Saturday is "International Midwives' Day" in Wisconsin. The state now mandates license requirements for midwives delivering babies in out of hospital settings. Jane Crawford Peterson was the first midwife to be issued a license by the state. Crawford Peterson says she works with many uninsured and underinsured families, including members of the Mennonite and Amish communities. The mothers are generally those considered to be low risk. A delivery by a midwife can be considerably less costly than a conventional hospital birth. Crawford Peterson says state licensure means midwife services will be more widely available to people who do have insurance.
