Fall 2022 Colorado Affiliate Meeting
Location: CU Anschutz Campus College of Nursing + Zoom option
Date: Wednesday, September 7, 2021
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Present in-person: Denise Smith, Jolene Hamann, Tara Drerup, Katie Page, Laraine Guyette, Lorell Erwin, Jacy Jeffrey-Howe, Shana Noon, Jennifer Miles, Gillian Brautigam, Elisa Patterson
Present online: Kala Kluender, Carolyn Bottone-Post, Victoria Sundquist, Suzanne Carrington
Presenters from Bayer
Cristal Wiens, Senior Clinical Sales Specialist
973-524-9548
Holly Kelleher, Senior Sales Consultant
973-307-5436
Celebrating the Two Recipients of the BIPOC Scholarship
Anjel Hobbs
Student at CU School of Midwifery
Currently works as an L&D nurse in Atlanta, GA at Grady Hospital but wants to move here for clinical rotations
Realizing her dream in becoming a midwife!
Elizabeth Diaz Ordaz
Chicana student nurse midwife at Frontier Nursing University, based in Denver, CO
Has worked in the field for over 10 years - L&D RN now
Wants to serve the Spanish and Latinx community here in Denver
They will be linked with mentors in the Midwifery Program to support success during the program
Jennifer Miles, CO ACNM Affiliate Lobbyist
Has resumed as our lobbyist, previous lobbyist moved on to start her own firm
We have submitted an application to have the state of Colorado license CM’s in addition to CNM’s; there is a process to go through to set up in the state of CO for any profession that wants to get regulated - the Sunrise process: office within the stage agency (Dept of Regulatory Affairs-DORA) that requests an application - was due 12/1/21 and we will receive their report on 10/15/22; this takes state law into account as well - you have to show actual or potential harm from someone not being licensed/registered/regulated,
Anxiously awaiting the results of the report; we have recommended that CM’s be part of the Board of Nursing as well (even though they are not nurses ) - so e.g. they could recommend regulation but somewhere else, not under the Board of Nursing
If they reject the request completely - we could come forward with our own Bill but don’t have the backing of the regulatory agency and would be very difficult
If they agree, DORA takes the lead on writing a Bill and bringing it forward
E.g. if they say we recommend regulation but not under the Board of Nursing then we could make a recommendation to the Legislature and explain why we are making that rec with background evidence to support
Larraine Guyette suggested psych technicians were regulated under the Board of Nursing as an example of another non-nursing field under BON
The DORA representative asked about other states that regulate CM’s under the Board of Nursing and asked to speak with other states; those other states offered to provide examples of how it is working in their state
The Committee of Midwife Advocates for the Certified Midwife (C-MAC) believes that it should be regulated under the Board it works best under; some other states regulate them under the Dept of Public Health
The CMs in Virginia achieved legislation and it was approved but they have 2 years to promulgate regulation so they can be licensed but regs around practice (e.g. prescriptive authority) have not been established yet. It was written that CM’s should have autonomous practice but then one legislator held it up due to CNMs not having autonomous practice at that time, since then CNMs have achieved autonomous practice and CM’s must have a consultation agreement
If application is approved we will need to focus on the Language of Midwifery: how to use words to talk equally and well about the practice of midwifery
November: C-MAC representatives will offer a talk on Language of Midwifery, we will need education on policy
Question regarding accreditation of CM education programs: A program that is accredited by CCNE can have both CCNE and ACME accreditation, you can educate and graduate a midwife outside the CCNE accreditation so a CM program could be accredited and only have ACME accreditation
Possible timeframe for Bill: introduced in Jan or Feb, signed as early as June and then it will have language in it regarding time frame but could be as early as July 1, 2023; could have an implementation date of Jan 1, 2024 which would give them time to do the rule-making
