Two area midwives face expiring agreement

Oneonta Daily Star - Oneonta,NY, October 31, 2006

By Amy L. Ashbridge
Staff Writer

The agreement between a local health-care provider and its midwives has ended, leaving one midwife no option but to close her practice at the end of November.

Certified nurse-midwives Maureen Sullivan and Lucia Jenkusky have been informed that an agreement they had with Dr. Will Lee will no longer be in place next year, Sullivan said last week.

Having been unable to find an obstetrician to start a new agreement, Sullivan said she is looking to leave the area so she can continue practicing. She will close in Oneonta as of Nov. 30.

"I have to. I have no choice," Sullivan said. "I love what I do. I don’t want to give it up. I feel so honored to be at a birth."

State law requires that midwives have a "collaborative agreement" with an obstetrician. That agreement allows the midwife to "consult with them immediately if complications arise at any time during the childbearing process," according to the state Board of Midwifery.

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