Advisory committee recommends support for AB 1696 to clarify midwife role in emergency obstetric care

The Nurse Midwifery Advisory Committee recommended that the California Board of Registered Nursing support AB 1696, a bill to clarify when nurse midwives may provide emergency services or care in labor-and-delivery and obstetric triage settings without physician supervision.

Marissa Clark, the board's chief of legislative and regulatory affairs, summarized the bill as aligning state health-and-safety code provisions with the Business and Professions Code to ensure that physician-supervision requirements are consistent when a midwife is acting within their license. "The bill isn't expanding the scope of practice; rather it's really just trying to align the provisions," Clark said.

Committee members said the bill would codify routine practice in hospitals where midwives routinely evaluate and manage patients in obstetric triage and initial emergency assessments. One member asked how federal EMTALA requirements interact with state law; staff responded that state provisions mirror the federal requirement that a medical screening exam occur and that the clarification does not remove the need for referral when a case is beyond a midwife's scope.

Kim moved a recommendation that the board support AB 1696; Dr. Burn seconded. The committee conducted a roll-call vote and recorded unanimous support among members present.

The committee will forward the recommendation and its reasoning to the Board for inclusion in the board's legislative position materials.