The Executive Summary, Quick Start Guide, Community Birth Provider Checklist, and webinar recordings are all available at www.cnma.org/sb1237. And if you need assistance with implementation, you can sign up for office hours! The CNMA Health Policy Leadership Team is here to support you to make sure your personal practice or health care system is in compliance with the new law.

Join the Professional Practice Committee at CNMA

Now that SB1237 has passed, what will it mean for midwives and families in our state? That is what you get to decide! The Professional Practice Committee needs your voice and your expertise. We’re looking for interested members who would like to help develop tools and resources to help nurse-midwives in California to implement best practices. We’re talking everything from how to start a practice, how to get hospital privileges, credentialing, and more! If this sounds like you, the PPC would love to have you join us. For more information, contact Shaughanassee Vines, CNM at shaughanassee.vines@frontier.edu. And thanks!

SB464 e-learning available now!

Diversity Science and Rachel Hardeman, PhD, MPH, have created interactive e-learning modules for perinatal providers focused on implicit bias and reproductive justice that align with the training requirements outlined in the California Dignity in Pregnancy and Childbirth Act (Senate Bill 464) which went into effect in January 2020. Learn more or register here!

Literature on structural racism and intersectional feminism in American midwifery

As we work toward becoming an antiracist organization, we hope you take a few moments to check out these articles:

“Midwives and Pregnant Women of Color: Why We Need to Understand Intersectional Changes in Midwifery to Reclaim Home Birth” by Danielle Thompson

“Constructing the Modern American Midwife: White Supremacy and White Feminism Collide” by P. Mimi Niles and Michelle Drew

Call for manuscripts on gynecologic, sexual, and reproductive health care

The editors of the Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health (JMWH) are soliciting manuscripts for upcoming JMWH continuing education (CE) offerings. Specifically, they are looking for Reviews, Innovations from the Field, Clinical Rounds case reports, and Commentaries. Original Research manuscripts are not being solicited for this call. Descriptions of the JMWH article types can be found in the Journal’s instructions for authors at www.jmwh.org. All manuscripts should include a discussion of how the topic interacts with health equity. Please send your proposed manuscript topic and type of article to Frances E. Likis, DrPH, NP, CNM, FACNM, FAAN, JMWH Editor-in-Chief, at flikis@acnm.org by January 8, 2021. The JMWH editors will evaluate proposed manuscript topics and advise authors of their suitability. The deadline for initial manuscript submission is March 15, 2021.

Share your knowledge!

CNMA is working to launch virtual CEU offerings. If you are interested in being a presenter, please reach out to Jillian Cauley at jillcauley4@gmail.com.

A.C.N.M. Foundation's $1,000 Community Grants: Focus on COVID-19, Racial Inequities, and Health Disparities

The A.C.N.M. Foundation's Thacher Community Grants support small, yet high impact community-based projects designed to promote excellence in health outcomes for all people and communities. The 2021 grants will give preference to projects that relate to the COVID-19 pandemic, especially those that target racial inequities and/or health disparities; care for people with physical or mental illness or disability; and/or care for populations in low-resource settings. The grant amount has been increased from $500 to $1,000 per grant to help grantees tackle these urgent and challenging issues. Apply here by January 22, 2021.

Medi-Cal Rx Update

Given the ongoing challenges and constantly evolving health care landscape associated with the unprecedented COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) has decided to lengthen the transition time to the full implementation of Medi-Cal Rx by three months, until April 1, 2021. In the interim, all current prescription drug service processes and protocols, both effectuated by DHCS and Medi-Cal managed care plans (MCPs), will remain unchanged and in place until Medi-Cal Rx launches. Meanwhile, for more information on changes to the pharmacy provider self-attestation process coming in 2021, please click here.

Birth Worker of Color Survey

Elephant Circle, The National Association to Advance Black Birth and The National Black Midwives Alliance are conducting a survey to evaluate the needs and the desires of the community with regard to convening, or supporting in another way, birth workers of color. Please consider taking the time to complete this survey and support the work being done to advance the work of Birth Equity and Reproductive Justice being led by Black women and Black midwives. Click here to complete the survey.

Health Policy Reads: Access, Outcomes, and Opportunities

If you are sitting around the fireplace during the holidays, looking for some enticing health policy reads, take a look at what a new report by the CommonWealth Fund says about access to midwifery here, or more about state policies to improve maternal outcomes here. California is noted to be ahead, but we have so much more to do! This entire series on the Politics of Pregnancy by the Harvard Law & Policy Review is worth the read. And finally, check out the new study by the Lancet on the impact of midwives, and the accompanying webinar from earlier this month.

Prematurity Awareness Month

November was Prematurity Awareness Month. Please check out these important webinars from the March of Dimes on Clinical Practice and Community Practice.

Criminalizing Pregnancy

CNMA, in conjunction with the Drug Policy Alliance and the ACLU, signed on to separate Amicus Briefs for Chelsea Becker and Adora Perez of Kings County. Both women are incarcerated in Kings County and charged with murder for separate fetal deaths after ingesting substances. You can find more information here and here. We are happy to announce that the California Supreme Court has granted review of Chelsea Becker’s petition for habeas corpus.

This is very positive, and it hopefully signifies a turn of events in favor of Ms. Becker. Find out more here.

Job openings to share?

If you have a job opening, please post it at www.CNMA.org/jobs! We will happily share your listing in our newsletter and on social media.

Questions? News? Want to get involved?

Email us at info@cnma.org

That's all for this month's issue. Catch you next time!

-CNMA MEDIA TEAM

Visit us at cnma.org

California Nurse-Midwives Association
CNMA.ORG

CNMA Mid-Month Update | December 2020

Table of Contents

More SB1237 implementation tools now available!