2016 Colorado Revised Statutes
Title 12 - Professions and Occupations
Health Care
Article 37 - Direct-Entry Midwives
§ 12-37-103. Requirement for registration with the division of professions and occupations - annual fee - grounds for revocation

(1) Every direct-entry midwife shall register with the division of professions and occupations by applying to the director in the form and manner the director requires. Said application shall include the information specified in section 12-37-104.

(2) Any changes in the information required by subsection (1) of this section shall be reported within thirty days after the change to the division in the form and manner required by the director.

(3) Every applicant for registration shall pay a registration fee to be established by the director in the manner authorized by section 24-34-105, C.R.S. Registrations shall be renewed or reinstated pursuant to a schedule established by the director and shall be renewed or reinstated pursuant to section 24-34-102 (8), C.R.S. The director may establish renewal fees and delinquency fees for reinstatement pursuant to section 24-34-105, C.R.S. If a person fails to renew his or her registration pursuant to the schedule established by the director, such registration shall expire. Any person whose registration has expired shall be subject to the penalties provided in this article or section 24-34-102 (8), C.R.S.

(4) (Deleted by amendment, L. 96, p. 395, § 2, effective April 17, 1996.)

(4.5) A person who has had his or her registration revoked shall not apply for a new registration until at least two years have elapsed since the date of the revocation.

(5) To qualify to register, a direct-entry midwife must have successfully completed an examination evaluated and approved by the director as an appropriate test to measure competency in the practice of direct-entry midwifery, which examination must have been developed by a person or entity other than the director or the division and the acquisition of which shall require no expenditure of state funds. The national registry examination administered by the midwives' alliance of North America, incorporated, or its successor, must be among those evaluated by the director. The director is authorized to approve any existing test meeting all the criteria set forth in this subsection (5). In addition to successfully completing such examination, a direct-entry midwife is qualified to register if such person has:

(a) Attained the age of nineteen years;

(b) Earned at least a high school diploma or the equivalent;

(c) Successfully completed training approved by the director in:

(I) The provision of care during labor and delivery and during the antepartum and postpartum periods;

(II) Parenting education for prepared childbirth;

(III) Aseptic techniques and universal precautions;

(IV) Management of birth and immediate care of the mother and the newborn;

(V) Recognition of early signs of possible abnormalities;

(VI) Recognition and management of emergency situations;

(VII) Special requirements for home birth;

(VIII) Recognition of communicable diseases affecting the pregnancy, birth, newborn, and postpartum periods; and

(IX) Recognition of the signs and symptoms of increased risk of medical, obstetric, or neonatal complications or problems as set forth in section 12-37-105 (3);

(d) Acquired practical experience including, at a minimum, experience with the conduct of at least one hundred prenatal examinations on no fewer than thirty different women and observation of at least thirty births;

(e) Participated as a birth attendant, including rendering care from the prenatal period through the postpartum period, in connection with at least thirty births; and

(f) Filed documentation with the director that the direct-entry midwife is currently certified by the American heart association or the American red cross to perform adult and infant cardiopulmonary resuscitation ("CPR").

(6) Effective July 1, 2003, in order to be deemed qualified to register, a direct-entry midwife must have graduated from an accredited midwifery educational program or obtained a substantially equivalent education approved by the director. Such educational requirement does not apply to direct-entry midwives who have registered with the division before July 1, 2003.

(7) For purposes of registration under this article, no credential, licensure, or certification issued by any other state meets the requirements of this article, and therefore there is no reciprocity with other states.