Midwives on the move in America

Image: Camilo 30 seconds old. From Natashalatrasha's photos at Flickr.com


There have been some positive happenings in America on the issues of midwifery and childbirth. Long overdue one has to say. Midwives and women have been lobbying strongly for changes in legislation to legalise the practice of midwifery across the United States. I have been observing this on the periphery. I have some idea about what has been happening and have been aware of the movement that has been actively lobbying local and national government in the States in recent weeks. This has been termed the big push for midwives .
This movement seems to have been inspired by a movie produced and directed by Ricky Lake and Abby Epstein called The business of being born. This movie seems to have caused quite a stir in the States and midwives and women have been building on this and working hard to make sure that the midwifery option of care is at last available to women.



I received an email today from Steff Hedenkamp of a press release with the following text
(Jefferson City, Mo.) – Midwives advocates across Missouri and the nation today celebrated the passage of Senator John Loudon’s (R, Chesterfield) midwifery licensure bill, SB 1021, from the Missouri Senate Committee on Pensions, General Laws and Veteran’s Affairs. The long-anticipated legislation would decriminalize the practice of midwifery in Missouri and establish a board to license and regulate Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs).

So congratulations to all who have worked so hard to achieve this, it is quite momentous.

I do know that not everyone is 100% behind these changes. Sage Femme, a well known American midwifery blogger has reservations about midwives being required to be licensed and believes there should be a voluntary option to this. I am unsure how this would work but I am not totally familiar with the American situation and therefore not at all qualified to comment on this.