Add Art 140-A §§6960 - 6965, amd §§6953 & 6954, Art 140 Art Head, Ed L; amd §571, Pub Health L
Establishes the professional practice of community midwifery; defines as the management in the home, birth center, or community setting, of normal pregnancies, child birth, and postpartum care, including newborn evaluation, resuscitation and referral for infants; sets requirements for license and practice.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4819--A
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 23, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN, SIMON, GONZALEZ-ROJAS, EPSTEIN, FORREST,
WOERNER, THIELE, MAMDANI, DICKENS, MANKTELOW, STIRPE, L. ROSENTHAL,
McMAHON, CRUZ, KELLES, LUPARDO, COOK, BICHOTTE HERMELYN, GUNTHER,
CARROLL, JEAN-PIERRE, JACKSON, ZINERMAN, MITAYNES, LUNSFORD, CLARK,
FAHY, REYES, MEEKS, HEVESI, SEAWRIGHT -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Higher Education -- committee discharged, bill amended,
ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the education law and the public health law, in relation
to the practice of certified professional midwifery
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new article 140-A
2 to read as follows:
3 ARTICLE 140-A
4 CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL MIDWIFERY
5 Section 6960. Introduction.
6 6961. Definition of practice of certified professional midwif-
7 ery.
8 6962. Practice of certified professional midwifery.
9 6963. Use of title "certified professional midwife".
10 6964. Requirements for a professional license.
11 6965. Exempt persons.
12 § 6960. Introduction. This article applies to the profession of certi-
13 fied professional midwifery. The general provisions for all professions
14 contained in article one hundred thirty of this title apply to this
15 article.
16 § 6961. Definition of practice of certified professional midwifery. 1.
17 The practice of the profession of certified professional midwifery is
18 defined as the management in the home, birth center, or community
19 setting, of normal pregnancies, child birth, and postpartum care, and
20 shall include newborn evaluation, resuscitation and referral for
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00632-02-3
A. 4819--A 2
1 infants. A certified professional midwife may also provide precon-
2 ception care as defined by the commissioner. A certified professional
3 midwife shall have collaborative relationships with (a) a physician who
4 is board certified as an obstetrician-gynecologist by a national certi-
5 fying body or (b) a physician who practices obstetrics and has obstetric
6 privileges at a general hospital licensed under article twenty-eight of
7 the public health law or (c) a hospital, licensed under article twenty-
8 eight of the public health law, that provides obstetrics through a
9 physician having obstetrical privileges at such institution, that
10 provide for consultation, collaborative management and referral to
11 address the health status and risks of the certified professional
12 midwife's patients and that include plans for emergency medical gyneco-
13 logical and obstetrical coverage. A certified professional midwife shall
14 maintain documentation of the collaborative relationships and shall make
15 information about the collaborative relationships available to the
16 certified professional midwife's patients. Failure to comply with the
17 requirements found in this subdivision shall be subject to professional
18 misconduct provisions as set forth in article one hundred thirty of this
19 title.
20 2. A certified professional midwife shall have the authority, as
21 necessary, and limited to the practice of certified professional midwif-
22 ery, to prescribe and administer drugs, immunizing agents, diagnostic
23 tests and devices, and to order laboratory tests, as established and
24 limited by the board of midwifery in accordance with the commissioner's
25 regulations. A certified professional midwife shall obtain a certificate
26 from the department upon successfully completing a program including a
27 pharmacology component, or its equivalent, as established by the commis-
28 sioner's regulations prior to prescribing under this section.
29 3. Any reference to certified professional midwifery, or certified
30 professional midwife, under the provisions of this article, this chapter
31 or any other law, shall refer to and include the profession of certified
32 professional midwifery and a certified professional midwife, unless the
33 context clearly requires otherwise.
34 § 6962. Practice of certified professional midwifery. Only a person
35 licensed or exempt under this article or authorized by any other section
36 of law shall practice certified professional midwifery.
37 § 6963. Use of title "certified professional midwife". Only a person
38 licensed or exempt under this article shall use the title "certified
39 professional midwife" in connection with the practice of certified
40 professional midwifery in the state, provided, however, a person
41 licensed under article one hundred forty of this title and who has
42 obtained the credentials pursuant to subdivision two of section sixty-
43 nine hundred sixty-four of this article may also use the title "certi-
44 fied professional midwife".
45 § 6964. Requirements for a professional license. To qualify for a
46 license as a certified professional midwife, an applicant shall fulfill
47 the following requirements:
48 1. Application: file an application with the department.
49 2. Education: achieve and maintain the credential of certified profes-
50 sional midwife from a national certifying body specializing in the
51 certification of certified professional midwives and approved by the
52 commissioner and satisfactorily:
53 (a) complete an accredited educational program for the practice of
54 certified professional midwifery in accordance with the commissioner's
55 regulations; or
A. 4819--A 3
1 (b) if an applicant receives a certified professional midwifery
2 certification within twenty-four months of the effective date of this
3 article through another educational pathway, or if certification
4 includes current licensing from another state or country not requiring
5 accredited education, complete the Midwifery Bridge Certificate in
6 accordance with the commissioner's regulations.
