North American Midwives Registry of Midwives news of North America Providing certification standards for Volume VIII, Issue 1, Winter 2005 Certified Professional Midwives Interview with Kristie White: The 1000th CPM! by Robbie Davis-Floyd Kristie, why did you decide to become a midwife? SUPPORTER Inside This Issue Well, I have always been very passionate about womens issues, especially sur- rounding women and their children. It always seemed so natural to have chil- Interview with Kristie White: The 1000th CPM! . 1 dren, breastfeed them, and love them. I decided to become a midwife after the Tribute to Carrie Abbott . 2 birth of my third child. I had had hospital births with my first two children. The second birth was very traumatic for me because I was treated very badly by hospi- Heeding Womens Call: An Interview with Maggie Bennett, CPM . 3 tal staff. When I became pregnant again, I Catch the vision of . was completely devastated at the idea of hav- The Future of Birth . 4 ing another hospital birth so I began looking Results of National Study of Vaginal Birth for options. I found out about midwives and after Cesarean in Birth Centers . 5 began prenatal care with a wonderful midwife A Critique of NACC VBAC Study . 5 in California. I had a beautiful home birth. Legislative News: During that pregnancy I had to really fight to get insurance coverage for the birth. I even Moving the CPM Credential Forward through Midwifery Legislation . 7 went to an administrative hearing over the Texas News . 8 matter. I realized how unfair it is for women that we cannot choose out-of-hospital birth Pennsylvania News . 8 without paying out-of-pocket. After the deliv- Utah News . 8 ery, I knew this was what I wanted to do and Legislative Conference Calls . 9 a year later I moved to Miami to go to mid- Midwife Needed in Virginia . 9 wifery school. Committee Reports: Applications Department Year End What educational routes did you choose into midwifery, and why? 2004 Report . 10 Change in Policy for MEAC Graduates10 I had looked into nurse-midwifery as an option because I wanted to start my Testing Department Year End 2004 Masters degree and I also knew that employment options would be more readily Report . 11 available. I chose to become a Licensed Midwife instead because the concept be- Treasurer Year End 2004 Report . 12 hind the program was down-to-earth and back-to-basics. Thats really how I am Accountability Committee Year End on the inside and I appreciated that philosophy of midwifery care. 2004 Report . 13 After many conversations with Justine Clegg, director of the Miami-Dade program, I decided to make the move to Florida. Upon arrival I was embraced by Notices & Announcements: many wonderful and experienced licensed midwivesLeticia Juan, Corina Fitch, NARM Workshops . 14 Deborah Stein, Sharon Hamilton, Janis Heller, and Joni McCann, as well as The Quality Vital Statistics Alliance 15 Diann Gregory, CNM. Related Organizations: What is important to you about becoming a CPM? What do you see Midwifery Statistics . 16 Report from CfM . 17 as the significance of the CPM for you and in a larger sense? NACPM News . 18 I became a CPM with the hope that one day it would be our nationwide certifi- Preceptor Survey . 18 cation, equating to state licensure to practice midwifery as for CNMs today. I MANA 2005: Standing Tall, Growing Together . 20 think midwives are under-utilized in this country. The medicalization of birth has CPM News served our patriarchal nation well as it keeps women unfamiliar with their Tribute to Carrie Abbott bodies and their strength. By oppress- CPM News ing midwives, the country oppresses On Sunday February 20, Carrie CPM News is a newsletter of the those who can and always have acted Abbott passed away from cancer. Car- North American Registry of Mid- as agents of empowerment to women. rie served for many years and in vari- wives (NARM) published twice a Nationwide acceptance of CPM licens- ous capacities in MANA and NARM, year, Winter and Summer. We wel- ing along with federal laws that guar- and as a midwife in Utah. She dedi- come submissions of questions, an- antee provider status to licensed CPMs cated her life to her children and her swers, news tips, tidbits, birth art, would give midwives the muscle we mommas, and had friends all over the photographs, letters to the editor, etc. need to start making changes and get- country. Carrie will be sorely missed Deadlines for submissions are De- ting the message out that there are op- by the midwifery community, however cember 1 and June 1. Send all news- tions when it comes to pregnancy