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Troubled Arkansas midwife practicing in Oklahoma

A mother’s viral Facebook post about her traumatic birth highlights state’s lax laws.

By Lucille Sherman | USA TODAY NETWORK
August 23, 2019

A midwife with an open warrant for practicing without a license in Arkansas is delivering babies in Oklahoma, a state with no oversight of non-nurse midwives.

Certified professional midwife Debra Disch’s troubled past came to light on Aug. 17 after an Oklahoma mother who had hired Disch shared her traumatic out-of-hospital birth experience on Facebook. 

Suzie Bigler’s post went viral, garnering more than 1,900 likes, 660 comments and 2,100 shares in less than a week. Her story also was picked up by at least one TV station.

Lucille Sherman
Lucille Sherman
Lucille Sherman is GateHouse Media’s national data reporter. She works on national, data-driven projects for the company and also helps smaller newspapers with their own data projects.

Filed Under: Data stories

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