ACNM strongly supports federal and state legislative efforts that seek to include midwives as full members of hospital medical staffs with voting, admitting and clinical privileges. It is the position of ACNM that safe, quality health care can best be provided to women and individuals when policymakers develop laws and regulations that permit CNMs/CMs to provide independent midwifery care within their scopes of practice while fostering consultation, collaborative management, and seamless referral and transfer of care based on the needs of patients. 

Midwifery patients have an acute need to access the hospital and upwards of 95% of midwifery-attended births in the US occur in the hospital setting. Many people desire midwifery care, and advanced practice midwives must be able to practice to the full extent of their accredited education, clinical training and national certification without arbitrary limitations, this includes the ability to admit our patients to the hospital and have a say on how maternal health and midwifery care is provided in the hospital. Anything else restricts the ability of hospitals to offer midwifery care and to attract and retain the providers needed to maintain maternity services, thus limiting access to care for a very high stakes population of patients.

Please help ACNM raise awareness on Capitol Hill for the introduction of federal legislation to amend Medicare's Conditions of Participation to include midwives as active hospital medical staff with full privileges. We have provided a template that can be edited to reflect your views and opinions in support of this issue.

For additional information, click here to view our talking points on this critical issue.