Idaho House committee passes mid-wife licensing bill
Friday, February 29, 2008 10:43 AM PST
BOISE (AP) — A bill that would create a voluntary midwife licensing system and allow those who secure licenses to administer certain medications passed a House committee on Thursday.
The House Health and Welfare Committee voted 9-3 to approve the proposal after sitting through 10 hours of sometimes emotional testimony during two hearings over the past week. Doctors and nurses have opposed the move, saying midwives don’t have the training or equipment to save a mother or child if something goes wrong in a home birth setting. Proponents say midwives have provided safe birthing assistance for centuries and that expanding their privileges when it comes to dispensing medications, including intravenous fluids, painkillers and emergency oxygen, will boost the value of their services. They say this will especially help people in less-populated areas around the state.
Over the past week, lawmakers continually urged the two sides to come to a compromise.
The most contentious debate has been over whether the licensing system should be voluntary or mandatory. Lawmakers have said that 24 states have some form of midwife licensing and that the vast majority of the regulation is mandatory.
