No midwives in Nebraska?

[natrgrrl]

I heard the other day that Nebraska is one of the VERY few states that won't allow a midwife to be present at births. Does anyone know if this is true? Any other details?

Since I live here in Nebraska, I am very concerned to hear laws as backward as this, or is it progressive.

Amanda

[CEG]

Maybe www.acnm.org might have some info. Also, I think the MANA website has state by state info on midwifery laws. GL!

[Beary-nice]

There is a certified nurse midwife at the hospital where I work in Nebraska. There are many people that go to her. I don't know the rules, I just know that she is there and practicing and yes, in Nebraska.

[Beary-nice]

Another website you could try:

http://wwwhhss.ne.gov/crl/nursing/midwife/practice.htm

I was just there and there are a few more details. Hope that helps.

[natrgrrl]

I found out that certified nurse midwives are not allowed to attend home births in Nebraska.

The Lincoln Journal Star has an article about it at:

http://lincolnjournalstar.com/articles/2006/07/09/local/doc44b04f0e36893992201219.txt

Why would it be "allowed" to have a baby at home but not have anyone there to help?

Do other states have laws against getting medical care at home? Am I overreacting?

Grrrrrr!:angryfire

Amanda

[CEG]

Yeah, I think the idea is that they can't make it illegal for someone to go into labor and deliver at home. That would open up the problem of determining who did it on purpose, etc. But they can make catching babies at home illegal to try to discourage it.

In my opinion it makes homebirths unnecessarily dangerous by making HB midwives underground. By regulating them the state could help imrpove safety for those who choose to homebirth.

It's also not evidence-based. Much of it is economic- if the birth industry moved back from hospitals to the home imagine the economic impact on the health care industry.l