[johnnygeneric]

I don’t think the mid-wives need a law. They should form an organization and establish guidelines regarding training and mentoring within this framework. Once the aspiring midwife fulfills these guideposts, then a certificate is awarded. They could require additional classes and training to keep up with the state of the art in order to keep their certificate current.

This is what is done with Professional Engineers in most states.

[EnderWiggin1970]

Most states operate roughly along those lines IIRC. But there are some that try to railroad midwifery out of existence by requiring that they all have doctorates or go through other onerous requirements of questionable relevance. My four kids were all born at home, and we were living in 2 of the 10 states (at the time) that had no legal mechanism allowing for midwives, which meant that technically they could be accused of "practicing medicine without a license" at any time.

Our backup midwife in Indiana, for example, was arrested and hauled into court after a pastor and his wife had a stillbirth that she attended. The couple had had three prior stillbirths in the hospital and was hoping that the calmer setting afforded by homebirth might make a difference. Unfortunately it didn't. The prosecution freely admitted that there was no issue with the competence of the midwife and that a hospital would have made no difference to the outcome. In the end I believe she wound up on probation. (The Republican woman who headed the relevant legislative committee was a nurse who had a mindset of "force people to use institutional medicine")

My take is that the free market should hold sway here. If midwives want to form an association and issue certifications, great. But let people choose whom they want, and if they don't value hospitals or value the midwife certifications, so be it.