Alaska's midwifery board calls two work group meetings in September

Alaska's Board of Certified Direct-Entry Midwives has noticed two statutory work group meetings, at 9 am Sept. 9 and 9 am Sept. 15, both by teleconference and videoconference. Registration is required through a link in each notice. The notices do not say what the group will take up.

The five-member board writes the rules midwives practice under, including informed consent standards and limits that keep certain higher-risk conditions outside a midwife's scope.

Out-of-hospital birth is a meaningful share of how Alaskans are born. A state epidemiology bulletin found that of 65,030 in-state births to Alaska residents from 2013 through 2018, 5.3 percent happened at a birth center and 1.4 percent at a planned home birth. Certified direct-entry midwives attended just over 60 percent of those.

Separately, new fee regulations covering direct-entry midwives were filed Aug. 17 and take effect Sept. 16.

Anyone needing an accommodation to participate can call (907) 465-2550.