ANNOUNCEMENTS

HAA continues to follow two remaining bills related to midwifery. To receive hearing notifications, create an account and sign in  https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/ 

By registering, you can provide testimony (both written & oral via Zoom or in person).

PRECEPTOR TAX CREDIT - 1ST TESTIMONY IS DUE BY 9:30 AM TUESDAY
HB303

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=HB&billnumber=303&year=2025

RELATED TO MIDWIFERY

HB 1194

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=HB&billnumber=1194&year=2025

Despite months of collaborative efforts of midwifery organizations, lobbying groups, government agencies, HI-ACOG & HAH, Rep Ichiyama had introduced a controversial Birth Center Bill to the House to establish mandatory accreditation by CABC for any future birth center or birth home. This bill never was assigned a hearing. Licensing only through mandatory accreditation had not been supported by any member midwifery organization. HAA had been invited into a MAH Board sponsored working group which does seek mandatory accreditation. Cross-credential meetings and surveys conducted by HAA, HIHBC, and PBC found there was general consensus amongst their members and communities on seeking voluntary accreditation as an alternative to meeting State regulations, revising existing regulations to include an expansion on the definition of the care available in a freestanding birthing facility, that these facilities could be run by licensed maternity care providers (including CM, CNM, and CPMs), that a RN would not be required on site, that a written transfer agreement with a hospital was not required but could be replaced by transfer policy & procedure, that the less than 30 minute requirement be reconsidered, and there would be provision for maternity birthing homes, based on existing precedents for this accommodation provided by AABC leadership. 

Midwifery member organizations will continue to work with the Director of DOH on revision of existing Freestanding Birthing Facilities after this demanding time of legislative activity subsides. We anticipate the next meeting to be sometime in April. Please contact the HAA Board if you would like to be involved. acnmhawaiiaffiliate@gmail.com

Tuesday March 4th @ 6:30 pm HST

Agenda items include membership drive, legislative committee updates, midwifery community building and healing, and new midwives & graduates!

Please contact the Board for any of the new business topics: fundraiser brainstorming and/or access to the updated Bylaws.

Three year term of current HAA Board completes December 2025. Election will be held before the end of the year. For nominations and/or volunteers contact: acnmhawaiiaffiliate@gmail.com

CALL TO ACTION! 

Please take the time to review HB 1328 & HB 1194. Two midwifery bills have been presented to the House of Representatives for consideration in the 2025 Legislative process. As Act 32/HRS457j which regulates non-nurse midwives is set to sunset (expire) June 30, 2025 - a replacement midwifery bill will need to move through the 2025 Legislative session to preserve licensure for the CM (and CPM).

Draft language vetted by ACNM Government Affairs for the CM credential to establish ACNM Standards & equivalence with the APRN/CNM in the provision of midwifery care has been periodically circulated throughout the CNM community of Hawai'i these past few months. This language is included in HB 1328. 

With feedback from HAA members and the CNM community in Hawai'i, the

HAA Board endorses HB 1328. 

You also can express your support by contacting HLT Chair Rep Takayama & CPC Chair Matayoshi and ask them to schedule the Midwifery Bill HB 1328 for a joint hearing.

Please feel free to reach out the acnmhawaiiaffiliate@gmail.com with any questions or comments.

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=HB&billnumber=1328&year=2025

To access & follow bills movement through committees, register on https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/ where you can then sign up for notifications for hearing dates and by registering, can provide testimony (both written & oral via Zoom or in person).

1. JURY DUTY - 1st HEARING WAS 01/27/25
SB 8 

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=8&year=2025

2. PRECEPTOR TAX CREDIT - 1ST TESTIMONY IS DUE BY 9:30 AM TUESDAY
HB303

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=HB&billnumber=303&year=2025

3. REQUIREMENT FOR DOULA CERTIFICATION & REGISTRATION WITH DCCA - 

1ST TESTIMONY IS DUE BY 9:30 AM TUESDAY
HB434
https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=HB&billnumber=434&year=2025

4. MIDWIFERY BILLS

HB 1328 (HAA BOARD ENDORSES)

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=HB&billnumber=1328&year=2025

HB 1194

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=HB&billnumber=1194&year=2025

