HB 1127 Summary

• Establishes the midwifery board under the Indiana professional licensing agency to regulate certified direct entry midwives (CDEMs) through licensure and continuing education requirements.

• Sets licensing qualifications for CDEMs requiring CPM credentials from the North American Registry of Midwives, high school diploma, MEAC-approved educational curriculum, practical experience, and CPR/neonatal resuscitation training.

• Limits CDEM practice to nonhospital settings and allows administration of specific prescription drugs including vitamin K, emergency antihemorrhagic drugs, local anesthetics, oxygen, Rhogam, and prophylactic eye and antibiotic agents.

• Requires informed consent disclosures from CDEMs to clients detailing education, experience, emergency backup plans, and transfer-of-care procedures, with annual reporting of births to the board.

• Establishes criminal penalties for practicing midwifery without licensure (Class A misdemeanor on first violation; Class D felony on subsequent violations) and reclassifies unlicensed medical practice as knowingly or intentionally undertaken.