Outpouring of support for midwife legislation at June hearing

At a June 7, 2021 hearing of the Massachusetts legislature’s Joint Committee on Public Health, legislators heard an outpouring of support for the Out-of-Hospital Birth Access and Safety Act from mothers, midwives, a nurse, a professor of public health, legislators, and organizations including the Bay State Birth Coalition, Resilient Sisterhood Project, Planned Parenthood, ACNM Massachusetts, National Partnership for Women and Families, and Massachusetts League of Women Voters.

Tiffany Vassell, RN, testified “CPMs listen. They listen to mothers. I find that a lot of times in the hospital Black women, Indigenous women, they’re not being listened to... Just getting that CPM care in the community, getting that continuity of care during the postpartum period... I think that is what we need to fight the Black maternal health crisis we are currently experiencing.”

Carol Sakala, National Partnership for Women and Families: “This act provides a golden opportunity to favorably impact many layers of the maternal health crisis in the Commonwealth, and take us to a new, transformed, system of care.”

Lilly Marcelin, Resilient Sisterhood Project: “I cannot overemphasize the significance of equitable care with the potential for Black pregnant mothers to have access to midwifery services with providers who can show empathy, respect their dignity, convey important health information, and life saving assessment to ensure positive birth outcomes for mothers and babies during and after pregnancy.”

Cristina Alonso, DrPH, CPM: “It’s unethical to continue to deny pregnant people of Massachusetts access to safe, integrated and financially accessible out-of-hospital birth care.“

Leah, on choosing a home birth: “[My hospital birth] was a highly traumatic experience that was marked by a cascade of interventions... After I emerged from the fog of that experience, when I discovered that I was pregnant again a few years later, I decided that I would go for a home birth.”

Karina, on choosing a home birth: “I was told very quickly that to have this baby, I would have to have a C-section. So here I am, I wasn’t listened to in my first labor, second time around I am being told that I don’t have any choice. That’s how I started looking into home births.”

Erin, on her home birth during the pandemic: “My actual [home] birth was the most powerful, validating moment of my life. I was allowed to listen to my body.”

Rebecca, on lack of insurance coverage for her home births: “Choosing how to birth should not be a luxury.”