Some moms want to deliver their babies at home, but that can be complicated

Jennifer Crook is a licensed midwife who lives in Birmingham, Ala. She has presided over about 200 home births, but to do so, she and her patients have had to drive two hours across the state line to Tennessee.

The reason: Alabama is among 22 states that do not license midwives who deliver babies outside hospitals. And violating the rules in Alabama isn’t worth the risk.

“It’s certainly not a place that you want to practice as an illegal midwife — because the state has prosecuted in the past,” said Crook, whose license is from Tennessee. She began her training in 1997 and practiced until 2012. Now she lobbies for licensing in Alabama.

By not allowing midwives to perform out-of-hospital births, Crook said, states are depriving expectant mothers who may not have easy access to obstetric care in a hospital of a safe and, for some, desirable method of delivery.