PROTECT THE MIDWIVES BOARD

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PROTECT THE

MIDWIVES BOARD

PETITION

Governor Dunleavy and All Alaskan Legislators: 

Alaska’s Midwives are a critical asset to healthy pregnancies, safe and healthy births, and healthy babies.

Maintaining the Board of Certified Direct-Entry Midwives is a critical part of the care Alaska’s Midwives provide Alaskan mothers every day.

SAFER BIRTHS AND HEALTHIER BABIES

Under the training, oversight, and administration of the Certified Direct-Entry Midwives Board, Midwife attended births have produced:

  • Lower Maternal Mortality (0 recorded maternal deaths in Midwife attended births) compared to 6-20 under Doctor directed and hospital births.
  • 17% fewer Cesarean sections.
  • Improved breastfeeding experiences and outcomes.

MIDWIVES PROVIDE CRITICAL CARE

Eliminating the 5 Medical Professionals from the oversight, administration, and training of Alaska’s Midwives will lead to worse outcomes for Alaskan mothers and babies.

Maintaining the Board of Certified Direct-Entry Midwives is a critical part of the care Alaska’s Midwives provide Alaskan mothers every day.

PROTECT THE MIDWIVES BOARD

I urge you to rescind or disapprove EO 130 and protect Alaskan Mothers’ right to choose the best care for themselves and their babies.

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protect the midwives board

Imagine telling pregnant mothers – perhaps your wives, daughters, or others that you know and care for that for the sake of government efficiency, Alaska is reducing the options available to them, and they will have to give birth in doctor directed birth centers or hospitals increasing the time, difficulty, and cost of every baby they deliver.

Imagine telling those same pregnant mothers that to achieve greater government efficiency they submit to birthing practices that have:

  • 6X increase of maternal mortality*
  • 17% higher incidence of Cesarean sections*
  • Increased risk of breastfeeding difficulty and failure*

Imagine telling those pregnant mothers that the same government efficiency that is going to force them into more difficult, dangerous, and expensive deliveries could cost the State at least $5.1 MILLION DOLLARS MORE per year than it does now.*

Executive order 130

Governor Dunleavy issued Executive Order (EO) 130 on January 15, 2024, directing the Board of Certified Direct-Entry Midwives (the Board) to be eliminated and their licensing and administration duties to be transferred to the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development (DCCED).

Governor Dunleavy’s proposal says that eliminating the Board will:

  • More efficiently certify and regulate Alaska’s Midwives
  • Develop greater expertise in the profession.
  • Eliminate duplication of functions.
  • Provide a single point of responsibility for regulating Alaska’s Midwives

Governor Dunleavy’s EO 130 disregards the fact that the Board already operates very efficiently, producing a $67,000 surplus in FY 2021.

Governor Dunleavy’s EO 130 omits that a DCCED Records and Licensing Supervisor is already “efficiently administering” the Midwives’ licensing and certifications.

Governor Dunleavy’s EO 130 fails to explain which of the 435 DCCED administrators will replace the 5-member board of Midwives, Nurse Midwife, and Physician currently serving on the Board.

Governor Dunleavy’s EO 130 fails to explain how replacing the 5 Medical Professionals with the 435 DCCED administrators will develop greater expertise in the Midwifery profession.

worse outcomes for moms & babies

While eliminating the Board will not immediately eliminate midwives and midwifery services in Alaska, EO 130 provides no assurances that the licensing and administration of Certified Direct Entry Midwives will not be degraded or eliminated.

More importantly, eliminating the 5 Medical Professionals from the oversight, administration, and training of Alaska’s Midwives will certainly lead to worse outcomes for Alaskan mothers and babies.

midwives critical to healthy moms & babies

Maintaining the Board of Certified Direct-Entry Midwives is a critical part of the care Alaska’s Midwives provide Alaskan mothers every day.

Join thousands of Alaskans in urging Governor Dunleavy and ALL Alaskan Legislators to rescind or disapprove EO 130 and protect Alaskan Mothers’ right to choose the best care for themselves and their babies.