UPDATED: Evergreen Hospital Board to vote on hospital-based midwifery

UPDATED:  April 17 at 6:30 pm: The Board of Commissioners will Vote on the Return of Midwifery Care to Evergreen Hospital.  On April 3rd they will have a Study Session which will include a conversation on midwifery - the public is not invited to speak at Study Sessions, unless they changed their policy. 

Your support is needed to ensure approval of this critical step toward the return of full-service midwifery care to Evergreen Hospital. Please attend the Board of Commissioners’ Meeting on Tuesday April 17, 2012 at 6:30 pm to show your support for the proposed Certified Nurse Midwives Practice.

On April 3rd, Evergreen Hospital’s Board of Commissioners will vote on the establishment of a hospital-based midwifery practice. This is a critical step toward the reinstatement of full-service midwifery care at Evergreen Hospital. Your attendance is needed to demonstrate the community’s continued support for the return of full-service midwifery care to Evergreen Hospital.

The Hospital’s administration will present to the Board a proposal to establish a practice comprised of four full-time and one half-time Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs).  Read More >>
 The CNMs would be permitted to attend births at Evergreen Hospital. The staffing level and funding proposed are intended to support 24/7 on-call midwifery care.

The proposed CNM practice is a product of collaboration between the hospital, private practice obstetricians, hospitalists, professional consultants, CNMs and representatives of the grass roots effort “Support Midwifery at Evergreen Hospital.” Evergreen Hospital has been very committed to hearing from the patient community in developing the CNM practice. As part of that process, the Hospital considered survey data collected from the community of supporters.

Approval of the proposed CNM practice is a crucial step toward reestablishing full-service midwifery care at Evergreen, but it is not a total victory. Once approved, the Hospital will contract with independent CNMs and the obstetricians who will provide on-call support. The precise services and model of care will be determined by those care providers in consultation with the Hospital and community advisors. We hope that the practice will offer full-service midwifery care.
Full-service midwifery care must include:

• 24/7 on-call CNMs for labor and delivery
• CNMs able to sit for birth.
• CNMs able to attend vaginal birth after cesarean candidates
• CNMs able to attend ‘high-risk’ births
• Prenatal, postpartum and well-woman care

Evergreen Hospital has been very responsive and has shown a tremendous commitment to reinstating midwifery care. Based on that commitment, we are highly optimistic that the CNM practice ultimately implemented will return full-service midwifery care to Evergreen Hospital. While it won’t be known for some time precisely what services will be offered, approval of the practice by the Board of Commissioners is required to get the process moving.

Source:  "Support Midwifrey at Evergreen" Facebook Page