RES 630 Draft 01 2022-2024 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Page 2 I The purpose of this measure is to fulfill the legislature's intent to allow all birth 2 practitioners to practice legally, while continuing licensure for CPMs and CMs. The legislature 3 finds that licensure for CPMs and CMs is beneficial, with the addition of locally -accessible 4 pathways to these practices, such as the Portfolio Evaluation Process (PEP) certified by the 5 North American Registry of Midwives (NARM), and certain technical updates, such as 6 alignment of CM statutory verbiage with established CM professional requirements. 7 The legislature also finds that for many people, decisions about pregnancy and birth are 8 informed by their personal or community history and culture, and are experiences of great 9 social, cultural, and spiritual significance, not primarily medical events. As such, there are a 10 wide range of traditional practitioners — for example, pale kelki, traditional church midwives, I I Iola, and senba — and birth -related service providers, including doulas, lactation consultants, 12 birth coaches, chanters, nutrition support people, spiritual practitioners, and others whose care 13 and advice are important in the well-being of birthing people and their families. 14 The legislature finds that the Midwife Licensing Program established by Act 32 (2019) 15 and enacted as HRS 457J was an important step toward recognizing the practice of professional 16 midwifery. 17 The legislature also finds that the implementation of HRS 457J provided valuable 18 insight into the complexity of community birth settings in Hawai'i. Some of the urgent needs 19 identified in this process include the following: 20 1. Safety. Research evidence highlighted by the Centers for Disease Control and 21 Prevention (CDC) and in The White House Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis 22 (June, 2022) suggests that legal access to culturally responsive care of the birthing person's 23 choosing, including traditional practices of that person's culture, is strongly correlated with N