Pregnancy Isn't A Disease - Alabama Needs A Birth Center

I moved here in 2002 and at the time UAB was closing their birth center/midwifery practice. My understanding of it was that in Alabama, a doctor must supervise all deliveries. The existing birth center had gotten money to pay interns - MD's - but still training in OB. As long as they had an intern at the delivery, the midwife could deliver babies. Their funding source dried up and so did the birth center.
I found this info at: http://www.natcheztracematernitycenter.org/article.html
"Across the state line in Alabama, the rules are much different. There are no birth centers operated by midwives. "It's not the best state as far as being a midwife," said Vicki Brooks, a Montgomery nurse and state chairwoman of the American College of Nurse Midwives. Brooks said state law prohibits planned births outside of a hospital. Like their neighbors in Tennessee, Alabama midwives are regulated by the state Board of Nursing and must be registered nurses and graduate from an approved midwifery program. However, the similarities end there. Midwives in Alabama must work under a doctor's supervision and are usually hired by physicians rather than operating independently. "Any patient that we take care of is going to be admitted under our M.D. sponsor," Brooks said. She said the midwives do offer natural alternatives during childbirth, yet the births must occur in a hospital under the auspices of a doctor. There are about 54 certified nurse midwives in Alabama, although Brooks estimates the number of practicing midwives is much lower."

My rule of thumb is usually - if the insurance companies will allow it, it's probably pretty safe. That goes for roller coasters and birth centers. I had my second child, Ian, at a birth center in Delaware. I was under the care of a midwife for the entire nine months of my pregnancy as well as my follow-up GYN care and annual checkups. All paid for by Blue Cross of Pennsylvania. It cost the insurer less money for the birth center and the center was located across the street from a hospital, in case of an emergency.

Add that to the list while we wait for constitutional reform in Alabama.