Anyone else hear of this?

[lilsishomemade]

This is so sad, and I'm so angry. Especially the last line of the article

State medical board fines unlicensed Pa. midwife $11,000

: : :

[Ackray]

That's ridiculous.

The article doesn't say, I wonder WHY or what the baby died from.

[~MoonGypsy~]

That's the biggest load of hooey I've seen in awhile. Poor lady.

25 years of experience is garbage compared to going through school to be a RN. What is that? 6 years of school? :

[636Jen]

While I don't agree with the state's CNM only laws, I think that if you are going to work outside the realm of said law, you're going to get in trouble. If I were living in PA and felt strongly about being a HB midwife, I would lobby for change or move to a DEM-friendly state. The last thing in the world I would want to do is create negative press for midwives. (just my opinion) Laws are laws and until they are changed, we all have to follow the rules. You might not like driving 35mph through town but that's the law. If you are speeding, expect to get a ticket.

I guess I relate this to the motorcycle world. Most of the people I ride with are responsible and wear their gear/helmet. Occasionally you hear a story about some kid who crashed wearing sandals, shorts and a tank top with no helmet, doing a stand-up wheelie down the expressway. It headlines the news and people start associating ALL crotch-rocket riders with that person and assume we all ride at 180 mph and are reckless. Also, because of the bad press, some law makers feel it neccessary to make even MORE laws in order to "protect us" further. It becomes more regulated and we in turn have less freedom. \

I'm not saying she's not qualified or not good at what she does. I respect her 25 years of experience. I was just saying that it doesn't surprise me that she got fined.

[takasmom]

Originally Posted by 636Jen

While I don't agree with the state's CNM only laws, I think that if you are going to work outside the realm of said law, you're going to get in trouble. If I were living in PA and felt strongly about being a HB midwife, I would lobby for change or move to a DEM-friendly state. The last thing in the world I would want to do is create negative press for midwives. (just my opinion) Laws are laws and until they are changed, we all have to follow the rules. You might not like driving 35mph through town but that's the law. If you are speeding, expect to get a ticket.

Coming from another state (MA) where there is no midwife licensing despite YEARS and YEARS of lobbying...practically speaking this approach would leave many many women, myself included (expecting in April) with no choice but hospital or UC.

[Peppamint]

on the PA law.

Yup, takasmom is right. Midwives and supporters have lobbied for legislation for 13 years here in Indiana... it's passed in the house a few times but always gets stalled in the Senate Health Committee by the committee chair who is an RN and doesn't want CPMs legalized. We were really excited last year when Wisconsin got their legalization because we hoped it would help us to convince that Senator to let the Senate vote our bill but it didn't happen.

My midwifery aspirations aside, as a birthing woman, I feel that the state of Indiana does a big disservice to women by being one of 9 (I think?) states that do not licensing CPMs. I appreciated my midwife's willingness to attend my births anyway because I think if it came down to a choice between UC and hospital birth, I would choose UC even though I would prefer the care of a qualified midwife.

[636Jen]

Please forgive my ignorance, but do CPMs attend homebirths and just hope no one finds out? Can CNMs attend a homebirth or is homebirth just illegal all together. I went to the NARM site but only looked at my state to see what our laws were. I'm in Michigan and we are not regulated.

Aside from the legality of it, do you think she did more to help or harm the midwifery profession in PA?

[~MoonGypsy~]

What she did didn't effect midwifery in PA. It's the medical board that made midwifery look bad. To the common bystander, they see this article and think that some quack is out catching babies and is lucky that nothing bad had happened up to this point. We don't even know what happened in this case - it could have been unavoidable such as a defect or it truly could have been mismanagement. I doubt she delivered that baby to help midwifery in PA. She delivered that baby as a service to a community that chooses not to birth in hospitals.

While I agree with you that you have to expect things like this if you put yourself above the law, I still get a gut feeling that she was "made an example of" to scare other midwives and moms-to-be alike.

[lilsishomemade]

This is like going back to the 40's and 50's, when midwives were deliberately being made to look bad in order to erradicate them. The board is being reactionary and trying to make an example out of her. It's very sad. I would feel much safer with her and her 25 years of experience than most doctors I know. I feel for those in the Plain communities, also. There is a reason they don't want to go to hospitals.

[mysticmomma]

we should fundraise for her or something.

[Peppamint]

In some states, it is sort of "as long as nothing happens" they don't go after CPMs. Other states, I think there is more a of witch hunt vibe going on. I'm not sure of PA's law, but in Indiana CNMs can and do attend homebirths. However, they are required to have Dr. backup and as far as I know there are just a couple/few that do attend HB. The closest freestanding BC is over 2 hours away from me.

As for whether it did more harm than good, I guess that would depend on the individual's perceptions. Some might be "wow, there are midwives here in PA!" while others are wondering why the Amish women don't rush to the hospital and "didn't midwives go out with using leeches?". I'm sure that 25 years of that midwife's clients are quite thankful for her services.

I struggle a bit with the legal issue, because as a Christian I feel I should obey the law- and yet it's also my God-given responsibility to give my babies the best start (aka homebirth) and it's my calling to provide the same to birthing women and their babies. It would be really nice if 2008 was the year that midwives were finally licensed in Indiana. We may move to a legal state someday, who knows.

[eco_mama]