Women choosing to give birth at home suffered a major defeat this month when an Illinois House committee voted down a bill that would have allowed certified professional midwives to deliver babies.

House Bill 226, which died March 4 in the Health Care Availability and Accessibility Committee, would have expanded child birth options for expecting mothers and prevented pregnant women from hiring unqualified midwives or giving birth at home without medical supervision, said Colette Bernhard, legislative chairwoman for the Coalition for Illinois Midwifery.

http://www.chicagotalks.org/2009/03/24/midwives-will-not-receive-illinois-licensure-to-assist-in-home-births-anytime-soon/

The state Senate has passed a House-approved bill requiring that midwives be licensed.

A bill that would have made licensing voluntary died in the Legislature last year after objections from doctors and hospitals.

The Senate voted 32-3 Wednesday for the measure, which requires midwives to be licensed by the North American Registry of Midwives, a national organization that governs the profession. It would also require them to get extra training in suturing and pharmacology.

The bill now awaits approval from Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter. Senate sponsor Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, said the governor has indicated his support and willingness to quickly appoint a governing board.

The bill also defines scope of practice, which would forbid people without proper training from handling drugs like oxytocin during deliveries.

The roughly 40 midwives currently operating across the state would have one year to qualify for a license. The bill also contains a clause to waive the license if a midwife has been practicing in the state for five years and has been the primary midwife for at least 75 births within the last 10 years.

http://www.theolympian.com/northwest/story/798401.html

Mothers-to-be in Nova Scotia will have access to publicly-funded midwifery services as the province begins the integration of midwives to primary maternity care teams.

The Midwifery Act comes into effect Wednesday, March 18.

“We are moving towards teams of health-care professionals working together to provide care to Nova Scotians in their communities,” said Health Minister Karen Casey. “Midwives are key team players in providing the right care to mothers and their families.”

http://www.gov.ns.ca/news/details.asp?id=20090316004

Mothers-to-be in Nova Scotia will have access to publicly-funded midwifery services as the province begins the integration of midwives to primary maternity care teams.

The Midwifery Act comes into effect Wednesday, March 18.

“We are moving towards teams of health-care professionals working together to provide care to Nova Scotians in their communities,” said Health Minister Karen Casey. “Midwives are key team players in providing the right care to mothers and their families.”

http://www.gov.ns.ca/news/details.asp?id=20090316004

The Ohio Supreme Court is to hear oral arguments, Wednesday, March 11, on whether a Butler County company discriminated against an employee by firing her for taking unscheduled restroom breaks to pump breast milk.

LaNisa Allen, a former general laborer at a Totes/Isotoner Corp. warehouse in West Chester, is suing the company, saying it engaged in illegal gender discrimination by denying her extra restroom breaks to relieve pain caused by breast milk engorgement. She said other Totes workers weren’t required to seek permission for extra restroom breaks to relieve discomfort from menstrual symptoms or the need for frequent urination.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2009/03/05/ddn030509breastweb.html

A new law that allows a woman to feed her baby in any place open to the public has just taken effect in Rhode Island. According to the press release, this law complements a pre-existing law that exempted breastfeeding mothers from indecent exposure laws but did not provide them with the explicit right to breastfeed a child in any public place. The new law further permits a woman to allege a violation of her civil rights if she is prevented from breastfeeding in public.

http://blogs.babycenter.com/momformation/2009/03/09/another-state-law-supporting-breastfeeding-mothers-takes-effect/

The Maternity Services Review report, released last weekend, was an attempt to delivery continuity of care and midwife-led services to more Australian women. In so doing, it has stripped that very same care and service from the only women who currently have it – homebirth mums.

The fact that it did this in the face of having received the majority of its submissions from homebirth parents is galling and speaks volumes for the way “public consultation” occurs in this country. But the fact that the report’s recommendations, if accepted by the Government and made law, would criminalise the high quality care currently delivered to women who choose to give birth at home by registered, professional, independent midwives to their clients is radical and dangerous.

http://www.sydneymidwife.com.au/2009/03/homebirth-ban/

CHEYENNE — Wyoming will not become the 25th state to license certified professional midwives.

Legislation to legalize midwifery died in a House committee Wednesday.

But members of the House Labor, Health and Social Services Committee had a mixed reaction to Senate File 141.

Representatives Patrick Goggles, D-Ethete, and Kathy Davison, R-Kemmerer, said they were originally in favor of the legislation, but a couple hours of public testimony raised too many concerns to move SF 141 forward.

http://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2009/02/26/news/19local_02-26-09.txt

An issue has arisen in Olympia that threatens to end licensed midwifery in Washington State almost immediately. We need your urgent help to make sure this does not happen.

Midwives and Birth Centers in Washington State can obtain Professional Liability Insurance from only one place: the JUA (Joint Underwriting Assoc, http://washingtonjua.com/). The JUA was set up by state law in 1994, and is funded primarily through midwife premiums. Senate Bill 5588 has a list of State Boards and Commissions that will be shut down as part of cost-cutting efforts, and for hard-to-fathom reasons, they’ve included the JUA in that list despite the fact that the JUA receives no state funding of any kind.

Without the JUA, midwives will not be able to get liability coverage, and therefore their services will not be covered by your health insurance. This will put midwives and birth centers immediately out of business.

