KAPAA — About a dozen rain-soaked people took to the street late Friday afternoon in downtown Kapaa to protest proposed legislation that would discourage home births using a midwife. The bill to establish a home birth board was introduced by
KAPAA — About a dozen rain-soaked people took to the street late Friday afternoon in downtown Kapaa to protest proposed legislation that would discourage home births using a midwife.
The bill to establish a home birth board was introduced by Dist. 3 State Sen. Josh Green and the testimony of advocates led to a task force version that would address issues related to home birth safety. It’s currently in the Ways and Means committee.
But on Friday, people came out against the proposal. They said the law could be too restrictive for midwives.
“The first version of the bill would have permitted someone like me to be there, but there would have been so many obstacles that it would have served as a deterrent,” said Sharon Offley, of Kapaa, a registered nurse with a master’s degree in nurse midwifery.
Two of Offley’s three children were born outside of a birth center and she said that women and families should not have unnecessary obstacles to choosing the birth setting or the attendants.
To recommend physicians over caregivers who already have prescriptive authority and pay malpractice to support healthy, low-risk women that choose a more independent birth is redundant care, Offley said.
“I am much more pleased with the latest provision to create a task force of interested players who can have meaningful conversation about optimizing safety in Hawaii. “This is also a good time for hospitals to have more accountability and transparency in their policies as well as around nutrition and hydration in labor, and routine newborn care to ensure safety no matter the family’s choice.”
Offley said her practice has had as many as 13 home births in a month. The numbers may be lower than her previous work in Houston and Philadelphia, but the percentile for the small island population says more families are interested.
Mieko Aoki, a women’s advocate who went to Honolulu to testify on the legislation, said the demonstration was to remind everyone that the woman’s body naturally knows how to give birth.
“A woman has a right to choose the circumstances with which to give birth and with whom,” Aoki said.
An earlier version of the bill required home birth providers to be licensed to keep track of and ensure training levels. Now, the proposal would create a task force comprised of varied stakeholders including mothers who have given birth at home, traditional healers and midwives and physicians to discuss the issue together.
Aoki said the bill was specific to regulate midwives. It would restrict a woman’s choice in identifying a practitioner to support and guide her through a traditional home birth. When they choose to give birth with the support of midwives and doulas (a nonmedical assistant), with their partners and children present, they are choosing a loving and caring space for gentle and safe birth.
“Women have the courage and the power to give birth without interventions and fear,” she said.
Amalia Gray of Kapaa is a registered nurse. She became a supporter from her own home birthing experience and working with midwives, and wants to earn her master’s degree and become one herself.
“My goal is to become a certified nurse midwife,” she said.
For healthy women at low risk, the ability to birth without a cascade of interventions is the preferable option to avoiding complications, she said. The team in place works and the legislation threatens the integrity of the midwifery process and is designed to install fear in the consumer and takes the family out of the equation.
“It comes down to the Senate putting restrictions on home birthing,” she said.
For fear of prosecution, the bill discourages rather than eases the transition of care to physicians at a time when the community of health professionals should be working together more cohesively, she said.
Astrid Drolson of Moloaa said she had a good experience with home birthing. She created an outdoor water-birthing event that included three midwives, her spouse and children, two doulas and friends to video and offer support. She labored for two days but said there were no complications.
“It was beautiful and really empowering,” Drolson said.
• Tom LaVenture, staff writer, can be reached at 245-0424 or by emailing tlaventure@thegardenisland.com.
