Mission:
To support Washington State midwives and the profession of midwifery by promoting reproductive justice, well-being, and access to care through professional development, advocacy, and community-based action.

Vision and Values:

• Midwifery is sustainable.
  • Midwives are compensated appropriately.
  • Midwives are fully integrated into the broader U.S. healthcare system.
  • Midwives educate student-midwives with fairness and respect, and recognize them as future colleagues.

 

• Midwifery is representative and vibrant. 
  • Midwives celebrate diversity. 
  • Midwives reflect the communities they serve and are uniquely able to meet their needs.
  • Midwives are committed to ending healthcare disparities.
  • Midwives are committed to increasing representation at all levels of midwifery practice and leadership. 
  • Midwives value diverse pathways to the profession.

 

• Midwifery is collaborative.
  • Midwives collaborate with families, other midwives, physicians and other health providers to optimize outcomes and enrich professional connections.
  • Midwives value evidence-informed practice and continuity of care and understand that effective inter-professional collaboration is central to this.
    

 

• Midwifery is advocacy.
  • Midwives acknowledge that the pursuit of social justice is integral to the achievement of optimal health outcomes for all people.
    
  • Midwives recognize and support an individual’s right to bodily autonomy, and to make choices for their own health and well-being, and that of their family.
    
  • Midwives advocate for the growth and development of the profession in the political and public spheres.

 

• Midwifery is quality.
  • Midwives hold one another accountable for the safety of their clients through rigorous review that supports professional growth.
  • Midwives strive to stay up-to-date with best practices through research and consistent continuing education.
  • Midwives participate actively in the collection of clinical data to guide and promote the profession of midwifery.
  • Midwives are adaptable to social issues and public health challenges and are able to respond nimbly to evolving situations.

 

• Midwifery is equitable.
  • Midwives are aware of and acknowledge the historic and ongoing oppressive underpinnings of the profession, including but not limited to racism, ableism, heteronormativity, and gender discrimination.
    
  • Midwives are committed to the ongoing anti-racism work of dismantling systems of oppression that have resulted in inequitable care and harm to people and communities that have been marginalized.
    
  • Midwives commit to dismantling practices that have resulted in historic harm to students, particularly BIPOC students and differently-abled students, so that our midwifery community reflects the diverse spectrum of the people we serve.  
    
  • Midwives recognize that there are many ways to create a family. All family types are valued and have equal access to quality care. Midwives commit to removing barriers that arise out of outdated gender norms that contribute to gender inequality and the marginalization of those who are not cisgender women.
    
  • Washington midwives serve geographically diverse communities and are entitled to support, representation, and inclusion in organizational leadership and decision making.
  • MAWS will continue to remove barriers to Board membership and leadership that arise out of racist or other discriminatory policy.
    
    

Approved November 6, 2020

Banner photo by Linenko Photography, used with permission.