NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1981 SESSION

CHAPTER 676

HOUSE BILL 695

AN ACT TO STUDY AND REGULATE THE PRACTICE OF MIDWIFERY IN NORTH CAROLINA.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1. The Secretary of the Department of Human Resources is hereby directed to undertake a study of the safety and efficacy of out-of-hospital delivery, including an examination of the State's role in licensing or otherwise permitting the activities of birth attendants functioning in the nonhospital setting. The Secretary shall consult with representatives of the North Carolina Board of Medical Examiners, the North Carolina Board of Nursing, the North Carolina Commission for Health Services, experts from the fields of obstetrics, public health, nurse midwifery and lay midwifery, as well as citizens who have a strong interest in out-of hospital delivery. The Secretary shall report the findings of this study to the 1983 Session of the General Assembly.

Sec. 2. G.S. 130-187 is rewritten to read as follows:

"§ 130-187. Regulation of midwives. - No person shall practice midwifery in this State without a permit granted by the Department of Human Resources and also being under the supervision of a physician licensed to practice medicine. The department shall issue a permit to only those applicants who have been certified as Certified Nurse Midwives by the American College of Nurse-Midwives and who otherwise demonstrate sufficient training and experience."

Sec. 3. G.S. 90-172 is amended on lines 3 and 4 by deleting the words "or a local department of health".

Sec. 4. G.S. 130-112 is amended by deleting everything after the word "registration" on line 5.

Sec. 5. Any individual who has held a valid midwifery permit in North Carolina for more than 10 years may continue to practice midwifery.

Sec. 6. Severability. If any provision of this act or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect the provision or application of the act which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this act are severable.

Sec. 7. Funding. The provisions of this act shall be implemented without the appropriation of funds by the General Assembly.

Sec. 8. This act is effective July 1, 1981.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 25th day of June, 1981.