WARM Committee Corner
WARM currently has the following committees:
Membership/PR (Chair: Kaitlyn Carter)
Every month, we have new members to welcome! We love sending out your membership packets and updating member profiles. Our committee is also interested in attracting new members and growing WARM. We are looking to sponsor tables at local baby fairs and events in your community so please let us know what you have coming up!
Events (Chair: Carol Gautschi)
The Events Committee puts on educational offerings that support midwives. During COVID we moved our offerings to a virtual platform. In 2022 we hope to have live event offerings. All events will be accessible online for busy midwives who can’t commit or travel or those around our country and throughout the world. We love including midwives from various communities and cultures. Please visit our Events page which will have updated information on offerings.
Midwifery Advocacy (Chair: Crystal Ogle)
Formerly our Legislative committee, this committee represents WARM at the state level to preserve all types of midwifery in Washington. Committee members attend quarterly MAC meetings, so WARM members stay in the know at a state level and member concerns or opinions can be made. In March of 2021, WARM petitioned the facilities department at the Department of Health to open the Birth Center regulations. We asked for updating to remove old or antiqued rules and requirements that have we identified as unnecessary barriers to opening a Birth Center and asked the department to include variations of normal pregnancies that Community Birth Midwives attend, including Vaginal Birth after Cesarean (VBAC), multiple pregnancies, and breech birth at licensed birth center facilities. Our petition was approved and soon the rules workshop (where decisions are made), will begin. You can view our petition here. Additionally, The Midwifery Advocacy Committee recently completed work on our presentation, Through the Eyes of a Midwife: The Complaint and Disciplinary Process. This presentation has been a long time in the making and we are happy to have shared it with the Department of Health’s Midwifery Program (regulates Licensed Midwives), the Nursing Commission (regulates Certified Nurse Midwives), and the Health Care Authority (regulates Medicaid reimbursement for providers). Please take a moment to watch this important presentation using the link here. In addition to other work, WARM recently testified on SB 5765, the hyperlink is to the legislative home page of the bill.
Research (Chair: Shannon Mitchell)
Our Research committee is currently working on a practice consideration document as well as breech and multiple pregnancy practice guidelines. You can find all our midwifery guidelines and resources, including our VBAC practice guideline under Resources > Providers. In 2019, WARM hired Illumina Consulting, a private data firm to provide us with a Data Analysis for the Board and our members regarding complaints against midwives compared to other providers in an effort to determine how this affects midwifery practice in Washington. This report is available on our Providers Resource page. The report, and member feedback, was the impetus for creating a presentation for the Department of Health.
Review (Chair: Marie Wakefield)
The committee has been working hard to revamp and formalize our process and policies. Our Peer Review Process and Policies have been updated and completed and the committee is currently working on updating our Incident Review Process and Policies. This committee is responsible for ensuring we are adhering to our state requirements and meeting the needs of our members. This is the only committee that requires an application process to become a member. Reach out to Marie at warmpeerreview@gmail.com for more information on becoming involved.
Our committees are striving to be active and to bring you what you need to serve as midwives and a community! For more information on joining a committee, contact warmmidwife@gmail.com!