|
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
|
CONTACT: Amy Figard |
State Rep. Ronald Waters |
|
|
|
|
|
|
House passes Waters bill to expand midwives’ scope of practice
HARRISBURG, June 27 – A bill to expand the scope of practice for Pennsylvania’s nurse midwives by giving them prescriptive power was unanimously approved by the House Tuesday, announced state Rep. Ronald G. Waters, D-Phila./Delaware, who sponsored the bill.
Waters said his legislation (H.B. 1255) would improve health care in Pennsylvania by allowing nurse midwives to prescribe prenatal vitamins and other prescriptions that are vital for healthy pregnancies.
“Nurse midwives have already been trained to prescribe these medications,” Waters said. “My bill simply changes an outdated law to let them practice to the full extent of their training and ability. There’s no reason why nurse midwives shouldn’t be able to prescribe medications. It’s an unnecessary limit that only serves to restrict access to health care.”
Under current law, Pennsylvania is the only state in the nation where nurse midwives do not have the authority to prescribe drugs. Waters said this creates an access problem for pregnant women, since maternity wards across the state are being forced to close.
“If the nearest maternity ward is an hour away, a nurse midwife can be a good alternative for health care, as long as that professional can actually perform his or her job to the fullest,” Waters said. “Allowing a woman to receive all of her obstetrical care from one nurse midwife provides her with another option for her maternity needs.”
Nurse midwives deliver approximately 10 percent of the babies who are born in the state, a number that is much higher in rural areas.
Waters’ legislation is part of a package of bills that make up Gov. Ed Rendell’s Prescription for Pennsylvania – a plan to improve the health care of all Pennsylvanians and make the health-care system more efficient and cost effective.
The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.
###jas/2007/agh
l:\print\releases\midwivesfinal.191