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.B. NO. <br /> A BILL FOR AN ACT <br /> RELATING TO LICENSED MIDWIVES. <br /> BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII: <br /> 1 SECTION 1. The legislature finds that Act 32, Session laws of Hawaii 2019, created <br /> 2 a licensure program to regulate midwives, as HRS 457-J,with the intention to "allow a woman <br /> 3 to choose where and with whom she gives birth,"while providing the benefits of licensure. <br /> 4 This licensure program has run for five years and will sunset on June 30, 2025. <br /> 5 The 2019 legislature also found in Act 32 that(1) "mothers and families seek out <br /> 6 alternatives to hospital births and they find significant value in community or home birth <br /> 7 services" and that(2) "these services have been provided by individuals identifying themselves <br /> 8 as traditional or cultural practitioners, midwives, certified professional midwives, lay <br /> 9 midwives, direct entry midwives,birth keepers, or birth attendants." <br /> 10 Under HRS 457-J, only certified professional midwives (CPMs) and certified midwives <br /> 11 (CMs) are eligible for licensure. Act 32 (2019) stated that, "by the end of the three-year period <br /> 12 (2022), the legislature intends to enact statutes that will incorporate all birth practitioners and <br /> 13 allow them to practice to the fullest extent under the law." While significant efforts were made, <br /> 14 this goal has not yet been achieved. A temporary exemption for non-CPM/CM birth attendants <br /> 15 expired in 2023,which in effect has made nearly all unlicensed birth workers, cultural <br /> 16 practitioners and extended family attending births illegal, as intended exemptions were shown <br /> 17 to need further strengthening to be effective. <br /> 2025=0208 1 <br />