VFAM asks that you take action to change the laws governing CPMs in Virginia, so that they may carry and administer standard medications.
QUICK FACTS:
1) CPMs are trained and credentialed at the national level to carry and administer these meds, but Virginia law currently prevents them
2) Regulations regarding Certified professional Midwives (referred to as Licensed Midwives in the state of Virginia) are up for a scheduled review. All VA state regs are reviewed in this way every 4 years
3) There is a 30 day window during which the public may comment directly to the reviewers. Here is the spot to leave your comment! (Model comment below).
4) This review process can lead to a change in regulation via a process that is, compared to typical state politics, much faster and more straightforward.
Between July 18 and August 17, please visit the Virginia Town Hall website and leave a comment on the public forum. Detailed instructions are attached, and a model comment follows.
Our goal is 500 comments from the public, so after you submit your comment please ask at least 2-3 more friends, loved ones, and neighbors to do the same. It’s time to get ahead of those who would limit our autonomy!
MODEL COMMENT:
A flaw in our regulations prevents Virginia midwives from serving the public health and safety of Virginians to the best of their training, skills, and abilities. Training at a national level for Certified Professional Midwives includes the carrying and administering of certain medications, which are often required or requested at the time of birth. Furthermore, state officials recommend that a newborn be administered certain drugs within 24 hours of birth. Every Licensed Midwife is certified at the national level to carry and administer these medications, but the current midwifery laws prevent them from carrying or administering them.
Situations that are low risk and manageable within the home or community are, as a result, made into ordeals that at best inconvenience and at worst endanger the wellbeing of mothers and babies. Unnecessary exposure of infants to public spaces, and further overburdening of our healthcare systems, means that this inconsistency negatively affects the entire community. However, if the barrier to the resources for which they are trained is removed, midwives could relieve the maternity care desert status affecting nearly half of Virginians, who live outside a reasonable driving distance from a well stocked medical facility.
Prioritizing public safety means allowing trained health professionals to use all of their resources and skills. The demand for midwifery care will increase as uncertainty rises. Strong, self reliant communities are built on skilled individuals like our midwives. To reiterate, our LMs are already trained and certified to administer these medications; only the law prevents their acting on it.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Leave your comment for reviewers here! Copy and paste our model comment, modify it, OR write your own:
- Tell your family’s story about needing or getting any of the labor medications
- Explain why it’s important that a licensed professional is legally able to administer medications to you, your newborn, or your laboring loved one
- Comment on how far you or any Virginians live from other sources of these medicines. FYI, many of these are NOT carried in ambulances.
- Remember: midwives are already trained and certified to give these meds, and only the law prevents it