Midwifery
Next stop for birth center regulations: Alabama Legislative Council
The final step for controversial new rules on birth centers will be the Legislative Council. Following a public comment period, the Alabama Department of Public Health Thursday approved the proposed rules, which will require birth centers to have oversight by a physician or medical director. The rules proposed would also require birth centers to be […]
Alabama Department of Public Health approves birth center regulations
The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) Thursday approved a set of rules that would require birthing centers to have oversight by a physician or medical director at its State Committee of Public Health meeting in Montgomery Thursday. The rules proposed would also require birth centers to be within 30 minutes of a hospital with […]
Hospitals block much-needed birth centers in the South
When Katie Chubb announced in 2021 she was planning to open a freestanding birth center in Augusta, Georgia, it seemed like everybody in town was excited about it. She met with local physicians and nurses who said they would welcome her Augusta Birth Center as a provider of midwifery services for low-risk pregnancies. Hundreds of […]
ACLU sues Alabama Department of Public Health over birth center regulations
The American Civil Liberties Union Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH), alleging that its policies make it impossible for birth centers to operate in the state. The 46-page lawsuit alleges that ADPH has effectively forced birth centers – facilities that provide an in-between option for individuals who do not […]
Midwifery grows in Alabama amid maternal health challenges
Kate Petty, a 41-year-old mother, has had two hospital births and two home births after that. In her second hospital birth, her newborn baby, Eliza, passed away just a few hours after being born. She didn’t understand how that happened to Eliza when her pregnancy was without complications up to that point – what she […]
ADPH proposes physician oversight for birthing centers
The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) last week approved a set of rules for public comment that would require birthing centers to have oversight by a physician or medical director. The rules proposed would also require birthing centers to be within 30 minutes of a hospital with OB-GYN services. “The real central issue that […]