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1
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The Constitution of the State of Illinois provides
3for "the health, safety and welfare of the people" and the
4"opportunity for the fullest development of the individual";
5and
 
6    WHEREAS, It has been demonstrated that due to deeply held
7religious, philosophical, or personal reasons, some families
8will always choose to give birth to their children at home; and
 
9    WHEREAS, There were 61,041 out-of-hospital births in the
10United States in 2015 with a 52% increase in out-of-hospital
11births and a 45% increase in home births since 2007; and
 
12    WHEREAS, 65% of U.S. home births in 2015 were attended by
13non-nurse midwives; and
 
14    WHEREAS, In Illinois, home births increased by 50% between
152007 and 2014; and
 
16    WHEREAS, All well-designed studies show that for low-risk
17women, planned home birth, attended by a trained maternity care
18provider, is as safe as hospital birth; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Over 50 trained Illinois home birth providers,

 

 

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1including the last remaining Illinois home birth physician,
2have ceased providing home birth services since 1996; and
 
3    WHEREAS, There now remain fewer than 10 legally recognized
4home birth practices (nurse-midwives) in Illinois, and these
5are located in only six of 102 Illinois counties (Lake, Cook,
6DuPage, Will, Peoria, and McLean); and
 
7    WHEREAS, Due to the scarcity of legal home birth providers,
8approximately 50% of the babies born at home in Illinois are
9born either with no skilled assistance at all (unassisted home
10birth), or they are born into the hands of underground
11community midwives; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Some of these underground midwives are nationally
13certified and credentialed, while others are not; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Underground community midwives have no legal
15access to life saving oxygen and anti-hemorrhage medications;
16and
 
17    WHEREAS, Underground community midwives have no means of
18legally completing newborn congenital heart disease
19screenings, hearing screenings and metabolic screening tests,
20and no means of legally filing accurate birth certificate
21information; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, An underground system of care may cause parents
2and midwives to delay seeking hospital care in the event of an
3emergency; parents are afraid of Child Protective Services
4involvement; midwives are afraid of arrest; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Underground healthcare is never safe; and
 
6    WHEREAS, The above-mentioned increase in Illinois home
7births, the shortage of licensed home birth providers, and the
8dangers associated with families resorting to underground
9healthcare, in effect, add up to a "Home Birth Maternity Care
10Crisis" in Illinois; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Illinois is surrounded on three sides by states
12(Wisconsin, Indiana, Missouri) that set educational standards
13for their community midwives, license and regulate them, allow
14them to have access to life-saving oxygen and medications,
15allow them to perform life-saving newborn screenings, and allow
16them to openly transport to a hospital in an emergency; and
 
17    WHEREAS, 33 of the 50 United States also protect their
18citizens in this way through licensure and regulation of
19community midwives; and
 
20    WHEREAS, Licensure in these states is based upon the

 

 

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1requirement that the community midwife earn a Certified
2Professional Midwife (CPM) credential - the only healthcare
3credential requiring documented out-of-hospital training and
4experience; and
 
5    WHEREAS, States that license Certified Professional
6Midwives tend to have lower perinatal mortality rates; and
 
7    WHEREAS, More and more states are taking advantage of the
8cost-savings associated with home birth midwifery care to
9reduce state Medicaid expenditures; and
 
10    WHEREAS, The State of Illinois used to license community
11midwives under the Medical Practice Act from 1877 to 1963 and
12ceased renewing licenses in 1972; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Home birth mothers and families have been seeking
14a legislative solution to the Home Birth Maternity Care Crisis
15for nearly 40 years (since 1979); and
 
16    WHEREAS, All Illinois mothers and their newborns deserve
17access to safe maternity care regardless of place of birth;
18therefore, be it
 
19    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL
20ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 

 

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1CONCURRING HEREIN, that we find it unacceptable that home birth
2mothers and babies in Illinois are without adequate maternity
3care providers; and be it further
 
4    RESOLVED, That it is in the State's best interest to assure
5its citizens access to all safe maternity care options; and be
6it further
 
7    RESOLVED, That Illinois families, in order to best meet
8personal needs and desires, are entitled freedom to choose
9among all safe, nationally-recognized maternity care options,
10including home birth; and be it further
 
11    RESOLVED, That the Home Birth Maternity Care Crisis Study
12Committee is hereby created; and be it further
 
13    RESOLVED, That the Home Birth Maternity Care Crisis Study
14Committee be bipartisan; and be it further
 
15    RESOLVED, That the Home Birth Maternity Care Crisis Study
16Committee include 15 members as follows:
17        (1) One appointed by the Secretary of the Department of
18    Financial and Professional Regulation;
19        (2) One appointed by the President of the Senate;
20        (3) One appointed by the Minority Leader of the Senate;
21        (4) One appointed by the Speaker of the House of

 

 

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1    Representatives;
2        (5) One appointed by the Minority Leader of the House
3    of Representatives;
4        (6) A representative of a statewide association
5    representing professional midwives, appointed by the
6    President of the Senate;
7        (7) A representative of a national association
8    representing professional midwives, appointed by the
9    President of the Senate;
10        (8) A representative of a statewide association
11    representing advanced practice nursing, appointed by the
12    President of the Senate;
13        (9) A representative of a statewide association
14    representing nurse-midwives, appointed by the Minority
15    Leader of the Senate;
16        (10) A representative of a statewide association
17    representing hospitals, appointed by the Minority Leader
18    of the Senate;
19        (11) A representative of a statewide association
20    representing lawyers, appointed by the Speaker of the House
21    of Representatives;
22        (12) A representative of a statewide association
23    representing pediatrics, appointed by the Speaker of the
24    House of Representatives;
25        (13) A representative of a statewide association
26    representing obstetricians and gynecologists, appointed by

 

 

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1    the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives;
2        (14) A representative of a statewide association
3    representing doctors, appointed by the Minority Leader of
4    the House of Representatives; and
5        (15) A representative of a statewide association
6    representing a consumer organization, appointed by the
7    Minority Leader of the House of Representatives; and be it
8    further
 
9    RESOLVED That the Home Birth Maternity Care Crisis Study
10Committee shall meet monthly until such time that it is
11prepared to make a recommendation to the General Assembly, but
12that time shall be no later than October 8, 2019; and be it
13further
 
14    RESOLVED, That the Office of the Secretary of the
15Department of Financial and Professional Regulation shall
16provide the Task Force with administrative and other support;
17and be it further
 
18    RESOLVED, That the Home Birth Maternity Care Crisis Study
19Committee will hear testimony from all interested parties; and
20be it further
 
21    RESOLVED, That the Home Birth Maternity Care Crisis Study
22Committee will thoroughly consider the role that Certified

 

 

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1Professional Midwives may have in helping to resolve the Home
2Birth Maternity Care Crisis; and be it further
 
3    RESOLVED, That the Home Birth Maternity Care Crisis Study
4Committee will recommend to the General Assembly a
5consumer-focused, evidence-based solution to the Illinois Home
6Birth Maternity Care Crisis that protects families from the
7dangers of having inadequate numbers of licensed home birth
8providers to care for them during the prenatal, intrapartum,
9and postpartum portions of their pregnancies, especially in the
10underserved communities of Illinois.