Legislation Updates

In April 2025, a new legislative bill (HB224) was presented in support of midwifery and homebirth. This bill has been developed by midwives in an effort to help shape legislation that will be a benefit to Ohio families.

HB224 was assigned to the Health committee and sponsor hearing was presented to the committee in May. Currently OFOM is encouraging all supporters of homebirth and traditional midwifery to contact members of the Health committee to encourage them to support HB224 as introduced.

What We Can Do

Now is a critical time for contacting each member of the Health committee to even just briefly mention HB224. While those who oppose homebirth may not wish to move the bill forward, influence from other legislators can encourage the legislative process to continue. Feel free to call and email each representative on the Health committee and tell them why homebirth is so important to you.

Suggestions:

• Share your personal homebirth story

• Explain briefly why homebirth and midwifery are important to you

• Send a picture(s) drawn by your child(ren) of your family, the birth of a sibling, their idea of their own birth, a visit with the midwife, etc.

• Encourage other family members who love homebirth, such as husbands, grandparents, etc., to send their own email.

• Please note: you may want to include the words “as introduced” in your letter regarding your support of HB224. Because House members of the committee have authority to change, add, and delete any of the language of a bill, we as home birth consumers are specifically in support of HB224 as introduced. If changes  made to the bill change the benefits to home birth and traditional midwifery, this could affect our support of HB224, thus the need to be clear in our communication that we support HB224 as introduced.

Reminders:

• Please be respectful and courteous in your communication. The words you say and how you say it matter.

• Your voice is important. No matter how brief your message, it is a reminder to those you contact that this issue is important to the citizens of Ohio. Silence communicates that this issue is not important to Ohioans.

Why Support HB224

You may be wondering why supporting HB224 is so important when most of us have already enjoyed the freedom of giving birth at home. The simplest answer is that if we want to continue to have the freedom to give birth where and with whom we desire, we the people of Ohio must work to create a bill that allows for both licensing midwives who so desire and protecting the rights of traditional midwives to continue without having to be licensed, something that previously introduced bills did not allow. Currently 38 states in the U.S. have licensure for CPMs (Certified Professional Midwives). Ohio could outlaw homebirth if we citizens do not work to establish this bill and protect traditional midwifery. HB224 has been written to give CPMs and other types of midwives the ability to be licensed under a Midwifery Council and not under the Board of Nursing, which is very important for preserving the Midwifery Model of Care in Ohio.

Currently, Ohio does not regulate or license any midwives other than CNMs(certified nurse midwives). Homebirth is legal in Ohio only because there is nothing in the law that prohibits it. Midwives are allowed to practice because there is nothing in the law that says otherwise. If passed as introduced, HB224 would make it legal for midwives to practice by licensing some types of midwives and ensuring traditional midwives may continue to practice without licensure. It would put into Ohio law that parents are allowed to give birth where and with whom they desire, thus legitimizing homebirth in Ohio. This is a historic time for Ohio families and a critical time for homebirth freedom in our state. The reality is another bill could easily be drafted and introduced that would outlaw or severely limit homebirth in Ohio, as has already been done a couple of times, most recently in 2022. HB224 is the response to those poorly written bills.

On February 17th, 2022 Rep. Koehler introduced HB 496 and spoke to why he believes it is an important law to pass and why it should move through this committee. All committee meetings are open to the public and televised. Here is a link to the video.

There will be a second day of testimony from proponents, opponents and interested parties. The date has yet to be scheduled but if you’re interested in testifying, contact Rep. Manchester's office (chairperson) at familiesaging&humanservicescommittee@ohiohouse.gov

to receive guidance on how to register to testify.

The full bill can be viewed here.

And the bill analysis can be viewed here.

HB 402 was introduced on 8/24/21 and was assigned to the Family, Aging and Human Services Committee on 9/21/21. NOW is the time to write or call your Representative and express concern with how this bill will impact consumers ability to have midwifery care available for families who choose to home birth. Go to: https://ohiohouse.gov/ to learn who your Representative is.

A telephone call to your representative's office, an email or a personally written letter will help to have a collective consumer voice against a bill that, as written, will eliminate many options of midwifery for home birth. Share with your representative how important your midwifery care was for your out-of-hospital birth. Stand up for your birthing rights in Ohio! Don't put it off... act today!

NOW is also the time to express the same concerns to the Chairman of the Family, Aging and Human Services Committee - Susan Manchester (District 84) - write, email: https://ohiohouse.gov/members/susan-manchester/contact or call her at

614-466-6344.

We have recently become aware of House Bill 402, entitled Ohio Midwife Practice Act, with co-sponsors Janine Boyd and Paula Hicks-Hudson. It was introduced into the Ohio legislature on August 24, 2021. It will regulate CPMs in the State of Ohio and, essentially, all practicing midwives.

It looks to be basically the same bill Rep. Boyd was drafting previously but it seems she has revamped it a bit, sought a new co-sponsor (Paula Hicks-Hudson), and introduced it without incorporating the revisions that were suggested to her by CMO and other Ohio midwives.

The bill now has 12 co-sponsors.

Click the link below to view the draft.

Community Midwives of Ohio has received confirmation that Representative Janine Boyd (District 9) has suspended her recent efforts towards a midwifery bill. This legislation would have created a licensing mechanism for midwives in the State of Ohio. According to CMO, the bill was in its early writing stages and included many challenges for practicing midwives which would, in turn, create challenges for consumers of midwifery care for home birth.