Midwife News

As has been mentioned here before, we are fans of the midwife-home birth method of labor and delivery of babies. We think all prospective parents should know about this option, and be able to exercise it if they choose. However, some don't think women should have this option. Not only does the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) denigrate home births with snarky, insulting press releases and TV appearances, despite copious evidence throughout the world that shows it is a safe, effective option, they fight in state legislatures throughout the country to ban home births and midwives that are certified by the North American Registry of Midwives. Momentum does not seem to be on their side, though.  Here are some recent results:

• In Wyoming, certified professional midwives just regained the right to practice, after it was taken away in 2003. It looks like they're setting up some sort of state licensing board in that state.  That will have to be watched, because such a board could easily be turned into a fox-guarding-henhouse situation where midwifery opponents get the ability to institute onerous regulations on midwives.
• In Mississippi, a bill that would have criminalized professional midwives (as opposed to nurse midwives, who are nurses and practice in hospitals) was defeated. 
• In Missouri, where midwives gained the right to practice in 2007, a certain holdout in the legislature keeps trying to take that right away (the link is from last year, but he's still at it). He's got one week left this session to get his amendment successfully attached to a bill, but so far, he's been thwarted.

As of now, there are 27 states when certified professional midwives can practice. Let's hope this number keeps rising.