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Pennsylvania stands to be one of the first states to recognize all nationally credentialed midwives
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Understanding Electronic Fetal Monitoring Training

12/10/11, 10a-20m Philadelphia, PA Free to MAP members, $20 for nonmembers. For more information or to register please email Christy@pamidwivesalliance.org.

+ MAPs aspiring
midwives
Pictured above, Alison Cutts, Kerry Clements and Sara Eiser participate in a skills intensive

Midwifery Today Conference

April 11-15, 2012 Harrisburg, Pa

MAP Spring Meeting

April 14, 2012, 5:30-8pm The MAP Spring Meeting is being scheduled during the MT Conference. You do not need to be registered for the conference in order to attend.

Organizational Developments
Since our Spring Meeting there have been several exciting changes in the foundation of MAP. Much of the initial work was administrative in nature as the new Governing Council members gathered the information that they needed in order to assess where the organization stood and to develop goals for their particular role for the future of MAP. Developments include internal and administrative organization, monthly Governing Council teleconferences, exciting website changes, and the addition of a new member to the Governing Council. Our members made it clear that the development of a support network, a true sisterhood of midwives from the Commonwealth, and organized skills development were important. Since the Spring, regional representatives have scheduled peer reviews, hosted skills workshops, and events focused on aspiring midwives. We are still working diligently to ensure that MAP is represented across the Commonwealth and that all midwives with a desire to participate have a local support network and MAP representative. Megan Smith, of Whiteboard Media and a doula in Southeastern Pennsylvania, has again worked her magic on the MAP website. Together with members of the Governing Council, Meghan redesigned the face and internal structure of the website.

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midwives alliance of pennsylvania

december 2011

Membership Update
This year is coming to an end and by breathing new life into the Midwives Alliance of Pennsylvania, we have taken great strides toward building a strong community of midwives, students and supporters. The midwifery community in Pennsylvania is rich with diversity, but we can easily allow the distance between us to impede our ability to learn from and support one another. As our membership grows, so do the opportunities for education and camaraderie. Our spring meeting was a great success, bringing together old friends and introducing many new faces. We elected a governing council of midwives, students, doulas and childbirth educators who are committed and will work to represent the needs of our incredibly diverse body of members. Since our spring meeting, we have received 10 new membership applications, bringing our membership total to 40. We are midwives from urban, rural and plain communities, apprentices, students, future students, doulas, childbirth educators, doctors, nurses, and supporters of midwifery care. We are all doing our part to ensure respectful, holistic care is available to women in Pennsylvania. Thank you all for doing this important work! As our membership grows, we as an organization grow in quality and ability to enact change. Your membership dues allow us to execute fundraising efforts, provide educational opportunities and support midwifery-friendly legislation in our state. Please encourage anyone you know who is in support of midwifery care to be a part of MAP. It is easy to become a member! Go to www.pamidwivesalliance.org and select Become a Member. Alison Cutts Administrative Coordinator

A very proud big sister shows off the newest member of the family

Organizational Developments (cont)

We have added sections that focus specifically on connecting families seeking homebirth providers with the midwives listed on the website, and a section of resources for individuals seeking to become midwives in Pa. We graciously accepted the resignation of Jennifer McFarland, DEM as the Communications Coordinator and welcomed Amy Borrelli, CD(CBI) to the Governing Council. Amy has been a birth worker for the last five years. She began her studies as a doula and natural childbirth educator and has been studying homebirth midwifery for the last three years. She currently works with Laura Cochran of Sunrise Midwifery in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Amys

organizational experience is impressive and we are very excited to have her representing MAP and working to further the goals of the organization. As we look forward to the upcoming quarter, there are other capacity-building events being planned. MAP is growing in size and scope and we are all very proud of the work that has been accomplished over the last six months. We are working to develop goals for the upcoming year and are interested in your participation and feedback. If there is something that you are feeling called to help with, please contact a member of the Governing Council or your Regional Representative. There are tasks, big and small, that will help places midwives on the MAP in Pennsylvania. In Solidarity, Nicole Schwartz, Co-chair, MAP

