Home-Birth Advocates Push For Expanded Legal Recognition For Midwives

Main Category: Nursing / Midwifery
Also Included In: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Article Date: 02 Feb 2009 - 0:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions  

The Kansas City Star on Wednesday examined the national debate over the licensing of certified professional midwives and pending legislation in several states that would ease laws that limit midwives' ability to practice outside of hospitals. The Star reports that cost differences between hospital and home births and insurance coverage of nurse-midwives are major aspects in the debate.

Katherine Prown, campaign manager of the group Big Push for Midwives, said, "We're one of the few movements that's succeeded in bringing together pro-life and pro-choice activists, liberal feminists and Christian conservatives." Although home-birth advocates say the practice is safe, the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists are opposed to home births because of safety concerns. Advocates believe the number of home births will increase if more states amend their laws to recognize the practice as an equally safe alternative to hospital births. According to the Star, 25 states license CPMs -- who do not have nursing degrees and perform the majority of midwife-assisted home births -- while the remaining 25 states do not legally recognize CPMs.

A North Carolina House committee has recommended developing licensing standards for CPMs, citing an "extremely limited supply" of obstetricians and nurse-midwives to handle home births. In Idaho and Illinois, home-birth advocates are attempting to pass previously failed legislation for CPM licensing. The Illinois State Medical Society is "in strong opposition to licensing midwives who don't have the medical training to provide safe home births," ISMS President Shastri Swaminathan said. Erin Tracy, an obstetrician at Massachusetts General Hospital, said that the "answer" to the debate "is not to have births at home" and that the "No. 1 guiding principle has to be the health and safety of the mother and [infant]." According to the most recent federal data, about 25,000 of the approximately 4.3 million births in 2006 were home births (Crary, Kansas City Star, 1/28).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

© 2009 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.

• Additional
• References
• Citations