Here's me on KPOO radio yesterday campaigning for Certified Professional Midwives to be included in the Obama Health Care Reform bill. That's my cute little red-headed baby with me.
When looking into using a midwife for my pregnancy and delivery, I wondered what the difference was between a Certified Professional Midwife and a Certified Nurse Midwife. Here's my unofficial knowledge of the differences:
Certified Professional Midwives specialize in out-of-hospital births like at a birth center or a private home. Certified Professional Midwives can only work outside of hospitals; and therefore, have a lot of experience with low-tech, unmedicated births.
Certified Nurse Midwives specialize in hospital births and are licensed to work in hospitals. Certified Nurse Midwives have gone through more schooling than Certified Professional Midwives. The extra schooling allows them to work in hospitals. Most of their experience comes from working with mamas in a hospital setting, so they are more familiar hospital births than out-of-hospital births.
---------
Health Care Reform
Certified Nurse Midwives are currently included in the first draft of the Health Care Reform bill, but Certified Professional Midwives are not. Certified Professional Midwives are licensed by their states and should be added to the list of Medicaid-eligible providers recognized at the federal level.
Because I had such a fabulous prenatal, birth, and postnatal experience with a Certified Professional Midwife, I would like to see them included in Obama's Health Care Reform bill. Around 50% of births are paid for by Medicaid users. Medicaid only covers Certified Nurse Midwives not Certified Professional Midwives.
I would like to see women given more choice. And so, I am working to get Certified Professional Midwives covered by Medicaid. It's one sentence in the bill. If you're interested in helping, please go
to the MAMA Campaign to send a letter to Boxer, Feinstein, and Pelosi.
Please send your letter this weekend because they're moving fast on the hill and we want our voices heard.
More choices for women!