midwives alliance of pennsylvania

december 2011

Board of Medicine Update

MAP has continued its work to represent CPMs and Direct-Entry Midwives at the Board of Medicine Meetings. Now that a year has passed since our very successful and well-received Board of Medicine presentation, we wanted to reflect on and update MAP members and other interested parties on the current state of affairs. Unfortunately, due to factors outside of our control such as the changing political landscape in the state and within the Board of Medicine, not much concrete action has taken place since our presentation last fall. Two weeks after our presentation, the new administration was elected and State Assembly makeup and party leadership also experienced major changes. This combined with scandals/crises within the Board of Medicine concerning their regulation of physicians and online prescribing has pushed our issue further down their priority list once again. And although the Board Counsel has given reassuring feedback that CPMs should expect to have the opportunity to get licensed in Pennsylvania in the future, the lawyers have been waiting for guidance and direction from the Corbin administration as to how to proceed with regulating Direct-Entry Midwives. So things are somewhat at a standstill. However MAP has been regularly attending BOM meetings and maintaining a presence in Harrisburg. We also recently interviewed a lobbying firm about potentially representing MAP to the BOM and in Harrisburg in general to help move our issues forward. However, the cost for retaining the services of the lobbyist were prohibitive for MAP at this stage of the organization's development and budget. We may revisit this option in the future. Here is an excerpt from the letter MAP submitted to the new Commissioner for the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs (BPOA) that oversees the BOM and other boards in the state. This letter was submitted concurrently with the PA-ACNM submitting a letter supporting the same proposal for separate regulations: - sodales. MAP urges the Pennsylvania Board of Medicine to proceed with developing regulations to license CPMs as soon as possible. Both MAP and PA-ACNM believe that separate sets of regulations for the CPM and CM credentials would best meet the needs of both consumers and midwives in the Commonwealth due to our different educational pathways, regulatory issues and scopes of practice. The proposal to license the Certified Midwife is a valid one, but there are currently no CMs practicing in Pennsylvania due to historic challenges related to lack of legal recognition. The need for home birth practitioners is largely being met now by CPMs, and the state would serve the people best by also licensing the CPMs as well as the CNM/CMs. MAP, with the support of PA-ACNM, requests that any expedited process to recognize the CM credential via a minor change in the current regulations governing nurse midwives is paired with the initiation of a separate and additional set of regulations for CPMs under the 1929 statute. We have been eagerly awaiting an avenue to licensure since the Goslin decision affirmed the statutory authority of the BOM to promulgate regulations for direct-entry midwives over three years ago. We seek action by the Board to ensure this large group of midwives in the Commonwealths regulatory future is not postponed or forgotten once the CM credential is recognized. As we discussed with the Board in October, if direct-entry (i.e. non-nurse) licensure is limited to the CM credential it would not ensure the health and welfare of the Commonwealths citizens as it would lead to continued unregulated practice by the vast majority of Pennsylvanias homebirth midwives. We believe Pennsylvania is poised to join the majority of States in the country in recognizing and licensing Certified Professional Midwives. Pennsylvania stands to be one of the first states to recognize all nationally credentialed midwives and in doing so could be a model and leader in providing a full-spectrum of licensed professionals for the citizens of the Commonwealth to choose from for their maternity care during this most precious time for their families. The Midwives Alliance of Pennsylvania is eager to serve as experts on the CPM credential and to work on draft regulations. We look forward to hearing from you.

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december 2011
An ecstatic family welcomes their first daughter

BOM Update (cont)

We are hoping to get a more concrete response to the above letter this fall now that the new Commissioner for the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs, Katie True, is officially installed in her position. MAP understand it is a bit of a gamble to have separate sets of regulations as the CM regulations would likely move through the whole process much faster given that the already vetted and approved CNM regs could be easily adapted for the CM. However, we also strongly believe that having separate sets of regulations is the most viable avenue to CPM regulations that reflect the current practice of most homebirth midwives in the state and that would allow for independent practice without a signed and filed collaborative agreement, malpractice requirements and other elements of the current CNM regs that would essentially be unattainable for the vast majority of DEMs in PA. This is why we are asking that any forward movement on the CM regs is coupled with action on the CPM and for written and verbal assurances that the CM regs alone would not be seen as sufficiently meeting the court mandate of the Goslin decision to promulgate regulations under the 1929 statute. The Co-Chairs of MAP and PA-ACNM will be meeting this fall to discuss how to move things forward and make sure the two organizations continue to only speak to the credentials their members carry and support each others efforts with the goal that all nationally credentialed midwives are eligible for licensure in PA. (Please see the archives of the PA Midwives Google Group for past discussions on the reasons why licensure can only reasonably be extended to those with a national credential and how this is not incompatible with supporting our traditional midwife sisters who are not credentialed). How you can help: Survey your clients and see if anyone has a positive connection (personal or professional) with members of Tom Corbett's administration or with members of the State General Assembly. The lobbyist we met with indicated that the regulatory process could move forward much more quickly and efficiently if there was an inside advocate for CPMs and DEMs. If you live in the Harrisburg region, contact Christy at christy@pamidwivesalliance.org about attending monthly BOM meetings. Organize your client and community supporters contact lists so when the time comes for public comment on CPM regulations we are able to mobilize massive amounts of input quickly! Volunteer to help fundraise for MAP to eventually retain the services of a lobbyist once the timeline for the CPM regulations is more clear. Thank you! Respectfully submitted, Christy Santoro, CPM

