Emergency services and care: nurse-midwives

The law clarifies that emergency-care rules do not require physician supervision when nurse-midwives deliver authorized care in labor-and-delivery and obstetric emergency settings. It also preserves a treating physician's ability to request a nurse-midwife's obstetric consultation.

What the law does ​

• Exempts licensed nurse-midwives from physician-supervision requirements in labor and delivery units, obstetric triage, and dedicated emergency obstetric evaluation units when providing care within their authorized scope.
• Applies the same exemption when a treating physician specifically requests a nurse-midwife to provide obstetric consultation.
• Applies the clarification to the emergency-services rules governing hospitals and the specified active-labor transfer arrangement between Stanford Hospital and Clinics and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford.

Who it affects ​

• Licensed nurse-midwives providing authorized obstetric care.
• Hospitals and emergency obstetric units.
• Patients receiving care during labor or obstetric emergencies.