Homebirth legal in the following states: NY, NJ, PA, CT?????????????? - Page 3

[KarenEMT]

I'm in Northampton County and had a wonderful homebirth with a midwife from the Poconos. You can PM me if you want any further details.

I had also found another homebirth midwife when I was searching, Lynn Shay down in Barto, PA (Berks County), but she was a little too far for comfort.

[EviesMom]

NYC itself (as in the 5 boroughs) have a lot of legally-practicing and often insurance-covered homebirth midwives. However, in many other places (like Albany), even certified midwives can't legally do home births because the OBs have banded together and refuse to be their back up care. New York requires that midwives have an OB as a backup.

OP, once you figure out a couple of areas you might like and afford to live in, post on the local board and people can direct you to the most homebirth friendly cities.

[Greeneyes0506]

Originally Posted by Breathless Wonder

There are definitely more than 2, and I know of at least 3 that do HBAC.

Really? The only 2 I could find were Jeannette Breen and Dale Cook (I'm using Dale)

[bekkers]

I just wanted to respond to a pp about md, and while there are midwives here, home birth midwives are very few and hard to find. There are 3 that I am aware of (and I am very into birth and such topics locally) in the STATE. 2 are nurses, 1 is an illigal dem (the one who came to our failed uc) and otherwise your options are birthcenter or hospital. Both birthcenters that are still open have very stringent "risk" requirements and at least one has a disturbingly high transfer rate. This is not a good state to have babies in!

[vmonterrey]

Midwifes in NEPA

I know there are midwives in NEPA not quite south to Poconos but north and will attend HBAC. Some clients when they have a hard time finding a midwife close enough will rent a hunting cabin, or vacation cabin or B&B and meet their midwife there it's still cheaper than hospital birth and depending on preference maybe a better choice. e-mail me privately if you are interested. or go to PAHomebirth.org
VM

[charliechic]

does anyone know anything about the pocono midwives in stroudsburg?

[srlpenny]

[QUOTE=Sustainer;8754628]Being certified isn't enough. They can only legally attend homebirths if they are LICENSED. New York State only licenses CNMs (Certifed Nurse Midwives -- trained to attend births in hospital settings) and CMs (Certified Midwives -- trained to attend births in hospital settings). New York State refuses to license CPMs (Certified Professional Midwives -- trained to attend births at home).

I am currently working with a CM, on a covered by insurance fully out in the open homebirth in the Albany area. As far as she explained it to me, the requirement for CPMs to become CMs is that they pass the ACNM exam, not that their in hospitals. I know my MW in particular has been attending homebirths for 20+ years, and was licensed just a few years ago. There are now several other CPMs in the area working towards that goal.

But to the original poster, if your DH is going to be working in NYC there are definitely homebirth options a plenty there! I'm jealous

[mysticmomma]

Originally Posted by SharonAnne

The only state in this area that I know of where there are no midwives is Maryland. I love Maryland, and have friends who live there. I'd go in a heartbeat, except for the illegal midwifery thing. Maybe after I'm done having kids.....

THere are many CPM's practicing illegally in md, and 2 cnm's that practice legally in md to attend home births. I had one last year with a cpm. her certification is not recognized in maryland, but that doest' mean she isn't a wonderful, compassionate, educated midwife.

ETA: My health insurance payed her to boot!

[Apple Girl]

Do any of you know if NY midwives can attend an HBAC? I can't seem to get an answer on that one.

Yes, I know of a midwife near me who was going to do a HBAC for a friend of mine. Long story, but because of complications during late pregnancy they did decide to do the birth in the hospital, and it was a successful VBAC, but the midwife was willing to try before it became too risky.

I live in Binghamton and we have no homebirth midwife within an hour drive. My midwife came down from Ithaca. Maybe there are more in NYC and other downstate areas. There ARE midwives, but just not many homebirth midwives.

Neat, did you use Monica? She's my midwife!

Anyway, it's crazy, there are 3 homebirth midwives (that I know of) in the Ithaca area, but apparently none others between Binghamton and Syracuse. I know when I was interviewing one of them mentioned that it was nice that we have so many choices nearby, because they get clients driving to appointments from 1-2 hours away just to have a homebirth.

But yes, to answer the original question, HB is definitely legal in NY, and it seems like there are lots of options near the city (even if your choices upstate are more limited).

I don't know about vax laws because right now we are "indefinitely delaying" and DS has not started school yet... although I do know some friends from playgroup who have not vax'd and did not have a problem claiming religious exemption.

[MamaVolpe]

Originally Posted by SharonAnne

The only state in this area that I know of where there are no midwives is Maryland. I love Maryland, and have friends who live there. I'd go in a heartbeat, except for the illegal midwifery thing. Maybe after I'm done having kids.....

That is not true, I have a midwife who does homebirth and she accepts my insurance. Their are many midwives in MD, I think most of them are closer to the East side of the state than the West but you should be able to find one. It is to far to commute to NYC though.

[MommyMidwife]

The easiest thing to do is to go to NARM.org and they have information on the legality of homebirth in each state.
It is very hard to have a homebirth in NY. Virginia is legal. NC is not. PA is A-legal...
Let me know if i can help you any other way.
jeni

[CEG]

I used to live in upstate NY (about 1.5 hours north of Syracuse) and a friend of mine had a homebirth with a non- CNM midwife. I am not sure what her qualifications/training were but it was a lovely birth.

I will tell you that taxes in New York are outrageous. We paid only slightly less in very rural NY on a $55,000 house than we pay right now on a $300,000 house in the Chicago suburbs so keep that in mind.

[alexysmommy]

I am in NE pa, near bloomsburg...and i drive about an hour and 15 min away to stroudsburg to see a cpm who will come to me for a homebirth.(she will drive up to 2 hrs i think) She has an associate, who is a bit closer, but i prefer the one who is a little farther away. There are def options around here, but some you really have to search for (it took me months to find her) because they dont just put themselves out there and advertise...they take a big risk doing what they do and i dont blame them.