Midwife law should not be changed

To the editor:

Many mothers and newborns could be placed in harm's way with a law being proposed this year to legalize non-nurse midwives in Missouri. Lay or direct-entry midwives seek the state's approval to deliver babies in the home setting as a profession. However, they do not have the medical training that a physician or a certified nurse midwife has to determine risks, to understand the overall health of the mother and baby and to provide full obstetrical care. Lay midwives lack the ability or choices to deal with emergency situations.

Under the midwife bill being considered, a lay midwife would not be required to coordinate care with a physician experienced in obstetrical care. Lay midwives would be virtually immune from accountability for any bad outcomes.

The law we have allowing home births in Missouri should not be changed. Already, midwifery is legal in this state when performed by a licensed, certified nurse midwife working in collaboration with a licensed physician.

The risks and bad outcomes are just too devastating not to get this right.

Dr. THOMAS D. KELLEY III, President, Missouri Academy of Family Physicians, Liberty, Mo.