The "Why's" of Our Midwifery Bill

Many questions have been raised lately as to why we want to actively pursue government regulation of midwives when currently Mississippi does not. 

The answer is simple.

Protection.

Under current laws, any one can claim to be a midwife and practice midwifery.

Because of this, many midwives who have lost their right to practice midwifery in other states for one reason or another come to our state to set up shop.

These are the same midwives that prompted last year's bill from the Nursing Board that essentially would have made homebirth illegal and only hospital-based Certified Nurse Midwives legal.

Three such midwives had come in from other states where they had previously lost their license and begin a practice in Mississippi. 

Three bad midwives with bad outcomes...

Not a pretty picture.

That's why our bill is SO important.

It will instill confidence in the consumer in their health care provider.

One of our supporters composed this lovely email with her perspective on the importance of the passage of this bill and the regulation/licensure of Certified Professional Midwives:

To the honorable members of the Mississippi State House of Representatives Public Health and Human Services Subcommittee #2,

I write to you to urge your support for HB207, which would regulate the practice of Certified Professional Midwives in the state of Mississippi.... I am a Registered Nurse with a particular interest in the area of women's health and midwifery.

Women will choose to birth at home for a variety of reasons, and they will do so regardless of what statutes are in place. It is our responsibility to ensure that home birth is a safe choice for the sake of the health of these women and the babies they give birth to. 

Regulating and credentialing Certified Professional Midwives ensures that the women of Mississippi who choose a home birth (as they have a constitutionally supported right to) will have access to a knowledgeable practitioner, and not be tak...en advantage of by unskilled, untrained fly-by-night practitioners. It will also help ensure continuity of care in the event that a home to hospital transfer becomes necessary.

Home birth has been shown to be a safe practice in many countries. In recent years, for example, a few Australian teaching hospitals have begun umbrella homebirth programs with Nurse Midwives in attendance, and the outcomes are comparable to hospital based birthing.

Please support the passage of this bill for the health and safety of all women of childbearing age in Mississippi, and to support and uphold their right of choice.

Yours truly,

Virginia Becker, RN

Have YOU contacted these committee members?

Please take 5 minutes to do so.

We will have our first hearing before these members on Monday at 2 p.m. and they need to come into the meeting feeling the pressure to support HB207!!

Need email addresses? Here they are and ready to easily copy and paste to send one mass email to all the subcommittee members.

Now, you have no excuse ;)

oscott@house.ms.gov; tbarker@house.ms.gov; bmoak@house.ms.gov; bmoak@locnet.net; gflaggs@house.ms.gov; jsmith@house.ms.gov; jread@house.ms.gov; wjones@house.ms.gov; ffredericks@house.ms.gov; cespy@house.ms.gov; bcurrie@house.ms.gov; mcoleman@house.ms.gov; treynolds@house.ms.gov; beaton@house.ms.gov; jevans@house.ms.gov; bbroomfield@house.ms.gov