During the past three years, eight Illinois midwives/doulas
have received cease and desist orders from the Illinois
Department of Professional Regulation. Six of them were
ordered to cease and desist the unlicensed practice of
medicine, one was ordered to cease and desist the unlicensed
practice of nursing and midwifery, and one (myself) was
ordered to cease and desist the unlicensed practice of
medicine, and I am also about to receive another order to
cease and desist the unlicensed practice of
nursing/midwifery. In between those two events, I also
received a five part complaint against my nursing license
seeking its suspension or revocation because I also happen
to be a direct-entry midwife. Three weeks ago I was
terminated from my labor & delivery nursing job for
"jeopardizing my nursing license and the reputation of (the
hospital) by acting illegally outside the scope of the
Illinois nursing license."
I have had a preliminary hearing before IDPR; my attorney
was there and I was not. Its primary purpose seemed to be to
set the schedule for the next round of complaints, responses
and hearings. But we did also get the lDPR Reply to our
Response to Rule to Show Cause; what is especially
significant about that is the State of Illinois response
regarding non-CNMs:
"...certification by the North American Registry of Midwives
as a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) does not meet the
CNM requirements. The appropriate certifying body for
midwives will be the American College of Nurse Midwifery."
Apparently for the State of Illinois, the only real midwife
is a CNM. I am interested in hearing from other states where
CNMs and direct-entry midwives co-exist, and any legislation
defining each group. It is likely to be a long haul here in
Illinois, but various orders and such to the contrary, I
have no plans to quit what I am doing. I am an Illinois
midwife, I will continue to be an Illinois midwife, or as
the latest IDPR paperwork put it, "Respondent has in the
past and will continue in the future to thwart the law and
the legislative purpose of the Nursing and Advanced Practice
Nursing Act."
We come to a point where we have to decide what is the right
thing to do, and do it. We don't weasel out of it, or work
out of an out-of-state P.O. box while saying "nooooo....I am
not practicing in Illinois anymore, nosirree, not me." If we
believe what we do is right and good and true, then we have
a moral obligation to follow through with that--for
ourselves, our clients, and our children.
-Valerie Vickerman Morris, Law-Thwarter for over 17 years
Elgin, IL
Reprinted from Midwifery Today E-News (Vol 2 Issue 31 August 2, 2000)
To subscribe to the E-News write: enews@midwiferytoday.com
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