More on ACOG's campaign against midwives

First, let me explain where the "number two" came in, b/c I'm not sure how clearly that press release explained it...

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) is a private trade union representing America's OB's.  ACOG, along with state doctors' groups around the country, have been spending millions of dollars to fight licensure of home birth midwives, and they've been losing! ACOG just announced their 2008 legislative agenda, and on the state level it's no surprise that Midwives and Home Birth are listed as their second priority. (If you ask me, on a state level, we are their first priority, b/c we often hear from friendly legislators that we are usually the first thing their hired guns bring up when they see them.)

Here's what ACOG says about Midwives and Home Birth:

"Lay" Midwives and Home Birth

We [ACOG] are seeing an increase in home birth and lay midwife bills across the country. Different tiltes for midwives and different levels of training foster public confusion and legislators often cannot distinguish between different types of midwives. Least - qualified midwives are gaining licensure as more and more states adopt the certified professional midwife (CPM) credential for licensure and not the certified midwife (CM) credential which ACOG recognizes.

TRANSLATION OF ACOG'S STATEMENT 

"We are the OBs trade union, and we are hopping mad that women want to give birth without paying into our multi-billion dollar industry, So we're going outspend those consumers who are trying to get their midwives licensed and throw all our political clout around, hoping some of our lies stick."

THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER

Some women are going to give birth at home, regardless of the smear campaign and lies of ACOG, but in half of the U.S., women choosing home birth face a real problem: lack of licensure for the most common home birth provider, certified professional midwives (CPMs). Despite good, scientific evidence that CPMs provide excellent, safe home birth care, ACOG is more concerned with protecting their turf than helping all women access good safe childbirth care.

But what about this "CM" ACOG mentions in their statement? First, CMa are hospital trained, and only about 50 CMs exist in the entire country (compared with more than 1,300 CPMs who are actually educated and trained specifically for out-of-hospital birth). 

Or what about nurse-midwives (CNMs)? Nurse-midwives are not trained for home birth either (in fact, it used to be forbidden even to discuss home birth in CNM educational programs until very very recently). For the most part, CNMs just don't do home birth! (with very few individual exceptions) Only about 1% of CNM attended births take place at home, down from from approx 2% in 1990 at a time when total births are on the rise for CNMs. The trend is fewer home births for CNMs, not more.

So what's a home birth mama to do. in half of our country? Hire an underground midwife, who is then less able to access collaborative care if it becomes necessary? Hire an underground midwife whose qualifications are hard to verify? Go it alone? Hire a midwife from another state and hope and pray she makes it on time? THOSE ARE ALL UNACCEPTABLE! That's why it's paramount that all 50 states license CPMs, and the sooner the better!