Current Hawaiʻi laws differentiate between a midwife and a traditionally trained birth attendant. For the latter, if a law doesn’t get past this legislative session, some of these practices will be illegal come July. HPR's Sabrina Bodon delved deeper into the discussion.
Fervent testifiers over many hours at Maui County Council sought the freedom to choose birth practitioners regardless of licensure status. Apprenticeship-trained midwives would be criminalized after July 1 when the current exemption expires if the state doesn’t approve pending legislation.