~ INTRODUCED BY SENATOR LIZ FIGUEROA ~
h
Section 4 ~ THE LEGISLATURE FINDS AND DECLARES
THAT:
(a) Childbirth is a
normal process of the human body and not a disease.
(b) Every woman has a
right to choose her birth setting from the full range of safe options available
in her community.
(c) The midwifery
model of care emphasizes a commitment to:
informed choice,
continuity of individualized care, sensitivity to the emotional and spiritual aspects
of childbearing, and includes monitoring the physical, psychological, and
social well-being of the mother throughout the childbearing cycle;
providing the mother
with individualized education, counseling, prenatal care, continuous hands-on
assistance during labor and delivery, and postpartum support;
minimizing
technological interventions and identifying and referring women who require
obstetrical attention
(d) Numerous studies
have associated professional midwifery care with safety, good outcomes, and
cost-effectiveness in the United States and in other countries. California
studies suggest that low-risk women who choose a natural childbirth approach in
an out-of-hospital setting will experience as low a perinatal mortality as
low-risk women who choose a hospital birth under management of an obstetrician,
including unfavorable results for transfer from the home to the hospital.
(e) The midwifery
model of care is an important option within comprehensive health care for women
and their families and should be a choice made available to all women who are
appropriate for and interested in home birth.