Cheyenne, WY (March 5, 2010)—Governor Dave Freudenthal signed into law today a bill to license and regulate Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs), making Wyoming the 27th state to legally authorize midwives to provide out-of-hospital maternity care. In a notable reversal of longstanding anti-midwife policies, medical groups worked together with legislators, midwives, and advocates to reach consensus on a law that provides for independent practice, mutual collaboration, and the rights of parents to choose where and how their babies are born.
“Bringing all the interested parties together and working on consensus really works,” said Representative Elaine Harvey. “I can say that this bill is a truly collaborative effort by close to 100 people … each one important to the process. The best part is that families now have a choice.”
“We’re seeing unprecedented advances this legislative season,” said Katie Prown, Campaign Manager of The Big Push for Midwives. “For the first time, physician groups are coming to the table and negotiating in good faith, and bills that had long been stalled in previously antagonistic committees are suddenly starting to move.”
As the population in Wyoming increases, so does the demand for out of hospital births. A Centers for Disease Control National Health Statistics report released this week showed a five percent increase in demand for out-of-hospital midwife births in 2005. Seventeen states reported an increase of ten percent or more, numbers that continued for 2006.
“It’s clear that organized medicine has finally realized that, between current economic trends and the drive for healthcare reform, the demand for access to CPMs and out-of-hospital maternity care is only going to grow,” said Susan M. Jenkins, Legal Counsel for the Big Push. “It simply makes good sense to pass laws that provide for regulatory oversight, transparency, and accountability, all of which are necessary to ensure safe practice.”
Wyoming is a priority of The Big Push for Midwives Campaign, a nationally coordinated campaign to advocate for regulation and licensure of CPMs in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, 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. Through its work with state-level advocates, the Big Push is helping to forge a new model of U.S. maternity care built on expanding access to out-of-hospital maternity care and CPMs, who provide affordable, quality, community-based care that is proven to reduce costly and preventable interventions as well as the rate of low-birth weight and premature births.
"I encourage pregnant moms to look into their options and see all the wonderful benefits that the Midwives Model of Care offers,” said Shandra Emrich of Wyoming for Birth Options. Wyoming for Birth Options is a grassroots citizen's coalition that seeks to secure the freedom for all families to choose where and how they will give birth. We are dedicated to protecting midwives and families by pursuing legislation to allow midwives to practice in Wyoming without fear of prosecution
IL Midwifery Initiative 
