Midwifery Letter to Governor Paul Patton, from Donna Goebeler, RN, C.

Dear Governor Patton:

Last week I was in Bourbon County Court lending emotional support to Mary Ann Watson, a direct-entry midwife who has been charged with "practicing nursing without a license" or something to that effect. However, midwifery is not nursing. (I am a licensed RN in the State of Kentucky, and nursing is not midwifery!)

When my daughter was pregnant with her first child, I encouraged her to choose a midwife rather than a doctor. As a nurse, I knew that she would receive better care from a midwife and have a better chance for a good birth experience. Also, at that time and place (Floyd County), many OB/GYN's had a cesarean rate of 50%!! My daughter chose a nurse-midwife at Frontier Nursing Service in Hyden, KY. She was happy with services received and so, when pregnant again, here in Franklin County, chose Mary Ann Watson for her birth attendant. Our second grandchild was born at home and all went well. My husband and I went to a concert in Lexington knowing that our daughter was in labor. I would never have left had she been in a hospital with an attending M.D., rather, I would have been in the hospital trying to protect her from unnecessary interventions.

I believe that you are supportive of women's health issues and just wanted to point out that midwifery is cost-effective, safe, and worldwide the normal method of childbirth assistance!

Yours,

Donna Goebeler, RN,C.