State lawmakers are considering whether to allow more midwives to practice in New York, a move supporters say will provide much-needed reproductive health care for expectant mothers. Teri Weaver | tweaver@syracuse.c
Syracuse, N.Y. – New York lawmakers are considering changing state law to loosen regulations for midwives, a move that would allow more people to offer reproductive care inside homes and birth centers.
Currently, only certified midwives and certified nurse midwives are licensed to provide reproductive healthcare in the state. Almost all of these midwives work in hospital settings after graduating from a master’s program and passing a national board exam, said Sherrie Hunter Kelly, the vice president of the New York State Association of Licensed Midwives. More specifically, nurse midwives have nursing degrees.
But there’s another group of midwives who practice in other states and offer care that’s specific to maternal and reproductive care. These midwives aren’t required to have a degree in nursing; instead, they obtain training and certification through a national governing body, according to Kelly.
The change would bring New York in line with three dozen other states that already allow these certified professional midwives to provide more services in non-hospital settings. It would also mirror how New York temporarily eased up on midwifery rules during the Covid pandemic, said Assemblymember Amy Paulin, who chairs the Assembly’s Health Committee and is advocating for the expansion.
Most importantly, advocates said, the legislation aims to expand access to midwifery to more people, including some who have higher rates of death among infants and mothers.
Black, non-Hispanic women are 5 times more likely to die in pregnancy-related deaths, according to data released in March from the state’s Health Department. Black babies in Onondaga County die at a rate 4.6 times higher than white babies, recent data shows.
These experiences leave women of color afraid and seeking other care options, said SeQuoia Kemp, a doula in Syracuse and the co-president of New York Certified Professional Midwives. Kemp said she believes the legislation would also increase the number of midwives of color.
“When people have providers that look like them, it adds a layer of emotional safety that I think is often overlooked when we talk about why people are afraid to give birth at hospitals,” said Kemp, who also supports the change.
Certified professional midwives are currently able to practice in 36 states and the District of Columbia.
“This group of midwives had the authority to practice during Covid through an executive order, but they have since lost that privilege,” said Paulin, D-Scarsdale. “So we have actually lost midwives since Covid because they can’t practice legally in New York.”
Paulin is sponsoring the latest bill to get midwives licensed. Other attempts in 2021 and 2022 failed.
The bill aims to offer another level of care that can be hard for women to find in hospitals, Paulin and others said.
“Currently, we don’t have enough midwives to care for all the people who want midwifery care,” said Kelly, of the midwives’ association. “And if the state licensed certified professional midwives, then they would become a workforce that could staff birth centers.”
Paulin said she is hopeful that the bill will pass this time. Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office said the governor would review the legislation if passed.
Earlier this year, Hochul unveiled a six-point plan to combat maternal and infant mortality in New York. The plan included paid parental leave, new legislation to expand access to doula services, new training for maternal mental health and the reduction of unnecessary c-sections. It did not specifically address the changes for midwives.
For Kemp, the passing of this bill would open doors for her career and her patients in Syracuse.
“I want the Legislature to think about the people who are being impacted by the lack of midwives in our state and recognize that this is a common sense, safe solution,” Kemp said. “And we need your support to really change the trajectory of our lives.”
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