Ohioans for the Preservation of Traditional Midwifery (OPTM)  does not support the Ohio Midwives Alliance (OMA) bill to be submitted in January and urges others to do the same! OPTM does not support any bill that forces midwives to either be licensed or practice as criminals.

Ohioans for the Preservation of Traditional Midwifery Believes that:

(1) Birth is a normal, natural occurrence rather than a legal or medical event; thus licensure and regulation from/by  the State is not necessary for the domiciliary midwife assisting informed mothers choosing unmedicated and non- surgical childbirth at home.

(2) The climate towards homebirth in Ohio is not hostile; this is evidenced by the fact that:
    (a) Midwives can verify pregnancy and live births with local health departments in accordance with the State of Ohio Department of Health.
    (b) Midwives are permitted to fill in birth certificates and do newborn screens.
    (c) There is nothing in the State statute addressing prohibition of the practice of midwifery in Ohio.
 We are also assured of the correctness of our view due to the number of active midwives around the State and the great number of years in practice enjoyed by older midwives, as well as the presence of many new midwives.

(3) Because many Ohio families choose to birth at home in order to to avoid  interference of the natural processes involved in childbirth and as a result of their vulnerability to the ever increasing medicalization of birth and exposure to high surgical delivery rates, State licensure and regulation are contrary to the reasons why many families choose to birth at home.

(4) State regulation and licensure have the potential to limit individual midwives' choice to choose their own scope of practice and thus presents a threat to traditional midwifery.

(5) Educating and informing the public about traditional midwifery is a safer route to protecting and preserving Traditional Midwifery than submitting a licensure bill.

(5) To fix something that is not broken is asking for trouble.

THE BOTTOM LINE:
(6) Families MUST have the right to engage the care of the maternity care provider of their choosing and midwives MUST have the right to preserve their traditional midwifery practices without State interference and regulation.
THUS:
Ohioans for the Preservation of Traditional Midwifery is unable to support the bill to be submitted in January and we will do all we can to block the bill if need be. In addition, OPTM will continue to educate and inform.

 WHAT's NEW?

 - Check out our QUIZ page for some fun and, for a detailed explanation of why and how we have changed, please check out the "Why Change and What's New" page.

- Special thanks to our wonderful "editing elves" who have taken time out from their busy lives to help out with editing!  

-Thanks also to the midwives and consumers who support OWLAM ! Without your support, OWLAM could not exist! 

-ON THE FORUM, we have been discussing Traditional Midwifery and how we define it individually. 

POSITION PAPERS NEEDED! 

To Join Ohioans for the Preservation of Traditional Midwifery please contact Eireann at:

contact: eireann@owlam.org

Or click to join the OPTM Group/Forum: