Midwife Autonomy Endangered by MANA President Sarita Bennett

As an autonomously practicing midwife in Canada for over 20 years, I find this appalling. We do not require "physician oversight" and never have. Sarita Bennett is problematic in many ways, but is clearly not supportive of midwifery as it should be practiced.

Both of my children were born at home with wise and heroic midwives! (Ten years apart.) I know and admire several midwives.

PEP student. No one will stop my journey, especially some one who knows why I am working toward my CPM .

Midwifery and medicine are two distinct and separate professions. One should never have oversight over the other. For physicians to have oversight over home birth midwives would be a dreadful mistake. The public needs to have that oversight.

We need more licensed midwives not the removal of them. Remove Sarita Bennett now She is not worthy to represent MANA

I support Midwife autonomy in Virginia. Let’s keep government from over stepping their authority; do not allow it to interfere with Midwifery. Midwifery has been around a very long time and is well disciplined in the child birthing process.

Resign immediately

This an outrage. This is the ultimate Doctor coup of midwifery

Dr oversight should be optional.

I'm a retired midwife and a former MANA Board member. I'm horrified that the current MANA president is trying to undo everything that we have worked so hard for for the past several decades. She has to go.

Dr. Bennett states that she is not a practicing midwife, and her own words indicate that she is acting in a manner that is hostile to American midwifery, thus she is not an appropriate lead for MANA or any midwifery organization.

Please get rid of Dr. Sarita Bennett as president of MANA. She does not represent midwifery or women who choose it for their birth.

MANA should represent the interests of midwives and support our efforts to be recognized as autonomous practitioners

Oversight needs more explanation, but if it’s anything like being a CNM, sure wouldn’t work for me. Need to hear from Sarita.

As a CNM I find this situation appalling. Autonomous clinics practice is the foundation of midwifery in this country and the best way to insure the lifesaving care that midwives provide.

I hope MANA will mobilize in a timely fashion to remove Dr. Bennett from her position or facilitate her resignation. The organizational dysfunction dragging on this long is an embarrassment to the profession.

No one who does not support the independent practice of midwives should hold this office.

How is it possible that Bennett became president of the one midwifery organization in North America that was founded on the principle that midwives, regardless of their training or credentials, be autonomous and self-regulating? I am no longer a member, but if I was I'd ask for my dues to be refunded! Also, calls for Bennett to "resign" is not good enough -- MANA leadership must swiftly REMOVE this person as their president and publicly explain to their membership (current and those who have abandoned) how they got to this place and how they are going to fix it. That, or rewrite the MANA mission, vision, and bylaws to reflect this distressing U-turn. Here's a first draft: "MANA believes in a midwifery model in which midwives are supervised and directed by physicians who have only participated in hospital-based 'deliveries', and who have never seen or experienced birth in community-based settings. MANA is your partner in strengthening misogyny, patriarchy, and medicalization during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. We demonstrate this commitment by heretofore only having a physician serve as our organization's president, because only physicians can know what is best for midwives."

Sarita has got to go! Shame on MANA for allowing someone to take over the org in a coup and then continue to derail midwives and the families they protect.

Midwives are and must be recognized as autonomous professionals. Shame on MANA and it’s president.