Currently, Nebraska has fairly strict regulations on midwife-assisted birth. There are a few bills this session that would change that…
LB406 would prevent hospitals from denying privileges to a CNM (certified nurse midwife) simply because they are a CNM.
LB457 would change the requirement that prevents a CNM from practicing without working under a doctor. Currently, CNMs have to have a doctor sign off on all their patients, even if the doctor never personally sees the patient. This bill would allow midwives to work in free-standing birth centers.
LB481 would allow CNMs to attend home births. This would be a big positive change for liberty. As it stands, this restriction means that residents of Nebraska who want to have a home birth have difficulty finding someone to assist them (since it’s illegal), and especially that certified midwives (presumably more trained than “lay” midwives) cannot attend home births without risking loss of their ability to legally practice. This makes home birth in Nebraska more dangerous, not safer.
Nebraska Friends of Midwives and Senator Fulton are the champions of this cause.
1 Comment
February 27, 2009 at 7:19 am
[...] Regulation Update Jump to Comments The hearing date for the Midwife Bills has been announced: Thursday, March 5, at 1:00pm in Room [...]