Wisconsin Guild of Midwives
The Wisconsin Guild of Midwives (WGOM) is the professional organization for licensed midwives in the state who undergo specialized clinical training to provide out-of-hospital care for families planning to birth in private homes and free-standing birth centers. General membership is open to licensed midwives, certified nurse midwives, student midwives, and other practitioners providing care in an out-of-hospital setting.
The Wisconsin Guild of Midwives supports the right of every family to have access to a skilled and licensed midwife. It is our position that licensed midwives represent the goals of best practice for safe care and should be available to all pregnant people in the state of Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin Guild of Midwives works to advance health by:
- Expanding communication and building support among Wisconsin licensed midwives
- Promoting licensed midwives as quality health care providers for families
- Promoting research and information in the field of midwifery care
- Establishing channels of communication between licensed midwives and other professional and consumer groups concerned with the health of families
Wisconsin Guild of Midwives’ Incident Review Committee
The Wisconsin Guild of Midwives houses the Incident Review Committee (IRC), which is co-chaired by the 1st Vice President to the WGOM and a member of the IRC. The IRC formally reviews reported incidents and requests for reviews of midwives from clients, family members, community members, and healthcare practitioners. All midwives are also welcome and encouraged to request a review of their own care by self-reporting any incidents warranting review.
Midwives who are members of the Wisconsin Guild of Midwives are eligible for review with the IRC. Non-members can join the WGOM at any time to become eligible for review.
The WGOM’s IRC uses HIPAA-compliant digital communications with highly secure Proton Mail service. All digital communications are encrypted and inaccessible by even Proton’s employees. All emails sent via the WGOM’s IRC are password-protected with full end-to-end encryption.
*The WGOM and individual board members do not accept personal phone calls, emails, or correspondence from concerned clients, family members, or other professionals. Any concerns regarding a midwife’s practices should be directed to the individual midwife or if preferred, you may report concerns to the Wisconsin Guild of Midwives’ Incident Review Committee through our confidential form.
Incident Review Committee Goals
This review process has been established as a benefit and responsibility of the Wisconsin Guild of Midwives (WGOM) membership, to provide a venue for professional review of significant clinical and practice concerns, and includes the following goals:
Professional Review & Advice
To provide WGOM members an opportunity for careful, confidential and comprehensive professional review and advice following significant adverse clinical outcomes and/or rule violations of State of Wisconsin Administrative rules Chapter SPS 180-189.
Best Practices
To provide a mechanism to ensure both best practice and compliance with state regulations by all licensed midwives
WI Regulations Compliance
To function in compliance with state regulations (RL 183.01) as “institutional supervisory personnel,” providing independently practicing WGOM member midwives with a service that parallels some of the benefits of such a body
Training & Collaboration
To identify trends in adverse outcomes that suggest a need for profession-wide training or collaboration with other maternity care providers
What happens with my complaint?
After submitting your complaint form, the co-chairs of the Wisconsin Guild of Midwives’ Incident Review Committee will review it and determine if a formal review of the incident should take place. If a formal review is warranted, the committee will bring together a team of qualified midwives to review the incident with the midwife involved. The review team may make recommendations to the midwife.
Please know this careful review process takes time and your complaint is taken very seriously. If you select the box on your complaint form indicating that you’d like to receive a copy of any recommendations made to the midwife, the co-chairs of the Incident Review Committee will provide them to you following the completion of the review process.
What comes out of the review for the midwife?
The review process allows for learning and improvement of best care practices and may result in recommendations, both formal and informal, to the midwife. Formal recommendations are followed up on to ensure compliance, with further action being taken if needed.
If a licensed midwife elects not to participate in a review initiated by a complaint, does not self-report a reportable incident within 30 days, or does not follow through with recommendations made by the IRC, the committee as a whole will review the matter, and may take one or more of the actions listed below.
Continued non-participation MAY result in:
- A request that the midwife present to the IRC their reasons for non-participation
- Referral of the complaint back to the complainant
- Referral to NARM or AMCB
- Referral to Wisconsin DSPS
- Revocation of WGOM membership
What kinds of incidents warrant formal review?
- Maternal or Neonatal Mortality (except prenatally diagnosed congenital anomalies incompatible with life)
- Significant Maternal Morbidity: such as hypovolemic shock requiring hospitalization, moderate or severe shock, uterine rupture, uterine inversion, postpartum uterine or perineal laceration infection
- Significant Neonatal Morbidity: such as neonatal emergency transport to hospital, seizures, NICU admission within 72 hours of birth (except for observation or congenital conditions)
- Violations of the Rules and Regulations for Licensed Midwives issued by the Wisconsin State Department of Safety and Professional Licensing
