Did you know that 31 Alabama counties have no hospital that offers maternity care? And did you know that in spite of our poor health care delivery system, it is not legal for a midwife to assist with home births in Alabama?
The Alabama Birth Coalition wants legislators to pass a bill that would establish licensing for home birth midwives in Alabama. Midwifery supporters marched on the Alabama State House yesterday to publicize the bill and lobby legislators.
That group and other advocates are pushing a rewritten bill co-sponsored in the Senate by Parker Griffith, D-Madison, a retired physician.
Though certified professional midwife Jennifer Moore lives in Birmingham, she said to practice midwifery she must cross into Tennessee, where direct-entry midwifery is legal. She said resistance to the bill is due to a lack of information.
"I think there's a lot of misunderstanding and fear, but statistics clearly support that midwifery with a trained midwife is safe," she said. Moore said the process to become a Certified Practicing Midwife (CPM) generally takes between three and five years, culminating in a skills assessment exam and an eight-hour written exam.
I believe the bills in question are HB314 in the House and SB240 in the Senate. Now would be a good time to contact your Senator and Representative about this issue.
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