By now, most if not all of us, have heard of coronavirus. Regardless of which media outlet, news of the coronavirus outbreak has spread faster than the virus itself. Named COVID-19 by the World Health Organization in late January 2020, the disease is being considered an “emergency of international concern”. As it spreads across borders, warnings from federal and state agencies are showing up in my inbox with advice to plan for the “eventuality of community spread”.
Earlier this year, Midwives Alliance was contacted by the office of Rep Gwen Moore (WI-4) to help develop a bill to define doulas and midwives in the United States Social Security Act (SSA), which will improve access to Medicaid reimbursement for services. With input from the North American Registry of Midwives (NARM), the credentialing agency for the Certified Professional midwife (CPM), we drafted simple language defining the types of midwives not currently included in the SSA.
When mainstream media reported that a pregnant person had become “the laughing stock of a group of top US obstetricians”, what they didn’t understand was that they were witnessing an attitude that is foundational to the behaviors identified as obstetric violence.
At a key moment when maternal/child health, morbidities, and mortalities are being discussed in national health care arenas, birthing people and midwives are not being included in those discussions.
