Midwives Upset Over Proposed Restrictions
None by KCPW
(KCPW News) Licensed midwives, with babies on their hips and in strollers, filled the hall of the Utah Legislature today protesting a new measure they believe will drive them out of business:"Ninety-six percent of the births that we attended last year - births will good outcomes - would not be permitted under these new rules,' says midwife Holly Richardson.
Two years ago, the Utah Midwives Association advocated heavily for the right to be licensed and administer certain drugs in emergency birth situations. Senator Margaret Dayton - a former nurse and wife of a retired obstetrician - says she wants to narrow, but not eliminate midwifery.
"I think people should have a choice of going to the ultimate high-risk consultation to staying home alone in the bathroom if they want to," says Dayton. "The bill basically helps to give a definition of what is 'essentially a normal birth.'"
But Richardson says the new rules go too far - even prohibiting a midwife from delivering a baby at home if the mother has an STD or the baby is larger than eight pounds, thirteen ounces. If Dayton's bill passes as drafted, many of the 15 licensed direct-entry midwives in Utah say they will drop their license and return to being a lay midwife so they can avoid the new restrictions.
Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom, Legislative Coverage, and 2007 Legislative Coverage. Copyright 2009 KCPW
1. sophia ibidunni said:
i think that this is realy unfair because there can be health risks and i think that this bill is ignoring both the mother's & baby's needs!
2. Tara Tulley said:
This goes beyond health risk this is restraint of trade. Both DOPL and the Health Department statistics showed that midwives had better outcomes then docs. There are already rules in place that address many of these issues, and this goes beyond defining normal birth. This is an atempt to limit mothers choice! This bill will not just effect LDEMS but all midwives licensed or not. Because it just says Direct-Entry Midwives and does not specify license status.