.S. Department of Education (MEAC and ACME) in the development of, and the ability to scale up, direct-assessment, competency-based midwifery training programs that will build on the innovations and affordability of the Portfolio Evaluation Process pathway.

Of great importance, we committed to continued collaboration and to engaging our members and stakeholders in further development and clarification of the paths forward to achieve licensure for nationally credentialed midwives in all 50 states and to innovate to expand access to affordable accredited education for all midwives. We are committed to the time it will take to operationalize these goals, and to communicate what it will take to achieve them. We welcome your questions and concerns as we develop an FAQ, with regular updates, to include you in this process. Please write to us at executivedirector@nacpm.org

We are excited by the commitment of U.S. midwifery leadership to doing the hard work of resolving issues that have stood in the way of advancing midwifery in the U.S. for far too long. We are counting on you to inform us with your questions and concerns as we stretch for new and creative solutions to meeting the needs of midwives and women in the U.S.

With great faith and hope,

Mary Lawlor, CPM
Executive Director, NACPM

Ellie Daniels, CPM
President, NACPM

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