I don’t know about if there are actually laws preventing a person from having a homebirth anywhere, but there are laws that make it difficult to have a safe one.

In NE, a woman can give birth anywhere. However, if someone assists her, they’d better have a medical license, more specifically, in NE, they’d better have the initials M.D. behind their name. M.D.’s don’t need to attend homebirths because enough people go to their offices and hospitals for care. Besides, the idea of a homebirth is that you are cared for the entire labor and M.D.’s do not traditionally have the set-up for that. That is one reason why women choose mid-wives.

CNM’s are certified nurse midwives and most are within the laws and regulations to assist birthing women in hospitals. In some states, they can assist women in birth centers, and even at home. However, in NE, they can only assist in hospitals.

Part of the issue with homebirth is the liability insurance increases. That is becuase of insurance companies and not really based on anything other than their policies. How well they understand the literature and worldwide health rates is not clear. It is not financially worthwhile for most doctor’s to insure to deliver babies at home.

Anyway, the way the NE law stands, if a woman gives birth at home and her husband, the father of the baby she is birthing, assists, he can be prosecuted for practicing medicine without a license, unless he is a medical doctor.

Besides being completely backwards to how the rest of the world, including 1st world, considers birth and homebirth, it’s even backward to how my mother was delivered around 60 years ago. This is something that came up new.

So, indeed, this is an issue that should not be one. I think it is a case of others thinking they know what is best and even worse, that everyone will do as they are told because they are told that. What is dangerous about the law as it stands is for those women who do not want to go to the hospital (for myself it basically stops labor to travel there, which ruins the entire point) there is no one they can legally have help them without fear of jail for everyone involved, or worse, having your child taken away.

YES, this is another ex of the gov’t deciding what is best for us because they only think of money. What comes naturally and only is right doesnt make them money.

Legislature moves slow. When everything was pretty much killed, and actually took a step backward from the previous time it had been presented, the major organizers re-grouped. There are some things we have to wait out now.

The supporting organization is Nebraska Friends of Midwives: http://www.nemidwives.org/index.php
Here’s the update from the president regarding pursuing this in 2008: “LEGISLATION: We will not be pursuing legislation this year. We were able to find a sponsor, but that individual was not willing to take up the bill without support from at least half of the HHS committee. Given our late start, we weren’t able to organize the necessary meetings in time to guarantee that support. We also considered the person who is the chair of the HHS committee to be a major count against us, and feel waiting a year may help our odds.”

Thanks for checking up!