The trend of infants born outside the hospital in Alabama has drawn nationwide attention to problems of midwife licensing and training, coordination between doctors and midwives, as well as arrangements for shifting women to hospitals, incase issues arise. The state is currently facing a crisis in maternity, with rates getting bigger and bigger.
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported an increased rate of out-of-hospitals births from 1.26 percent in 2011 up to 1.36 percent in 2012, continuing a rise that started in 2004. The increase is greatly attributed to more women wanting to prevent medical interferences like epidurals, induced labor, cesarean sections, a risk of "obstetric violence" and episiotomies.
March of Dimes Premature Birth Report Card recently issued the state of Alabama a grade "F" which makes the country the worst nation to give birth for the past few years. This is because the state has limited access to high-quality maternal care due to sudden closings of hospitals' delivery room in the past years as a result of economic crisis.
In Alabama, certified professional midwives (CPMs) are banned and certified nurse midwives (CNMs) can't attend home-births but can practice legally in hospitals. However the ban, instead of extinguishing the midwifery practice in the state, has efficiently made home-births even more known, as they have gone all over state lines and underground.
Jennifer Crook, a CPM at Birmingham, told Yahoo News: "We have a maternity crisis in this country, and it's getting bigger and bigger and bigger, and we're not talking about one little niche population that's just gung-ho about midwifery care." She added that the state not only has women driving hours over a state border to get legally recognized midwives and women also who want hospital births but also women having to drive long hours just to access the less than a handful of obstetricians in the state.
Now, advocates of home-births have been pushing a state legislature named Childbirth Freedom Act (House Bill 284) to alter the legal status of midwives. However, the passing of the legislation has been stuck in the Health Committee of House of Representatives of Alabama.
