The Health and Human Services Committee heard testimony March 1 on a bill that would remove the state\u2019s prohibition on a certified nurse midwife attending a home birth.<\/p>\n
LB428, sponsored by Malcolm Sen. Ken Haar, would retain the requirement that a certified nurse midwife operate under the supervision of a licensed practitioner who is required to authorize a home birth.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt does not create an autonomous practice for certified nurse midwives,\u201d Haar said.<\/p>\n
Shanna Wright, member of the National Association of Social Workers, testified in support of the bill. The current prohibition does not prohibit home births, she said, but only prohibits certified professionals from attending those births.<\/p>\n
Fifty-eight planned home births were reported in Nebraska in 2012, Wright said, and those births would be safer if midwives legally could attend.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is wrong to continue legislatively blocking access to qualified medical care for Nebraska women,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Shahab Abdessalam, a pediatric surgeon at Children\u2019s Hospital in Omaha, also testified in support of the bill. The best way to track home births and maintain safety is to legalize and regulate attendance by medical professionals, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPregnancy is not a disease,\u201d Abdessalam said, \u201cand does not always need to take place in a hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sarah Cada, a Lincoln obstetrician, testified in opposition. She said the risk of maternal death for home births is two to three times higher than for hospital births.<\/p>\n
The committee took no immediate action on the bill.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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