5. BIRTH CENTER BILL

HB 927 

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=HB&billnumber=927&year=2025

6. EXEMPTION OF GET FOR NURSE ENTREPRENEUR 

HB955

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=HB&billnumber=955&year=2025

7. RELATING TO BIRTH CERTIFICATES - PROVIDERS 

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=HB&billnumber=1452&year=2025

8. RELATING TO CERTIFICATES OF BIRTH BASED ON GENITALIA

HB257 - SB812 

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=HB&billnumber=257&year=2025

January 17, 2025 a second meeting has been schedule with Dr. Fink, Director of DOH to discuss options for regs revision to the 1986 Freestanding Birthing Facilities Regulations. Invitees of Midwives Alliance of Hawai'ii (MAH) & Hawai'i Infant & Maternal Health Collective (MIMHC) have also been invited, including the HAA Board, Reni Soon, OB/GYN (ACOG rep), representatives of HAH, and board members of the Hawai'i Home Birth Collective and the Pacific Birth Collective. 

Results of the survey distributed by HAA will be discussed, regarding revision requests, the value of revisions being accomplished within the department to avoid a lengthy legislative process, and consensus on support for the State to establish these revisions based on AABC Standards with voluntary accreditation. To learn more, email HAA: acnmhawaiiaffiliate@gmail.com

The HAA Board has now been provided with a final draft of the bill which will be presented to the House by Rep Elle Cochran (Footer Number HB LRB 25-0268-1) and to the Senate by Sen Carole Fukunaga (Footer Number SB LRB 25-0268-1). 

This is a comprehensive bill which continues with modification Act 32, establishing ACNM Standards & Prescriptive Authority for the CM, NARM standards for the CPM & Limited Prescriptive Authority, and protects reproductive and cultural rights of families. 

If you would like a copy of these bills, please contact the HAA Board: acnmhawaiiaffiliate@gmail.com

A draft of a replacement bill has been circulated to all CNMs in Hawai'i. If you have not received a copy for comment, please contact HAA. 

In preparation for the 2025 Legislative Session, a group of midwives, traditional birth attendants, and community health advocates approached various stakeholders and legislators to inform the draft. Contributors included members of Hawaii Home birth Collective (HIHBC), Pacific Birth Collective (PBC), Ea Hānau, legal counsel from Centers of Reproductive Rights, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), & Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation (NHLC), and sought commentary prior to endorsement of Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA), and more recently commentary from the Hawai'i Affiliate of the American College of Nurse-Midwives (HAA Board), regarding the CM credential for approval by ACNM Government Affairs. The Counties of Hawai'i, Maui, and Kaua'i have also endorsed.

Resolutions regarding the need for this bill have been presented and approved in county hearings on Hawai'i and Maui and was endorsed by OHA on October 31, 2024 when it was voted and endorsed unanimously by all the board of trustees. This bill was drafted to address support of the reproductive rights of families, the rights of Kanaka Maoli people, and recognition of NARM standards for the CPM credential. Additionally, as a replacement bill it also protects continuation of the licensing program set to sunset June 30, 2025 and the bill corrects the limitations on scope of practice for the CM credential in Act 32 (2019) utilizing ACNM Standards and including a pathway to full prescriptive privileges for the CM. 

The trial for the lawsuit filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights and the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation against the State of Hawai’i continues to move forward and trial is set for early 2026. The late trial date is with hopes that the legislature will use this session to resolve these issues and that there will be no need for a trial.

The HAA Board welcomes your feedback for us to better understand the perspective of CNMs in Hawai'i: acnmhawaiimidwives@gmail.com

Tuesday December 17th @ 6 pm HST

Agenda items include membership drive, legislative committee updates, midwifery community building and healing, and new midwives & graduates!

Please contact the Board for any of the new business topics: fundraiser brainstorming and cross-credential midwives gathering on Maui, or access to the updated Bylaws.

Nominations are now open for Board Treasurer, Affiliate Legislative Contact, and Panel Community Stakeholders. Contact board via to cast your vote: acnmhawaiiaffiliate@gmail.com

Community Building Webinar for Hawai'i Midwives lead by Rosemary Bolza, CNM, member of the Helping Midwives to Thrive ACNM Task-Force.

