California Association of Licensed Midwives

09/02/2025

https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/health-and-medicine/article298178713.html

Assemblymember Mia Bonta has introduced legislation to ease the burden on birth centers as hospitals close maternity units.

30/01/2025

UPCOMING WEBINAR
Pathways to Midwifery: A webinar for Aspiring Midwives and Policy Makers
February 12, 2025 12pm-1:30pm

Join Midwifery Access California and The California Coalition for Black Birth Justice in discussion with Zulgeil Ruiz-Gines, LM, Dean of Midwifery Program and Operations at Commonsense Childbirth School of Midwifery and Dr. Angela Sojobi, CNM assistant professor and the program director of the women’s health nurse practitioner and nurse-midwifery program at California State University in Fullerton, California, along with newly practicing midwives and current students. The conversation will be facilitated by Kim Q. Đậu, CNM, midwife and co-lead of the California Nurse-Midwives Association’s Workforce Development Committee.

This panel discussion is directed towards aspiring midwives in California with information about:
The education pathways for the two midwifery licenses that can practice in California both Licensed Midwifery (LM) and Nurse-Midwifery (CNM)
Learn from midwifery educators, practicing midwives and current students about what is needed to become a midwife and how to choose a program that is right for you!
Exciting new education opportunities in California: CSU Fullerton is opening up distance learning options for nurse-midwives and CommonSense Childbirth Midwifery School is opening a hybrid direct-entry program in California
Grants, scholarships and other support for your educational pathway

While this webinar is directed towards aspiring midwifery students, we believe the content will be valuable for any policy makers, , and advocates committed to increasing the workforce.

11/01/2025

🔵 THE NEXT MAC MEETING IS JANUARY 23 from 1-4PM 🔵

The MAC meeting agenda has been posted. Please consider calling in if any of these topics are relevant to you.
If items you want to discuss are not on the agenda, please comment below and they will be incorporated into the “update from the chair” section. there are many opportunities at this upcoming meeting for public comment.
Please share with your networks.

06/01/2025

Black & Indigenous & Pacific Islander midwives in California: The importance of culturally concordant care & midwifery to address racism-based disparities

January 15, 2025 2pm-3:30pm

Join Midwifery Access California and the California Coalition for Black Birth Justice for a panel discussion with Black, Indigenous and Pacific Islander midwifery leaders in California. This webinar will be moderated by Linda Janet Holmes – writer, biographer, oral historian, curator, long-time women’s health activist and author of Safe in a Midwife’s Hands and Listen to Me Good – The Story of an Alabama Midwife.

29/10/2024

“Although most midwives report being satisfied with their careers, a significant portion plan to take breaks, leave the profession, retire, or reduce their client load in the next five years.”

Midwives are licensed clinicians who play a key role in the maternity care workforce. California credentials two types of midwives: licensed midwives (LMs) and nurse-midwives (NMs). Although there are differences in the training and typical practice of LMs and NMs, both types of midwives provide hig...

29/10/2024

“In the letter objecting to the plan, the coalition of groups said that calling for people to fill out such a questionnaire “gives the impression of personal fault and/or that individual behavior is to blame, burdening the user and discrediting the system’s role in creating this crisis.”

The groups said they knew of no research to back up “personal risk assessment” as a way to improve outcomes for birthing people. Nor does the blueprint clearly spell out the next steps or what will happen to the data, their letter argued.”

Maternal health organizations and advocates are urging the California surgeon general to suspend the rollout of a plan aimed at reducing maternal mortality.

27/08/2024

“even as demand for out-of-hospital births increases, birth centers across the state are shutting their doors, unable to withstand the joint battering ram of financial and regulatory challenges.”

thankful for CalMatters.org continuing to share about bizarre, burdensome, and outdated hurdles midwives and families alike face in California and for uplifting the work of Midwifery Access California (MACa)

Best Start birth center in San Diego closed after delivering 5,600 babies. Many midwives say CA makes it difficult for them to stay in business.

30/04/2024

Some of the very important work that is being done surrounding midwifery reimbursement including Medi-Cal coverage for community midwifery care.

Everyone deserves a midwife Integrating midwife-led care into existing practice settings – such as clinics and hospitals – and amplifying and expanding the capacity of community-birth midwives, are key strategies for improving reproductive health care access and outcomes in California. Midwifery...

16/04/2024

I received my badge clip from today! I love it so much 💗 As a community midwife, I don't often need my badge, but when we do have to move our place of birth I often go with the family and it's helpful to have ID readily available for care providers to recognize my role as a care provider as well. Shout out to for providing us with identification