Legal Briefing: Home Birth and Midwifery

My latest legal briefing column, "Home Birth and Midwifery," (with Deborah Fisch) has just been published.  Journal of Clinical Ethics 24(3) (Fall 2013): 293-308.



This Article covers recent legal developments involving home birth and midwifery in the United States. Specifically, we focus on new legislative, regulatory, and judicial acts that impact women’s access to direct entry (non-nurse) midwives. We categorize these legal developments into the following 12 categories.

1.   Background and History

2.   Certified Nurse-Midwives

3.   Direct Entry Midwives

4.   Prohibition of Direct Entry Midwives

5.   Enforcement of Prohibition

6.   Challenges to Prohibition

7.   Forbearance without License

8.   Voluntary Licensure

9.   Unclear and Uncertain Status

10.  Growth of DEM Licensure

11.  Licensure Restrictions

12.  Medicaid Coverage