Lobbyists for the Missouri Medical Association, and the Hospital Association, seeing birth centers as competition, have a lot at stake to keep birth centers out of our state. The Friends of Missouri Birth Centers received word today that all requests for regulation changes-to bring our state in line with national standards- have been flatly denied. This includes an amendment to allow all legal birth service providers to practice in birth centers (CPMs were recently legalized in Missouri and are not listed in the regs). We will work to get this issue resolved. It is a case of restraint of trade, using financial disincentives to limit the ability of small businesses to enter the market.
The worst thing is that in this case, the small businesses that are being targeted aren’t gift shops or car washes, they are health providers that might actually help our state’s abysmal health record for mothers and babies.