A bill signed earlier this month by Gov. J.B. Pritzker allows the certification and licensure of certified professional midwives in Illinois. The new law sets qualification and educational standards for CPMs and is effective Oct. 1, 2022.Pritzker called it “another step forward advancing health equity in communities across our state.”The 2020 report to the General Assembly by the Illinois Task Force on Infant and Maternal Mortality Among African Americans stated that the pregnancy-related mortality rate in …