PROTECT THE MIDWIVES BOARD
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.
Under the training, oversight, and administration of the Certified Direct-Entry Midwives Board, Midwife attended births have produced:
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.
I urge you to rescind or disapprove EO 130 and protect Alaskan Mothers’ right to choose the best care for themselves and their babies.
Contact Information
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.
Under the training, oversight, and administration of the Certified Direct-Entry Midwives Board, Midwife attended births have produced:
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.
I urge you to rescind or disapprove EO 130 and protect Alaskan Mothers’ right to choose the best care for themselves and their babies.
Contact Information
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:
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.*
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:
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.
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.
It is also clear that 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.