Legal Briefing: Home Birth and Midwifery
Journal of Clinical Ethics, Vol. 24, No. 3, p. 293 (2013).
Posted: 28 Sep 2013 Last revised: 1 Jul 2014
Date Written: 2013
Abstract
Since 2009, Professor Pope has authored a quarterly "Legal Briefing" column for the Journal of Clinical Ethics. Each briefing comprehensively reviews legal developments concerning a particular issue in clinical bioethics. The Journal of Clinical Ethics owns the exclusive copyright to distribute the full-text content.
This issue’s “Legal Briefing” column 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
Keywords: legal briefing, home birth, birth, pregnant, prenatal care, midwife, midwives, non-nurse, DEM licensure, medicaid coverage, baby, certified nurse
JEL Classification: I00, I10, I18, I11, K32, K41
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation