1. Home birth is legal in South Dakota and many families are giving birth out of hospital for philosophical, practical, religious or financial reasons.
2. When SD licenses and regulates midwives who meet standardized national criteria, the safety of home birth babies and mothers will improve.
3. When South Dakota doctors are able to legally confer with professional midwives, faster, more thorough transfers of care will be possible reducing complications and increasing good outcomes for mothers, babies, and hospital staff.
4. Certified Professional Midwives are specialists in low tech, out of hospital care and could play a major role in safeguarding South Dakota’s most vulnerable citizens during a natural disaster, pandemic, or terrorist event.
5. Requiring South Dakota midwives to carry malpractice insurance will not improve outcomes for babies and mothers and because this insurance is not available, will prevent licensed midwives from assisting at home births.
6. Licensing professional midwives has proven to be a low cost, effective way to improve outcomes for babies and mothers and no state that has implemented a licensure program has revoked it.