State Midwives Rally Around Bill To Ease Restrictions on Home Births
California midwives and their advocates are supporting legislation (AB 1308) that would loosen restrictions on home births, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Bill Details
The measure -- by Assembly member Susan Bonilla (D-Concord) -- would give midwives the ability to order medical supplies and tests without a physician's approval.
The bill is sponsored by the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Reaction to Bill
Although the California Association of Midwives supports the bill, its president, Constance Rock, said lawmakers also should eliminate a state requirement that physicians supervise all home births.
The requirement bars insurance policies -- including Medi-Cal, California's Medicaid program -- from covering births performed by midwives alone. Advocates for midwives say this discourages California women from pursuing home births.
Bonilla said that she plans to hold meetings during the Assembly's July recess to address the physician supervision requirement and that she hopes to eliminate it through an amendment to AB 1308 (White, Sacramento Bee, 7/8).
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