Legislation passed by the state assembly in May and by a senate committee on Monday would ease some restrictions faced by midwives in California but would not lift a requirement of physician oversight. That law, though currently unenforced, effectively bars Medi-Cal recipients—25 to 30 percent of Marin’s pregnant women—from midwifery services.
Pushing to allow licensed midwives to operate independently and lawfully are both midwives themselves and a coalition representing families. They say home birth offers…