By Catherine M. Welch
Wilmington, NC – Those looking to change North Carolina's law to allow licensing midwives for home births say they're going to try again in the next legislative session.
Victoria Brown, founder of North Carolina Friends of Midwives, says her group is pushing to legalize and license certified professional midwives to help women give birth at home. Legislation for licensing was moving forward until it died in committee last month.
Brown says keeping midwives underground pose public health concerns.
"So with licensing there's a way to track the midwives that are practicing, and making sure they are certified through the national standards of the North American Alliance for Midwives."
A recent study out of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds North Carolina saw a statistically significant increase in homebirths between 2003 and 2006.
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