Committee reviews S.18 to create licensure, rules and Medicaid pathway for freestanding birth centers

Jen Carbine, legislative counsel with the Office of Legislative Counsel, presented a strike-all draft of S.18 on licensure for freestanding birth centers and walked the committee through definition, licensing, rules and coverage changes.

The draft would create a new chapter (chapter 53) governing birth-center licensing, revise definitions (including clarifying that a “certified nurse midwife” means an advanced practice registered nurse pursuant to existing statute with specialized training in childbirth and newborn care), and clean up language about licensed providers and midwives. "This is an act relating to licensure of freestanding birth centers," Carbine said.

The draft bars birth centers from providing epidural anesthesia or cesarean delivery, and requires the Department of Health to adopt rules "based on the National Birth Center Standards published by the American Association of Birth Centers." The rules must include written practice guidelines and procedures for transferring a patient to a hospital if circumstances warrant and, at a…