By Gail M. Pfeifer, MA, RN, AJN news director

It seems even when doctors and nurses unite on an issue, there’s controversy. The Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure and the Mississippi Board of Nursing (MBON) both support state bill No. 695, which would allow only certified nurse-midwives to practice midwifery in the state, according to the December 2009 issue of the state board’s magazine. Melinda Rush, executive director of MBON, wrote that there have been “incidences of death and harm to infants born in situations that were less than safe,” and urged nurses to support the bill.

I wonder though, if the board did its homework on educating the public about their concerns. One objector to the bill wrote a letter to Governor Barbour, asking him to veto the bill if it lands on his desk, because “midwives are more qualified than Drs [sic] to deliver healthy low-risk babies.” And responses to an article on the topic in The Commercial Appeal indicate that consumers think the bill will entirely block women from having home births, literally pushing all deliveries into the hospital. Although the bill was amended to grandfather in professional non-nurse midwives with more than five years of experience, Birth Action Coalition is also urging Mississippi residents to oppose the bill, because […]