HB 1678 -- Midwifery

Sponsor:  Long

This bill changes the laws regarding midwifery.  In its main
provisions, the bill:

(1)  Adds a professional midwife to the list of professionals who
must collect the appropriate specimens to be submitted to the
Department of Health and Senior Services in order to test
newborns for metabolic and genetic diseases;

(2)  Specifies that a birth certificate filed by a professional
midwife as the certifier of the birth certificate cannot require
the signature of a notary or any other witness;

(3)  Establishes the Board of Professional Midwives within the
Division of Professional Registration in the Department of
Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration.
The six-member board is to be appointed by the Governor with the
advice and consent of the Senate.  The powers, duties, terms, and
membership of the board are specified in the bill;

(4)  Requires an applicant to provide evidence of current
certification as a certified midwife by the North American
Registry of Midwives and current certification in basic life
support for healthcare providers and infant or neonatal
cardiopulmonary resuscitation, pay the required fee, and comply
with the written disclosure requirement;

(5)  Requires a licensee to attend at least 10 hours of
continuing education and at least three hours of peer review
every year in order to be eligible for license renewal which will
be for a three-year period;

(6)  Authorizes the board to refuse to issue or renew, suspend,
limit, restrict, or revoke a certificate of registration and
cause a complaint to be filed with the Administrative Hearing
Commission;

(7)  Authorizes the board to establish fees at a level to produce
revenue that does not substantially exceed the costs of the
administration of the provisions of the bill.  Moneys collected
will be deposited into the newly created Board of Professional
Midwives Fund;

(8)  Requires a licensed midwife to present each client with a
written disclosure statement containing specified information
which must be signed by the client and kept by the midwife in the
client's records;

(9)  Requires, as a condition of licensure, a professional
midwife to carry medical malpractice insurance under the same
conditions as physicians;

(10)  Exempts certain specified medical providers from civil
liability when treating a woman or infant during childbirth as a
consequence of care received from a licensed midwife unless the
act or omission was the result of negligence or willful
misconduct on the part of the physician, nurse, medical
technician, hospital, or its agent;

(11)  Requires a licensed professional midwife to be reimbursed
under the MO HealthNet Program at the same compensation rate as a
physician;

(12)  Requires the Department of Health and Senior Services to
maintain and publish on its website specified statistics
regarding births for all Missouri maternity care providers;

(13)  Prohibits a registered midwife from prescribing drugs;
performing vacuum deliveries, medical inductions, cesarean
sections, or abortions; and using forceps during a delivery;

(14)  Removes midwives from the supervision of the State Board of
Registration for the Healing Arts; and

(15)  Removes the provision which specifies that anyone who
engages in the practice of midwifery other than a licensed
physician will be guilty of the unlawful practice of medicine and
repeals Section 334.260, RSMo, regarding the licensure of
midwives;

Any person violating the provisions of the bill will be guilty of
a class A misdemeanor.

Missouri House of Representatives
Last Updated March 14, 2012 at 7:56 pm