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New Laws. The laws on midwifery vary from state to state, but generally a nurse trained in the profession may deliver a baby unaided as well as give local anesthetics, perform minor obstetric surgery and fit contraceptives. Midwives work in maternity clinics connected with hospitals as well as in homes, but wherever they work, a doctor must be always on call in case of emergency. Several states even require that a doctor be in the room when a baby is delivered, no matter how normal the circumstances. In a speech to last week's convention, Dr. Roger Egeberg, special assistant to the Secretary of HEW in the area of health policy, called midwives "urgently needed health-care professionals," and called for legislation to enhance their status.
Dr. G.J. Kloosterman, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Amsterdam, told the conference that approximately 70% of all babies born could be satisfactorily delivered by midwives. A substantial number already are—and not merely in the underdeveloped countries of Africa and Asia. Professional midwives handle the majority of normal births in such technologically advanced countries as Sweden, Germany and The Netherlands. In England, which has one of the world's most advanced health-care systems, 80% of all births are handled by midwives.