Legality of Home Birth in South Dakota

Advantages of CPM Licensure for the Consumer

Home Birth - Legal or Not in South Dakota?

In South Dakota it is not against the law to have a home birth. You are also not breaking the law to have hired someone to assist you. However the person assisting at a birth risks being prosecuted for practicing medicine or nurse midwifery without a license. The practice of midwifery has never been made illegal in the state of South Dakota. The laws regarding nurse midwifery do not address other types of midwives; they solely state that it is not legal to practice as a nurse midwife without being licensed as a nurse midwife.

Lower courts in South Dakota have not been consistently able to distinguish between midwifery and nurse midwifery (the distinctions will be the subject of a future lesson, as they are important to appreciate), but when the issue reached a state supreme court (in Pennsylvania this past year) that higher court did accurately distinguish between midwifery and nurse midwifery as two separate professions.

If a case could be financed to the Supreme Court level in South Dakota the distinction between the two professions could be recognized and midwifery permitted to resume its historical position of un-regulated, un-licensed and un-restricted. There is no midwifery case suitable for the South Dakota Supreme Court on the horizon.

SDSCO is pursuing instead to have the practice of the Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) recognized and regulated by licensing in South Dakota.

Nationwide more and more midwives in unregulated states are being prosecuted. In many of these states, including Pennsylvania (where CPM, Diane Goslin won her case in the State Supreme Court), midwives and consumers are working together for CPM licensure because of its many benefits. (see page 2)

Advantages of CPM Licensure for Consumers

Consumers (homebirth families and anyone who has concern for the well-being of a homebirth family) may wish to identify for their legislators (and the press, and the medical community) how they are benefited by the licensing and regulation of CPMs. Specific benefits for consumer protection are:

1. A family is able to verify the status of a midwife prior to engaging in services. In the current climate of "underground" midwifery a family is unable to reliably distinguish between a birth attendant who has met education and practice standards and one who is providing services without necessary knowledge, skills and experience.

2. A family is assured that by selecting a licensed midwife they will be served according to best evidence of safety and informed consent. Licensing and regulation includes the definition of conditions which fall outside the realm of evidence for safety in the home-setting and require consultation or referral to medical care. The family and the midwife are both able to refer to the same established guidelines.

3. A family is assured that the midwife will be functioning as part of the healthcare team with responsibilities for timely consultation and referral when needed, and a full and appropriate transfer of care when necessary. Currently underground midwives and the families they serve are under a lot of pressure to delay/avoid consultation and transfer unless absolutely unavoidable, and the midwife is not free to provide records and information to the accepting physician and facility. Homebirth is safer when the midwife is a licensed and recognized part of the healthcare team able to communicate and consult with physician and hospital.

4. The community is protected by the process of licensing and regulation which allows midwives who have not met standards of education and safe practice to be identified, avoided, and restricted from practice.

5. In many states licensed midwives are able to legally carry and administer regulated quantities of life-saving medications that are unavailable to unlicensed midwives.

• Write, email or call your legislator using these consumer benefits to help your legislator understand why you support the licensing and regulation of CPMs in South Dakota.
• Use discussion of these benefits as the basis for a short letter to the editor of your local paper.
• Use these points when discussing your concerns for homebirth safety with healthcare professionals.
• Pass this lesson on to friends and family who support your desire to obtain safe and reliable care for your homebirth.