+ How You Can Help

1. Survey your clients 2. Educate your community 3. Attend Board of Medicine meetings in Harrisburg 4. Volunteer to serve on the Legislation and Policy Committee 5. Organize our client and community supporters!
6. Help facilitate

fundraising events

Jennifer McFarland and Nicole Schwartz serve a mother.

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midwives alliance of pennsylvania

december 2011

Financial Report
Up until now, MAP has not been a big spending organization. It is our goal to raise the money necessary to fuel big change in midwifery legislation in Pennsylvania and to fund continuing education programs for our members. We believe that the first step on the way is to build our membership and develop MAP as an organization. Our treasury currently holds $3,143.01, and is growing every day thanks to the contributions of our members. We have received $230.00 in new membership dues since our spring meeting. It is our intent to use a portion of these funds to execute a fundraising effort in conjunction with the upcoming spring meeting and the Midwifery Today Conference in Harrisburg this April. Stay tuned for more information about upcoming fundraisers.

Regional Updates
Region 1: Northeast Rep: Nicole Schwartz We have had several new members join our Region and were excited to welcome doulas, childbirth educators and several aspiring midwives. On Sept 22 we held our first organized skills workshop, potluck lunch and peer review. Members enjoyed sharing wisdom and beginning midwifery skills during the morning and nourishing foods over lunch. The event was a fantastic opportunity to meet other birth workers in a very geographically diverse region. We are planning to schedule quarterly skills workshops similar to the one held in Sept. and gradually increase the complexity and depth of the skills worked on and practiced. Region 2: Southeast Rep: Christy Santoro As is the trend around the country, our region's homebirth midwives have been experiencing an increased demand and all midwives seem to be as busy as they'd like in their practices. Meredith Klein of Motherland Midwifery in Philadelphia welcomed baby Norah Grace on September 10, 2011. Congratulations to Meredith and her partner Tony on their beautiful daughter. Christy Santoro also of Motherland Midwifery, was named one of 25 Difference Makers in South Philadelphia for her work as a community midwife. You can see the article here: http://www.southphillyreview.com/news/features/ChristySantoro.html

Shoulder Dystocia workshop: Several midwives and apprentices from Region 2 attended Gail Tully's Resolving Shoulder Dystocia workshop hosted by Vicki Hedley in Montvale, NJ and reported having both a great time getting to know more midwives in the tri-state region as well as learning practical techniques to deal with this scary complication. There continues to be a growing number of aspiring midwives in the Philadelphia Region. MAP plans to host another aspiring midwife gathering and basic skills workshop later this fall (see calendar of events). The list serv of aspiring midwives that started for Philadelphia is now open to midwives around the state. If you are interested in being a part of this group please email Christy@pamidwivesalliance.org. The Philadelphia area midwives continue to hold seasonal peer reviews as various locations in the region. We hope to incorporate more educational workshops and skills share on a regular basis in 2012. Region 4: Southcentral Rep: Danielle Malik Several very successful events have happened in Region 4 since the Spring Meeting. Danielle Malik, DEM and Deborah Clark, CPM have organized monthly educational gatherings with between 10-17 midwives and birth professionals present. The first event covered charting and included an afternoon peer review. The second even was a day-long training on IV therapy and phlebotomy. It was instructed by a Paramedic from the local community. Please contact Danielle Malik for more information on upcoming training events at Region 3, 5, 6 Do you live or practice in any of these regions? Send an update about what is going on in your region to amy@journeybirthservices.com.