2023 Alaska Midwifery Statute Changes
Legislative Intent:
"It is the intent of the legislature to preserve the right of women to deliver children at home with licensed midwives, to remove obstacles for safe deliveries outside of hospitals, to assure quality care of pregnant women and the children they deliver, and to guarantee insurance coverage for home births."
Protect Childbirth Options for Alaskan Women by Updating Midwifery Statutes
Alaskan women's basic human right to give birth where, how and with whom they choose to is under threat.
Help Us Pass our Midwifery Statute Bill, it will:
Protect families from the medicalization of childbirth and disempowerment of women
Increase access and utilization of out of hospital midwifery care services
Enable CDM/CPMs to practice to their full scope of training and certification.
The first major update to midwifery statutes in over 30 years.
Update title from CDM to LM (Licensed Midwife), so they are recognized by all major insurance plans, which will make birthing out of the hospital more affordable and available to more Alaskan families.
Update licensure requirements to National Standards.
Require additional training and CEUs.
Require preceptors to be Nationally Certified.
Retain and attract more CDM/CPMs.
Ensure autonomy for CDM/CPMs.
Making home birth more affordable and available to Alaskan families.
Restructure State Midwifery Board by removing competitors
Sign our Petition to Support our Midwifery Bill
Alaskan women's basic human right to give birth where, how, and with whom they choose to is under threat.
Whether homebirth/midwifery care is for you, or not, every woman should have the option to CHOOSE what is best for her and her baby. This is for us and our future generations of Alaskan Mamas.
Please consider taking 30 seconds to sign this petition and share it to all of your friends, families and groups to help protect childbirth options for Alaskan women by updating midwifery statutes.
Statistics for Alaskan Midwifery since 2015
96% of Alaskan women who begin care with CDM/CPMs have a vaginal birth.
Alaskan CDM/CPMs have a 3.9% cesarean section rate.
Only, 2% of Alaskan mothers having an out of hospital births, were transported to the hospital for an urgent issue.
Only, 1.4% of Alaskan newborns, born out of hospital were transported to the hospital for an urgent issue.
Midwifery care demonstrates several benefits to Alaskan women.
These benefits include:
A reduction in childbirth interventions and birth trauma
An increase in spontaneous vaginal births for women of low and increased risk
A reduction in rates of cesarean sections in women
Increased satisfaction for women when compared to the other models of maternity care
The medical establishment has been claiming for too long that out of hospital, midwifery care and birth is unsafe and that maternity care and birth must remain obstetric, hospital based. That's not our statistics or the most current studies and statistics prove.