The Rise and Fall of Midwives

There was a concerted campaign in the US to really stamp out midwives and midwifery, except for a period of time in places where they were the only real providers of health care. Today there's like 13 or 14 states that don't allow the practice of direct entry midwIfery but every couple years more states are changing their laws. And so state laws really do have a big impact because they affect who is able to practice or if people are able to practice at all as midwives. In 2017, one out of every 62 births took place outside the hospital. So birthing centers and midwives are starting to serve more and more mothers.