We believe access to Midwifery care improves health outcomes for all Birthing people and their children. Indigenous, Black and Women of Color have provided and maintained Traditional Midwifery as a practice for centuries. We support continuation of the Birth Attendant exemption in HRS 457-J.

Exemptions to HRS 457-J allows options for the profession of Midwifery to grow in equitable ways and allowing accessibility, diversity, cultural and religious freedom for Hawai’i.

After July 2023 the current exemption is set to expire, criminalizing Midwifery practitioners who are filling a vital need in our communities.  Many Birth Attendants in Hawai’i are cultural practitioners who serve our most rural and under-resourced communities.

The Birth Attendant exemption to HRS 457-J allows for the sovereignty of Midwifery to continue. This exemption supports a pregnant persons right to autonomy over their bodies and a pathway for local people to learn traditional practices of health.

Keeping the birth attendant exception to HRS 457-J allows for the legal cross cultural  collaboration with Midwives globally. We unite to bring Maternal Health Care out of the current public health crisis we are in.

Midwifery in all forms is essential to protect and we must stop the criminalization of Midwives in Hawaiʻi. We stand for a better future and support Midwifery in Hawaiʻi.