House OKs midwifery

Illegal for the past 10 years, "direct-entry" midwifery is headed for legal legitimacy under a bill passed by the House Tuesday.

HB227 establishes voluntary certification through the North American Registry of Midwives, with state oversight by the Utah Division of Occupational Licensing. The bill also allows midwives to administer certain non-narcotic drugs and use some medical devices. A midwifery board will be established to monitor the practice and investigate complaints.

Utah law has long given parents the right to decide where, when, how and with whom a woman can deliver a child, bill sponsor Rep. Jackie Biskupski, D-Salt Lake, said.

"The direct-entry midwife has been practicing in Utah for the last 150 years, including the last 10 when it's been illegal," said Biskupski. "Let's untie their hands and let them practice openly and freely without threat of arrest."

The House passed the measure 46-28.

Rep. Brad Last, R-St. George, tried to amend the bill to require mandatory certification by 2007. Last said he was uncomfortable sanctioning midwifery if certification is only voluntary. That proposal failed.

Questions were raised about training, accreditation, the storage and handling of medications and the use of medical devices that might put midwives on par with nurses or physicians. But in the end, parental choice won out.

"People are old enough and smart enough to make the decisions whether they want to go to a hospital or to a midwife, knowing full well the risks," said Rep. David Ure, R-Kamas. "The bottom line is, do we give people the right to choose?"