North Carolina: "Professionals" Misinformed on Midwives Education and Skill

North Carolina Midwifery practices may be in jeopardy. Why? In order for a midwife to practice in the state of North Carolina 3 requirements must be met 1) They must be a Registered Nurse 2) They need to complete a Master's or Doctoral Degree 3) The need to enter into a supervisory contract with a physician; there are a total of 6 states that have this requirement: Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Nebraska, and California. The first two requirements are being met, the 3rd requirement however; is not. According to Rose Hoban many physicians have withdrawn supervision, putting practicing midwives out of practice (Hoban, 2014).

            If physicians do not sign a supervisory agreement the midwife could face criminal charges. No midwife wants to go to jail; so they do not practice and are forced to close their doors to many women that want and need their care. 31 counties out of 100 in North Carolina have no practicing OBGYN (Hoban, 2014).

            The American College of Nurse midwives have filed their bill to amend the 10A Article Practice of Midwifery to erase the requirement that a physician be required to enter into a contractual agreement with a physician. This would help the 31 counties that are in an extreme deficit of maternal health care that should be met. North Carolina is ranked 44^th in the nation in infant mortality! This is an extremely high rate, when studies have shown that care provided by Certified Nurse Midwives decreases rates of low birth weight, neonatal and infant mortality, cesarean section and medical intervention (Nurse-Midwives).

            Legislature is misinformed that midwives do not have proper training and education to deliver babies. They call it “lay” midwifery, meaning not trained. Midwives are required to earn Master’s or Doctoral degrees and have achieved certification by the American Midwifery Certification Board, so how they are not trained properly? The National Coalition to Protect Patients wants to argue that physician have a more extensive education and medical school training; but North Carolina is ranked 44^th in the nation for infant mortality. So how is this “extensive” medical training protecting the safety of our mothers and infants?

References

Hoban, R. (2014, January 30). Lawmakers Study Nurse-Midwife Licensure. Retrieved from North Carolina Health News: http://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2014/01/30/lawmakers-study-nurse-midwife-licensure/

Nurse-Midwives, N. C. (n.d.). Legislative Efforts. Retrieved from Midwives of North Carolina: http://www.ncmidwives.org/legislative-efforts/