How the Idaho Midwifery Bill Affects Consumers.

The Midwifery bill contradicts itself and the content negates the stated purpose and intent.

The stated intent of the Idaho Midwifery bill is:

LEGISLATIVE PURPOSE AND INTENT. The legislature finds and declares
that the practice of midwifery has been a part of the culture and tradition of Idaho since before pioneer days and that for personal, religious and economic reasons some Idaho citizens choose midwifery care. The purpose of this chapter is to preserve the rights of families to deliver their children in a setting of their choice, to provide additional maternity care options for Idaho’s families, to protect the public health, safety and welfare and to provide a mechanism to assure quality care.

By signing this bill into law, the stated intent has been completely negated by it's content. The restrictions that have been imposed upon midwives and whom they can and can not attent to has very clearly limited our options, taken our rights away and in effect made homebirth less safe.

Many women who have had previous homebirths and those who may be considering homebirth are now faced with very tough decisions. For those women who are no longer legally able to have a midwife attented birth at home the options are:

1. Ask a midwife to break the law and birth their child at home.
2. Obtain service from a medical doctor/nurse and be forced to have a hospital birth with increased costs and risks and high likelyhood of C-section(a major surgery).
3. Choose to have an un-attended birth at home without the skills and talent of a midwife to support them through the process.

We would like to hear your thougths on this issue, your birth experiences and how this bill has affected you.