Many Illinois families would like to have unrestricted access to Certified Professional Midwifery care. A Certified Professional Midwife is a skilled caregiver credentialed by the North American Registry of Midwives
( www.mana.org/narm ). In recent years the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation has been issuing orders to midwives to cease and desist the unlicensed practice of medicine/nursing/nurse midwifery. However, Illinois homebirth families and their midwives do not consider the practice of midwifery to be the practice of medicine, nursing, or nurse midwifery. We do not believe the current laws apply to direct entry midwives and are committed to supporting the full legal recognition of Certified Professional Midwives by licensure so that State agencies will not be allowed to continue to prosecute direct entry midwives. Please join our group if you would like to see Certified Professional Midwives practicing freely in the State of Illinois. Please note: Opinions expressed in posts to this list are not necessarily those of Illinois Families For Midwifery or its Board of Directors. Please visit our website at www.homebirthishealthy.org for further information.