PALM will focus on legislative issues that affect licensed (currently CNMs) and women and infant health in PA. The Board will coordinate activities needed to communicate with midwives, legislators, consumers and other professional organizations. PALM Regional representatives will facilitate the communication process with members to assure that all midwives in the state have a voice in the decision making process on legislation that affects them and their clients.
STATE FACTS click for more info

Become a member of PALM sign up online. If you are a licensed midwife (CNM) you can join as an ACTIVE (voting) member. If you are not a licensed midwife, become a member as a STUDENT, ASSOCIATE or FRIEND of PALM. Attend our quarterly meetings in State College and our annual fall meeting in Harrisburg.

The membership dues are divided to cover a legislative (75%) and organization (25%) budget. The legislative budget will be used to hire a state lobbyist and to support PALM’s Annual Meeting and Lobby Day.

Officers of PALM

President Vivian Lowenstein

Vice President Jill Earl

Secretary Pat Manzon

Treasurer Beth Coleman

Board of Directors and Regional Representatives

North East
Beth Coleman baccnm@aol.com
Faith Reimers erifai@npacc.net

North West
Barb Kurkas Lee barbcnm@velocity.net
Barb Peterson corrymidwife@hotmail.com

South West
Nicole Rawson nickycnm@verizon.net
Marge Montgomery mont@shol.com

Central
Ann Thompson amtcnm@adelphia.net
Mary Weisbrod marycnm@adelphia.net

South Central
Jill Earl Jille_99@yahoo.com

South East
Vivian Lowenstein vivian.cnm@verizon.net
Pat Manzon pjonesmanzon@aol.com

STATE FACTS: CERTIFIED NURSE MIDWIVES IN PENNSYLVANIA

Nurse midwifery in Pennsylvania
· Certified Nurse-Midwives (CNMs) have been legally recognized in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania since 1929. The first nurse midwifery practice was established in 1964 at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Philadelphia.
· CNM’s in Pennsylvania practice in a variety of settings including hospitals, private practices, clinics, freestanding birth centers and at home births.

Statistics
· There are over 200 certified nurse-midwives in Pennsylvania attending 9.4% of all vaginal births in the state (2004 Vital Statistics).
· CNM’s delivered 12.5% of all rural county babies. CNM’s attend 30% or more of the births in 12 rural counties (Clinton, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Lancaster, Lycoming, Mifflin, Snyder, Somerset, Union, Warren and Wayne).
· Lancaster County, which only had 4.8% of total live births in Pennsylvania, accounted for 32.4% of all live births in the state delivered outside of a hospital and 33% in a hospital.
· In Fulton County there is one CNM delivering 50% of the babies in the county.
· In many inner city hospitals CNM’s deliver 25-30% of the babies (Pennsylvania Hospital, Hahneman Hospital).
· These statistics do not include the work of nurse-midwives attending births that were transferred for physician care
(C-section, forceps, vacuum) or the annual GYN care provided as routine and preventative (breast and GYN cancer screening) health visits for a high percentage of women. C-section and low birth rates are lower for women that have been cared for by nurse-midwives.

Education
· Nurse-midwives are registered nurses with advanced education in Midwifery. Most CNM’s have a master’s degree (80%) and approximately 4% have doctorates.
· There are 2 Nurse-Midwifery educational programs in Pennsylvania. The University of Pennsylvania Graduate Program in Nurse Midwifery is a 16 month Masters Degree program. The Institute of Midwifery at the Philadelphia University is a distance learning program that confers a certificate in midwifery at the completion of the program and has Masters Degree completion option.

Practice and Reimbursement Issues
· Nurse-midwifery practice in Pennsylvania is regulated by the Board of Medicine.
· Nurse-midwives are mandatory MCare fund participants and have received the Mcare abatement from 2003 to 2007.
· CNM’s in Pennsylvania receive mandated third party and Medicaid reimbursement.
· Pennsylvania is the only state in the U.S. where CNM’s do not have prescriptive authority. CNM’s in Pennsylvania do not have admitting privileges in hospitals.

“Become a member of PALM!" Sign up online!