and she spoke often of how she missed her letter material to: Joanne Gottschall, childbirth. husband (who passed a way a few years 200 N. Jasper Avenue, Margate, NJ ago), and how she couldnt wait to be 08402 or [email protected] Now that you are a CPM, how with him again. The views and opinions expressed and where do you plan to prac- by individual writers do not necessar- tice? ily represent the views and opinions of NARM. For now, I plan to stay in Miami. I am at the beginning stages of my own practice. I also will soon begin work- Contact Information ing on my PhD in International Rela- tions. I am also very interested in pro- NARM General Information moting midwifery and would like to (or to order How to Become a CPM) work on increasing and protecting our 888-842-4784 rights to practice in the United States. Fax: 404-521-4052 Applications & Recertification: NARM Applications Department: P.O. Box 420 If you would like to send a note, her Summertown, TN 38483 daughter Randas address is 1160 Sego Lilly Dr. Sandy, UT 84094. NARM Board Debbie Pulley, CPM 5257 Rosestone Drive CPM News Alerts Lilburn, GA 30047 888-842-4784 [email protected] NARM now offers you the option of receiving the newsletter via the internet to save financial and envi- Test Department information: Ida Darragh, CPM ronmental resources. If you would like to try this PO Box 7703 out, go to www.narm.org/cpmnews.html and open Little Rock, AR 72217-7703 the pdf file. You can print it or save it. 888-353-7089 If you would like to receive an email notify- [email protected] ing you that a new issue of the CPM News is now CPM News Editor: available online in lieu of a paper copy, send your Abby J. Kinne, CPM name, mailing address and email address to 58 South Center Street [email protected]. West Jefferson, OH 43162 614-879-9835 [email protected] 2 NORTH A MERICAN REGISTRY OF MIDWIVES, WINTER 2005 Maggie Bennett Sage Femme I saw that the train was pulling out of Heeding Womens Call: the station and going faster and faster An Interview With Maggie Bennett, CPM down the track. So, I jumped on board at the last minute and passed the Cali- fornia Certification. I was the Chair- by Robbie Davis-Floyd woman of the California Association When, how, where, and why did you become a midwife? of Midwives during the development of Like many of my contemporaries, I became a midwife through my experiences the Certification Process and years as a pregnant woman. My husband and I planned a homebirth with novice leading up to the passage of our licens- birth attendants. We belonged to an organization called Birthcenter, which met ing legislation in 1993. I have great to share experiences and give advice to folks who were planning to birth at home respect for midwives who refuse to get without professional help. The first time I attended a Birthcenter meeting I had a licensed for political reasons. But I cosmic experience. My recollec- loved achieving my Birthcenter Certifi- tion is of incredibly beautiful cate, I felt recognized by my peers women in flowing dresses, backlit when I got my California Certifica- by the sunset pervading the tion, and I have grown to love my li- room. I knew I would do any- cense to practice midwifery in this thing to be with these and other state. Being able to participate in the women. I was impassioned to be activism that led to the writing and with them in birth. I became a passage of our law was a great gift in midwife because of this pivotal my life. The truth is, a relatively small experience in my life. These group of women wrote a certification women, whose names I no longer process, created a model of legislation know, but whose image is indel- that was adopted by a senator, rallied a ible in my memory, were my call- consumer group, and managed to nego- ing to midwifery. tiate with the government of a really I stepped onto the birthwork big, conservative state and get a law path in 1975. During the next passed that has made it better for four years, I worked with a num- women and families in our state. It is ber of women and men of the corny, I know, but I learned from some Birthcenter as we recreated safe amazing women that participation in and sensible ways to manage to our form of government can sometimes birth at home. We created a study work! path for ourselves and later trained other women. We did not call ourselves mid- wives for a few years, nor did we charge money at first. We were part of the do-it- What forms has your midwifery yourself, power-to-the-people movement and were pretty anti-professional any- activism taken, and why did you thing.