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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

NY Moms Gain Greater Choice in Childbirth

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Monday, August 23, 2010   

NEW YORK - Soon-to-be moms should see greater access to midwives in New York, thanks to recent action in Albany. The change in the law means 1,100 licensed midwives no longer have to have a written letter of agreement with a doctor in order to deliver a baby in New York.

MaryAnne Laffin has been a practicing midwife for 29 years and is a past president of the New York Association of Licensed Midwives. She lobbied for the change in part because, even with her extensive experience, she could no longer find a doctor who was willing to sign for her.

"Practically, it's needed because more and more obstetricians, because of the medical legal climate in New York State, do not want to sign a written agreement because of the vicarious liability."

The change was opposed by the New York State Medical Society, which argued patients would be less safe without the agreements. Laffin disputes that: She says obstetricians often need help from cardiologists, but they don't sign letters of agreement with them. She says midwives also call on doctors and specialists when needed.

At the National Association of Mothers' Centers, executive director Linda Lisi Juergens says families want to be able to make informed choices about childbirth.

"Having a baby in the hospital seems to be the norm for most people, but a growing number of women are interested in having a midwife delivery, either in the hospital or at home."

Midwife MaryAnne Laffin says the change in the law is helping hundreds of families who had no place to turn after St. Vincent's Hospital in New York city closed recently.

"Well, there were many, many midwives who practiced at St. Vincent's and had collaborative agreements with obstetricians at St. Vincent's, and once St. Vincent's closed so suddenly, all of these families no longer had a provider to go to for their birth."

Amnesty International supports the change in the New York law on human-rights grounds; more is at
www.nysalm.org


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