The program was enacted in response to an alleged medical malpractice insurance crisis. Several major malpractice insurers required that the liability risk attached to the delivery of profoundly injured babies be reduced in order for the insurers to remain in the obstetrical insurance market. The purpose of the Act is to protect practitioners and insurance companies by removing babies who have sustained severe birth-related neurological injuries from the tort system. According to the Executive Director of the Birth Injury Fund, only doctors and CNMs in participating institutions are covered by the fund. No insurer of CPMs has required CPMs to be part of such a fund as a requirement for insurance.
Home birth grows in popularity each year.
Today, Virginia is one of only nine states that prohibit the practice of CPMs. HB 1582 would fix that. It would allow CPMs to be licensed, and they would be subject to regulations developed by the Department of Health. They could obtain insurance, and clients with health insurance could obtain reimbursement. CPMs could closely coordinate with a client s physician as well as the local hospital, providing continuity of care and saving precious minutes in those rare emergencies.