Midwifery Legislative Update

A lot going on. Let's get right to it.

Federal (US) - The Midwifery Care Access and Reimbursement Equity Act of 2007 (HR 864/S.507) would "amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for reimbursement of certified midwife services and to provide for more equitable reimbursement rates for certified nurse-midwife services."

Illinois - SB 385 would provide for the licensure of direct-entry midwives. I'm not hearing a lot of buzz about this one.

Indiana - A Midwifery Licensure Bill, HB 1238, is scheduled to be heard by the Committee on Public Health on Monday morning. Quick! Contact your legislator!

Missouri - SB 303 and HB 503 provide for the licensure of direct-entry midwifery. The bill defines "direct-entry midwife" as one licensed as a Certified Professional Midwife by NARM. Currently, the unlicensed practice of midwifery in Missouri is a felony.

North Dakota - SB 2377 was originally a bill making it a Class B Misdemeanor for a person to provide obstetrical services without a license; however it now appears to be a bill providing for a legislative council study "of the provision of obstetrical services by laypeople."

South Dakota - HB 1207, the bill to regulate direct-entry midwifery seems to be dead. HB 1267 would remove the requirement that Certified Nurse-Midwives have a written collaborative arrangement with a physician, which would in effect allow CNMs to attend homebirths.

Utah - SB 243 would amend Utah's Direct-Entry Midwife Act by defining what constitutes a “normal” pregnancy, labor and delivery; and clarify when consultation or transfer is required. Opponents of the bill say that the language is too restrictive, and would effectively end homebirth in the state for all but a handful of women. The Mommy Blawger thinks that legislators, the vast majority of whom have neither given birth nor delivered a baby, are not qualified to define "normal" birth by any stretch of the imagination.

Know of any legislation that I've missed? Shoot me a comment or an email.

Midwifery Legislative Update

Virginia , Wyoming, and Utah have bills pending in their respective legislatures to legalize and/or regulate direct-entry midwifery.

Quote of the day:
"Hospitals are for people who are ill, not women doing what Mary did in a barn by herself." - Elizabeth Smith

MIDWIFERY

A great article on the state of midwifery in Utah: Midwifery lives on despite legislation's failure from the Salt Lake Tribune.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

Two recent updates in the effort to legalize Direct-entry Midwifery:

In Utah, House Bill 227 passed out of committe by a nine-to-one vote, reports KSL-TV (AP). The bill will require licensing, but will allow non-nurse midwives to administer certain medications.

In South Dakota, however, SB176 was killed in the Senate Health Committee. The Aberdeen News reports that the bill would have regulated home-birth attendants under the state Board of Nursing.

MIDWIFERY

A bill introduced into the Utah House would regulate and certify direct-entry midwifery in that state, reports the Deseret News in a January 24, 2004 article. House Bill 227, the Midwife Certification Act, would add direct-entry midwives to the list of medical professions monitored by the state Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing.

According to the article, DEM's are "in a professional no-man's land, fearful of being able to provide the right kind of care to mothers who want to birth at home. [The bill] would allow the administration of some techniques and drugs common in delivery, such as IV fluids and local anesthetics for suturing lacerations."

The text of the bill from the Utah legislature web site.

More information is available from the Utah Friends of Midwives website.

MILK, HOLD THE PICKLES

Burger King has announced a new corporate policy on breastfeeding after a nursing mother in one of its restaurants was asked to "either go to the bathroom to breast-feed or leave" when another customer complained. In the future, employees are told to inform complainers that "breast-feeding is permitted in the restaurant and suggest to that customer that he or she relocate to another section of the restaurant." See story from Yahoo/AP.

The only problem I have here is with the tone of the article: "Burger King adopted a corporate policy Friday allowing women to breast-feed their babies in restaurants" (emphasis added). BK is not "allowing" anything. The right to breastfeed anywhere (as long as the mother has the right to be there) is statutory law in most states, including Utah, where the incident took place. Here is a guide to breastfeeding legislation. So by publishing its new policy, Burger King is not really giving breastfeeders any rights, merely protecting itself from a planned "nurse-in" scheduled to take place.

Business owners be forewarned: no matter how pro-family your establishment is, if one of your employees harasses a breastfeeding mother, that mother will most likely get on the Internet and within a week you are likely to have hundreds of women show up at your place of business and nurse their babies. Kind of the La Leche version of a flash mob.

Also see my November 13, 2003 post "American Baby" on not breastfeeding in restrooms.