HB315 Summary

• Creates a State Board of Midwifery composed of seven members appointed by the Governor to license and regulate certified professional midwives; board members include four certified professional midwives, one nurse practitioner, one certified nurse midwife or registered nurse, and one consumer representative.

• Exempts midwives holding current certified professional midwife credentials from an accredited organization from prosecution for practicing without a license, while making unlicensed lay midwifery a Class C misdemeanor.

• Establishes licensing requirements including age 21 or older, U.S. citizenship or legal residency, and certified professional midwife credential through accredited programs; licenses valid for 24 months with professional liability insurance minimum of $100,000 per occurrence and $300,000 aggregate.

• Defines scope of midwifery practice limited to antepartum, intrapartum, and postpartum care; prohibits licensed midwives from performing epidurals, narcotic analgesia, forceps delivery, cesarean sections, multiple pregnancies, and non-cephalic presentations.

• Requires licensed midwives to file birth certificates, maintain emergency care plans, provide client disclosure and informed consent forms, and report clinical data; grants physicians and hospitals immunity from liability for out-of-hospital births when midwife is not employed by them.