May 2025 Newsletter

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Toward Common Ground: The Future of Integrative Midwifery in Washington State
Your MAWS Board has been working with dedication to bring our annual MAWS Conference to life this fall. Our Conference Committee has embraced a powerful theme: Common Ground, an invitation to honor, protect, and reimagine our diverse pathways into midwifery. In our daily work, we are reminded that the future of reproductive health lies not in uniformity, or worse, concession, but in unity.

Common Ground is not flat terrain. It is a rich and varied landscape, where Certified Professional Midwives, Certified Nurse Midwives, Licensed Midwives, OBGYNs, and Traditional and Indigenous Midwives stand in mutual recognition. Each brings a lineage, a language, and a way of knowing. When we protect every path into midwifery, we preserve the ecology of care, a golden biome of knowledge that has survived. 

Integrative midwifery in Washington State offers more than collaboration. It invites care that is both human and clinical, intuitive and evidence-informed. It is the practice of deep listening, between systems, providers, and, most importantly, the people we serve.
This fall, we will gather not to erase differences, but to illuminate them with integrity. We will find common ground not despite our differences, but through the strength they bring.

We’re thrilled to partner with Breech Without Borders, who will offer hands-on training alongside the conference. Spots will be limited. CEUs and exciting speakers are in development. If you'd like to present, please fill out this form. 

Let us prepare not just for a conference, but for a future we co-create, where the model of care is led by those who live it.
May we lead. Not be led.
​
Your Executive Director, 
Brooke Prudhomme CPM, LM

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Register Here

We have great news even during this difficult budget year where many quality asks were denied. Thanks to the hard work of you, our dedicated members, and our uncompromising lobbyist, Amber Ulvenes, we are happy to report that the legislature:

• Passed a budget that preserved our licensing fee cap saving every WA midwife thousands of dollars
• Passed our bill, HB 1824, eliminating duplicate Birth Center inspections for AABC accredited Birth centers
• Preserved 12 month postpartum Medicaid coverage

To view links to videos of the public hearing on our bill and to read more about our legislative agenda and talking points for this year, visit: www.washingtonmidwives.org/lobbydayinfo

And thanks again for reaching out to your elected officials to let them know how they can support midwifery!

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Assessment

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