Zatera Ul

I found this article through Rixa, about midwives angling for a place in health care reform:

U.S. Maternal and newborn charges totaled $86 billion in 2006, 45 percent of which was paid for by Medicaid. The federal government is already footing a huge portion of the U.S.’ maternity-care bill, and these midwives think they can help reduce costs significantly, and not just for low-income women.

There must be a significant correlation between “low-income” and young here-the childbearing years are also the career-building years. But still, a 45% subsidy of national baby production costs is huge. I think that the people who think they can’t afford to have more babies need to start having more babies.

I’m just playing connect-the-dots here, but I see a federal push for natural childbirth under midwife care coming in somewhere under the health care reform umbrella. Not now in the first wave of legislation, because there would be too much public outcry that might endanger the passage of the bills, but as something that will be phased in later on as a cost-saving and outcome-improving measure.