BOSTON — Local leaders were at the Statehouse Thursday with Lynn-based midwife Katherine Rushfirth in support of Midwife Advocacy Day.
“Midwifery access is an issue all over Massachusetts, but particularly for us in the North Shore,” Rushfirth, a certified nurse midwife and policy director at Neighborhood Birth Center, said.
Rushfirth, who is married to Lynn Mayor Jared Nicholson, said the issue is a particularly important one for the region because of the closure of Beverly’s North Shore Birth Center by Beth Israel in December, which Rushfirth said was due to a lack of investment.
“It means that anyone in the North Shore, and basically all of eastern Massachusetts, does not have access to birth-center care,” Rushfirth said.
Around 100 community members, midwives, health-care professionals, and state leaders gathered on the steps of the Statehouse in support of expanded access to the care midwives provide, which includes services ranging from family planning to helping with birth and postpartum care.
Rushfirth then led a panel and presentation in support of multiple state Senate and House bills that would improve access to midwives’ services.
These bills include An Act Updating the Regulations Governing Licensed Birth Centers in Massachusetts. The bill is co-sponsored by state Sen. Brendan Crighton, who spoke at the event and said that the issue is something that affects everyone in the Commonwealth.
“It’s about your freedom, and your choice as a family and as a mother to decide how you want to approach it,” Crighton said. “It’s also about the outcomes… We have so much information to show how much better the health outcomes are when you have this type of choice.”
Crighton, who credited Rushfirth with bringing the issue to his attention, noted that there are also questions of health equity involved.
“Our system’s health-care costs continue to rise,” Crighton said. “This is a cost-effective method for bringing safer outcomes for our families.”
Rushfirth also said that there are huge equity issues at play.
“Everything we know about health disparities is true about maternal morbidity and mortality and infant mortality,” she said. “Places like Lynn deserve more access and more equitable access to midwives.”
State Rep. Jenny Armini was also present at the event with one of her constituents from Swampscott, Emilee Regan, a former patient at the North Shore Birth Center.
Regan said that the large show of support for midwifery care was encouraging and showed an interest in increased access to it in Massachusetts. She added that some mothers seeking midwifery care have had to search for it in other states.
“We’re sending people across state lines to receive birth-center care,” Regan said “There’s an urgent need. Patients, families, and mothers want this type of care, but it’s not accessible.”
According to Rushfirth, Massachusetts is behind the times in terms of what midwives can and should be providing mothers and families.
“Midwives are the solution to so much of what we see in the maternal health crisis,” Rushfirth said. “We can fill so many of the gaps that we know are happening in the state.”
