Hinson introduces bills to help train midwives; state law lags
VINTON, Iowa (KWWL) -- Six of Iowa's counties are deserts for prenatal and childbirth health care: Worth, Buchanan, Jackson, Jones, Benton and Iowa.
U.S. Representative Ashley Hinson is trying to change that. Today, the Congresswoman helped introduce two bi-partisan bills designed to train more midwives and build more birthing centers to rural areas of the country. Hinson joins another Republican and two Democrats in supporting these bills.
The Midwives for MOMS Act would provide grants for students becoming midwives, with special consideration for those who are willing to work in rural communities where there's a shortage of maternal and fetal health care.
"We need to make sure we have skilled providers so if you're an expectant mom, you don't have to drive two hours to get the right care," Hinson said.
The second bill, called the "Birth Access Benefiting Improved Essential Facility Services Act," or the "BABIES Act," would improve access to free-standing birthing centers to provide prenatal, labor and delivery care and provides planning grants to states for that purpose.
Bethany Gates is a Certified Professional Midwife at Shiphrah Birth Services in Vinton. She says the state laws are not friendly to midwives and birthing centers.
Direct Entry Midwives are not regulated by the state so they can't get a license even if they wanted one. Certified Nurse Midwives are licensed as advanced nurse practitioners.
"By not adding midwife-friendly laws, we're not bringing in new midwives. Midwives are leaving the state to go to neighboring states to do offer licensure and freedom to practice. So, Iowa is losing out by not doing this," Gates said.
She says her practice has doubled the amount of home births she has attended the pandemic started because she says mothers are concerned about exposure and hospital restrictions.
Iowa has just one stand-alone birthing center.
"They can incentivize all they want but as long as Certificate of Need laws still exist and as long as Direct Entry Midwives -- Certified Professional Midwives -- are kept out of the ability to qualify for a birthing center, then you're not going to see an increase in free-standing birthing centers," Gates said.
It's something Gates has been advocating for for twenty years.
"It's helpful because I think if the federal government starts to recognize midwives as necessary, our state will feel that pressure but I still maintain that our state should not need federal pressure to do that," Gates said, "We have the studies that back up that midwifery is what keeps making birth safer for moms and babies."
This new proposed federal legislation may provide Gates the opportunity to help get the state laws to catch up.