Grassroots Network Message 602004
Indiana midwife charged
Dear Friends,
While we do not bring you detailed news of every court case against midwives, this particular case is an unfortunate example of how vulnerable direct entry midwives can be in states without licensing.
Indiana has brought felony charges against long-time midwife and CPM Jennifer Williams for practicing medicine without a license and practicing midwifery without a license in Shelby County, Indiana. After 17 years of practice without incident, she was brought to the attention of authorities because of a stillbirth, and after an investigation, was found to have acted appropriately both in the delivery and her response to the emergency. Read a news account at: http://www.shelbynews.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=36261&SectionID=1&SubSectionID=&S=1 (Please note that the news account has some inaccuracies – for one thing, the baby died of asphyxia, ie, was stillborn; any cephalhematoma was incidental, and the midwife does not own and never used a vacuum extractor.) The parents are completely supportive of their midwife.
While Indiana midwives have been working on legislation for years, always without success, the charges brought against long-time midwife and CPM Jennifer Williams, unfortunate as they are, may be a catalyst for getting legislation passed to license CPMs. Indiana midwives and their supporters have so far done an admirable job at getting good press coverage followed by favorable letters to the editor.
Indiana law states that only a registered nurse may be licensed to practice midwifery. Midwives and supporters have been trying to pass a licensure bill in the Indiana legislature since 1993. Currently House Bill 1237, which would provide licensure for CPMs, is being blocked in the Senate Committee (as usual) by Senator Patricia Miller who chairs that committee. Senator Miller, who is a nurse, was quoted in the Indianapolis Star on Jan. 19: "My concern is whether or not they (midwives) are adequately trained and prepared to provide not only for the birthing of a child but also an emergency situation."
If you are interested in offering support, here is some more information (at this time, there is no website for updates on this case):
Contributions can be made to:
Friends of Jennifer Williams Legal Defense Fund
PO Box 1211
Bloomington, IN, 47402
Paypal - -use the email address birthroot1@yahoo.com
For more information about the bill for licensure, see http://members.aol.com/birthroot1/IMT.html .
Letters to legislators (see the website for details) from out-of-state people are welcome. Suggestions: If you are writing from out of state, talk about personal things - you had a homebirth, you support midwifery, or whatever; if you happen to live in a state where CPMs are licensed, or where non-nurse midwives are licensed it would be good to mention that.
Sincerely,
Susan Hodges, “gatekeeper”
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