Will wait for the formal ruling from DORA but there is a verbal agreement from the Dean that CU would support a CM program; we realize we will have to address the argument that midwives should be nurses first; one of the arguments for licensing CMs in CO would be that they are then not taking up nursing spots in programs when they are never going ot practice as nurses
CO ACNM Meeting with Elephant Circle:
They want to work on legislation to defer a sentence until a patient is no longer pregnant, so patients are not incarcerated during pregnancy
SANE: DEMs would like to be able to do SANE exams as well, but the national certifying body says that you have to be a nurse first
- They also wanted to change everywhere in the language for DEMs that it said “registered” to “licensed”
There may be another avenue to change how DEMs are regulated
The National Certifying Body for SANE says that the minimal regulation must be RN
Maternal Mortality: in the legislature in general there is a large focus on mortality rates among minority women, e.g. improving the transfer of women from home/birth center to hospital
National Legislative Information
Midwives for Maximizing Optimal Maternity Service Act (Midwives for MOMs Act): House Bill and a Senate Bill (having them happen at the same time is unusual and remarkable)
Push to get it voted on before election in Nov
Doing an Off-the-Hill Visit: 9/26-9/29
Elisa has asked for Zoom calls with each of the representatives
ACNM has more information about this Bill than other prior Bills; there is funding - not just for CNMs, could also be for CPMs
If you want to participate in off-the-hill events with your senator, contact Elisa at epattcnm@gmail.com and she can assist with setting up visits. Collectively we should meet with the two Senators in Colorado as a group
-Call to join SGAC and NGAC - Elisa is on both committees and would love someone else to join
ACNM 68th Annual National Meeting & Exhibition
Reimagine and Rebuild – Midwifery Insights for the Future of Healthcare
May 5-10, 2023
Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida
Annual Harvey Cohen, MD Morbidity & Mortality Summit
Friday, November 4, 2022
Marriott at Park Meadows
7:30-6 p.m.
Register here
Region VI Webinar Series for CEUs
We are pleased to announce the lineup for the 2022-23 Region VI Webinar Series! This series highlights some of the great midwifery thinkers in and around our region and those contributing great ideas relevant to our members! We hope you will join us! Free CEUs available. Register online at: forms.gle/7XkfPDv6nbPrN6wi9
Sept. 21st* at 7pm MT Jessica Pettigrew- Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder
Nov. 15th at 7pm MT Andrew Youmans- Cardio-Obstetrics for Midwives and Women's Health Care Providers (Pharmacology CEs Available)
April 4th at 7pm MT Lisa Kiser- Migration is a Human Right: Women's Healthcare in the Borderlands
Sponsored by: ACNM State Affiliates from Colorado, Texas, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona
Treasurer’s Report, Denise Smith
$12,000 in CD’s; $15,447 in other funds
Expenses - $18,000 annually or $1,500/month
Funds from dues have gone down over the past 3 years due to declining membership
Funds primarily go toward advocacy in our state government to support our scope of practice
Please tell your fellow midwife friends and colleagues about the importance of the ACNM organization and ask them to join
For JEDI Member Recruitment or to participate in the (virtual or in-person) 5K
Sunday, October 9th, 2022
Email Jane Zelenkov: zelenkov.j@gmail.com
Midwives for Reproductive Justice Member Recruitment
Contact Lorell Erwin: Lorell.Erwin@gmail.com
Project Cure needs volunteers for: May, August, October
Contact Kris Combs @ 720-934-9100
Stay Tuned: Midwifery Event for Fundraiser and to kick of National Midwifery week
Lady Justice Brewery - Friday evening during National Midwifery Week
ACNM website has the information on how to declare National Midwifery Week-ask to declare with your local mayor or town/city
Friday, October 7, 2022!
Nominating Committee
- Denise Smith volunteered to lead committee
- Open positions include: President, Secretary, Member-at-Large
Next Affiliate Meeting:
Thursday, December 8, 2022
Sponsored by Abbvie, location TBD
Check out this cool t-shirt from last year's 5K! Sign up to join on 10/9!
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