BACKGROUND:
Certified Professional Midwives are community midwives whose scope of practice is to care for low-risk pregnancies and births in the home or birth center settings and typically do not have hospital privileges (MAWS, 2024, Vedam et al, 2018). In the years 1999-2003 there was a hospital pilot program that included a few CPMs from Washington State who gained provisional hospital privileges to continue providing care for their birthing people during intrapartum along with collaboration with physicians at a medical center in Seattle (H. Hornsby, LM, CPM, personal communication, June 3, 2023). When this program was evaluated in 2003, it yielded promising results; however, due to administrative changes at the hospital, it was discontinued.

OBJECTIVES:
Due to recent legislative changes broadening the scope of practice for CPMs in Washington State, this mixed method study is capturing information about the pilot project from the years 1999-2003, exploring the experiences of the participants, and illuminating the lessons learned to inform future efforts.

METHODS:
To capture qualitative data, open-ended questions were asked during the interviews about the midwives' experiences while having hospital privileges.

RESULTS:
It was elucidated that continuity of care, having hospital privileges, having a good congenial relationship with the hospital staff, physician, and nurses, and maternal satisfaction were the most positive experiences for the midwives.

CONCLUSIONS:
We can also better understand the physical, emotional, and psychological impact it can have on the CPMs and the birthing people they serve when there is a break in the continuity of care during an intrapartum transfer for low-risk birthing people for mostly pain relief.

KEY MESSAGE:
CPMs are specialists in caring for birthing people with low-risk pregnancies, and research papers from around the globe demonstrate the benefits of having continuity of care for both the birthing person and the newborn (Stoll et al., 2023; Fikre et al., 2023). Poster session 3 (Group B)