We need you to call and email your representatives and senators in Olympia TODAY to tell them that this move will cost far more money than it saves, whilst also eliminating a much needed resource for women and their families. A recent Department of Health study found that midwives save the state $250,000 per year, and (if you include private insurance too) that number climbs to $1.3million per year. So clearly it makes no sense to eliminate midwifery in the pursuit of saving money.

Click here to find who your legislators are: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/Default.aspx

Please forward this email widely. It is going to take a lot of voices to get this bill altered.

http://community.livejournal.com/naturalbirth/1237791.html

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – A law affecting many new moms takes effect this weekend in Rhode Island.

Starting Sunday, mothers will be able to breastfeed their babies in any public space.

The law also gives women the right to claim civil rights violation, if they are prevented from breast-feeding in public.

http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/local_news/local_wpri_new_breastfeeding_law_to_go_into_effect_20090227

On June 1st a passport will be needed to cross the Mexico/US border instead of just a birth certificate and driver’s license, an immigration regulation that disproportionately affects Latinos. From the Associated Press:

The citizenship of hundreds, possibly thousands, of people who insist they are Americans is being called into question because they were delivered by midwives near the U.S.-Mexico border. The federal government’s doubts have arisen as many people in the border region try to meet a June 1 deadline to obtain U.S. passports so they can freely cross from one country to the other.

http://latinainstitute.wordpress.com/2009/02/24/discrimination-against-latinos-born-to-midwives-soon-to-have-big-impact/

The Voices section has been inundated with a surplus of letters recommending the state legalize certified professional midwives in South Dakota.

Voices decided to do some investigating and found that a group called South Dakota Safe Childbirth Options was a part of the influx in letters.

http://www.argusleader.com/article/20090116/VOICES/901160305/1052/OPINION01

In South Dakota, this time around, the doctors won and the house rejected a bill to allow certified professional midwives (the only credential that requires experience in out-of-hospital births) to attend home births. In South Dakota, as in many other states, certified nurse midwives can attend home births if they work with a doctor who approves it—but no doctor will approve it, effectively making the option nonexistant.

http://www.babble.com/CS/blogs/strollerderby/archive/2009/02/11/South-Dakotans-Don_2700_t-Support-Home-Birth-Or-Do-They.aspx

Midwives say they’ve addressed doctors’ and hospitals’ concerns over a plan to license midwives, after opposition helped kill a similar proposal last year.

The bill that died in the legislature last year would have made licensing voluntary and drew the ire of groups such as the Idaho Medical Association. Currently Idaho requires no license or certification to be a midwife, but midwives are recognized by state law.

http://www.argusobserver.com/articles/2009/02/20/news/doc499efaaeed92e447989098.txt

A review of maternity services headed by chief nurse Rosemary Bryant has recommended changes to Commonwealth funding arrangements to enable midwives to be able to undertake a greater role and allow them to provide taxpayer-subsidised drugs and care.

It recommends appropriately-qualified midwives being able to access Medicare and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and suggests the government provides professional indemnity insurance support to midwives, however it rejects Commonwealth funding for home births.

http://topnews.us/content/23783-review-suggests-greater-role-midwives

The American College of Nurse?Midwives (ACNM), the nation’s oldest women’s health organization, applauds Rep. Ed Towns (D?NY) and Rep. Fred Upton (R?MI) on the bipartisan introduction of their legislation, the “Midwifery Care Access and Reimbursement Equity Act of 2009,” (H.R. 1101). This legislation will improve access for Medicare beneficiaries to the vital women’s health services offered by certified nure?midwives (CNM) and certified midwives (CM) by remedying a long?standing reimbursement rate inequity between midwives and other licensed health care professionals within the Medicare program.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/139810.php

There are new details and reaction today to a breastfeeding controversy in Asheville.

Crystal Everitt says she was asked to leave Denny’s on Patton Avenue Sunday because she was breastfeeding her child. Denny’s Regional Director Rick Pate tells News 13 complaints poured into management and some patrons left. He says a manager asked Everitt to cover herself or go somewhere more private.

http://www.wlos.com/shared/newsroom/top_stories/wlos_vid_2111.shtml

Midwives don’t want anything more from the Legislature. They just want to be left alone.

Today midwives from around the state showed up to the state capital to thank legislators with homemade cookies for the recent change in law that legalizes midwifery.

“We’re not asking for more,” Missouri Midwives Association former president Debbie Smithey said.

She said the next step for them is to “see what it’s like to practice legally.”

http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/political-fix/political-fix/2009/02/midwives-babies-hit-missouri-capitol/

Obstetricians and certified professional midwives have differing philosophies when it comes to ushering babies into the outside world.

However, a bill before the General Assembly might bring them into a closer working relationship. At least, that’s the hope of certified professional midwife, Brynne Potter.

Del. Matt Lohr, R-Harrisonburg, has introduced a bill that would amend the regulation of midwifery.

It would require that midwives inform patients of potential risks associated with delivering at home, “including but not limited to special risks associated with vaginal births after a prior C-section, breech births, births by women experiencing high-risk pregnancies, and births of twins or multiples.”

http://www.nvdaily.com/lifestyle/2009/02/legislation-would-impose-new-r.html