7 3. Examination: pass an examination satisfactory to the department and
8 in accordance with the commissioner's regulations.
9 4. Age: be at least twenty-one years of age.
10 5. Character: be of good moral character as determined by the depart-
11 ment.
12 6. Fee: pay a fee of one hundred fifteen dollars for an initial
13 license and a fee of one hundred dollars for each triennial registration
14 period.
15 § 6965. Exempt persons. Nothing in this article shall (a) affect,
16 prevent, expand, or limit any duty or responsibility of a physician,
17 midwife, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner, acting within the
18 professional's scope of practice, from practicing certified professional
19 midwifery; or (b) affect or prevent a medical student, midwifery
20 student, certified professional midwifery student, physician assistant
21 student, or nurse practitioner student from engaging in clinical prac-
22 tice in an educational program registered by the department, under the
23 supervision of a physician or board certified obstetrician/gynecologist
24 or midwife, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner, acting within
25 the professional's scope of practice.
26 § 2. Section 6953 of the education law, as added by chapter 327 of the
27 laws of 1992, is amended to read as follows:
28 § 6953. Use of title "midwife". Only a person licensed or exempt under
29 this article shall use the title "midwife". Only a person licensed
30 under both this article and article one hundred thirty-nine of this
31 [chapter] title may use the title "nurse-midwife". Only a person
32 authorized to use the title "certified professional midwife" under arti-
33 cle one hundred forty-A of this chapter may use the title "certified
34 professional midwife".
35 § 3. Section 6954 of the education law, as added by chapter 327 of the
36 laws of 1992, paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 as amended by chapter 328
37 of the laws of 1992, is amended to read as follows:
38 § 6954. State board of midwifery. 1. The state board of midwifery
39 shall be appointed by the board of regents on recommendation of the
40 commissioner for the purpose of assisting the board of regents on
41 matters of professional licensing and professional conduct in accordance
42 with section sixty-five hundred eight of this title. The board shall be
43 composed of [thirteen] eleven individuals. Initial appointments to the
44 board shall be such that the terms shall be staggered. However, no
45 members shall serve more than two terms. However, a vacant seat on the
46 board designated for an individual licensed to practice under article
47 one hundred forty-A of this title shall not be counted for purposes of a
48 quorum until it has been initially filled.
49 2. (a) [(1) Seven] Five members of the board shall be persons licensed
50 [or exempt] under this [section] article.
51 [(2)] (b) One member of the board shall be an educator of midwifery.
52 [(b)] (c) Two members of the board shall be persons licensed under
53 article one hundred forty-A of this title.
54 [Two members] (d) One member of the board shall be [individuals who
55 are] a licensed [physicians who are also] physician certified as
56 obstetrician/gynecologists by a national certifying body who demon-
A. 4819--A 4
1 strates collaboration with persons licensed under articles one hundred
2 forty and one hundred forty-A of this title.
3 [(c)] (e) One member of the board shall be an individual licensed as a
4 physician who practices family medicine including obstetrics.
5 [(d) One member of the board shall be an individual licensed as a
6 physician who practices pediatrics.
7 (e)] (f) One member of the board shall be an individual not possessing
8 either licensure or training in medicine, midwifery, pharmacology or
9 nursing and shall represent the public at large.
10 3. For purposes of this article, "board" means the state board of
11 midwifery created under this section unless the context clearly indi-
12 cates otherwise.
13 § 4. The article heading of article 140 of the education law, as added
14 by chapter 327 of the laws of 1992, is amended to read as follows:
15 [PROFESSIONAL] MIDWIFERY [PRACTICE ACT]
16 § 5. Subdivision 6 of section 571 of the public health law, as amended
17 by chapter 444 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows:
18 6. "Qualified health care professional" means a physician, dentist,
19 podiatrist, optometrist performing a clinical laboratory test that does
20 not use an invasive modality as defined in section seventy-one hundred
21 one of the education law, physician assistant, specialist assistant,
22 nurse practitioner, [or] midwife, or certified professional midwife, who
23 is licensed and registered with the state education department.
24 § 6. Subdivision 6 of section 571 of the public health law, as amended
25 by section 1 of part C of chapter 57 of the laws of 2022, is amended to
26 read as follows:
27 6. "Qualified health care professional" means a physician, dentist,
28 podiatrist, optometrist performing a clinical laboratory test that does
29 not use an invasive modality as defined in section seventy-one hundred
30 one of the education law, pharmacist administering COVID-19 and influen-
31 za tests pursuant to subdivision seven of section sixty-eight hundred
32 one of the education law, physician assistant, specialist assistant,
33 nurse practitioner, [or] midwife, or certified professional midwife, who
34 is licensed and registered with the state education department.
35 § 7. This act shall take effect eighteen months after it shall have
36 become a law, provided however that the amendments to subdivision 6 of
37 section 571 of the public health law made by section six of this act
38 shall be subject to the expiration and reversion of such subdivision
39 pursuant to section 8 of part C of chapter 57 of the laws of 2022, as
40 amended, when upon such date the provisions of section five of this act
41 shall take effect. Effective immediately, the commissioner of education
42 shall make regulations and take other actions reasonably necessary to
43 implement this act on the effective date of this act.
