SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO AM) - The House Health and Human Services Committee today deferred action on a bill establishing Certified Professional Midwife credentials in South Dakota.
Secretary of Health Kim Malsam-Rysdon says lay and professional midwives services are best utilized when pregnancies are low risk.
Malsam-Rysdon says that's the biggest issue the Department has with the bill is that there is not an assessment by a medical professional that the pregnancy is low-risk to begin with.
Measure proponent Republican Representative Kris Langer of Dell Rapids says licenses midwives can help reduce the infant mortality rate.
Langer says the measure asks for the advisory committee or the Board of Nursing to help administer the program.
The bill was deferred after over an hour-and-a-half of debate, with another half-hour of committee discussion expected. The committee chair did not announce the deferred date.