Sunday, December 8th, 2024. 3-4 pm HST via Zoom

As a preliminary to the Healing Midwifery in-person offering January at the Maui Midwives Gathering, this virtual event is being co-hosted by HAA & HIHBC. All are welcome to join in the conversation, to discuss challenges we have faced in the midwifery community and to develop a pathway forward based on mutual respect and open dialogue. In this introductory conversation,  we hope that by identifying our strengths and common priorities, we can identify next steps toward establishing community guidelines in support of health in our practices and advocacy efforts.

Rosemary Bolza, CNM has worked at Fort Defiance on the Navajo Nation since December 1979. Her first position was funded by the University of Arizona and the Navajo Family Planning Corporation. She became a federal employee in 1986, first as a civil servant and then as a Commissioned Officer in the Public Health Service. Rosemary continued to work with IHS until recent years when she retired from clinical service. She was a part of the formation of the Four Corners ACNM Chapter that would become the IHS Affiliate of ACNM, where she served on the board for many years. Rosemary remains involved and committed to ACNM activities and has been instrumental in efforts to reinvigorate the IHS Affiliate, which has recently been renamed the Indigenous Peoples Affiliate, a professional organization whose purpose is to promote the health and well-being of Indigenous individuals and their communities and recognizes that land was stolen from Indigenous people with violence, attempted destruction and cultural genocide, family separation, reproductive and other injustices that continue to this day. Their members honor the original people of this land and seek to make reparations through their work. Rosemary also more recently has joined the Anti-Bullying ACNM Task Force renamed: Helping Midwives to Thrive.

We're pleased to share that not only will Trinisha be present for conversation at the Maui Midwives' Gathering on January 25th, she will also be available for a more informal opportunity to talk story on Hawai'i. As we are on the verge of the opportunity of establishing birth centers, this is a wonderful opportunity to come with questions, concerns, and dreams to discuss...and to learn more about successes and challenges in the home birth and birth center communities from other states across the country.

Please join us with a picnic and umbrella - Sunday, January 12th at Waikaloa (ʻAnaehoʻomalu Beach) start time 10 am. These huis generally last a few hours. And, as HAA does not have access to all emails of CPMs nor other birth practitioners on Big Island & beyond, please feel free to share this invite as you see fit. We simply ask for an RSVP, to give us a sense of how many folks to expect. 

Trinisha Williams CM, MPH is president-elect of the American Association of Birth Centers. She is a dedicated midwife and maternal health advocate with over two decades of experience. Trinisha began her healthcare career in 1996 with a B.S. in Psychology and Women’s Studies from Hobart and William Smith Colleges, continuing with a master’s in public health with a focus on Women’s Health from Hunter College, after which she held various leadership roles in health education at Bellevue Hospital and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. In 2022, She became a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator and completed her degree in Midwifery at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in 2003.

Trinisha has attended over a thousand births in hospitals, homes, and birth centers. In 2014, she founded Midwife in the City, a home birth midwifery practice, and served as Director of Midwifery at Brooklyn Midwifery Group/Brooklyn Birthing Center, where she also opened a second location, Jazz Birthing Center of Manhattan during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, she joined the Board of Directors of the American Association of Birth Centers (AABC). Trinisha also established Haven Midwifery Collective, a nonprofit aiming to create NYC's first midwifery-led birth center, where she serves as President and Founder. 

Throughout her career, she has remained deeply committed to addressing maternal health disparities, particularly for underserved communities, and ensuring birthing centers are viable options for all low-risk birthing people. Trinisha is a Brooklyn native, currently residing there, and enjoys life as a wife and aunt of 12.

The January 25, 2025 Hawai'i Inter-island Midwife Gathering, Maui Beach Hotel is happening! The event will be a critical step toward improving maternal healthcare networks throughout the Hawaiian Islands by fostering inter-professional relationships and providing continuing education credits (and food and fun!) for attendees at no cost. 

Visit the event website to learn more about the speakers, sponsors...and RSVP!

For virtual access, email acnmhawaiiaffiliate@gmail.com for the link! 

Various presentations will be available via live-stream between 8 am - 5 pm. Check the website for the agenda.

www.mauimidwiferygathering.com