A Utah midwife convicted in the death of a premature twin baby marks a rare criminal case that comes as out-of-hospital births grow in popularity in the U.S. and more states move to license midwives. Vickie Sorensen, 57, was sentenced to six months in jail Tuesday for manslaughter by a judge who called it one of the most difficult cases he'd ever presided over. Home births, though, can carry slightly elevated risks for women who have higher-risk pregnancies, like twins or breech babies, Low said. When doctors face malpractice allegations, for example, the first stop might be a licensure board rather than a criminal investigation. "The reason manslaughter charges become the route to pursue is you don't have licensure," Low said.

Source: ABC News February 01, 2017 22:27 UTC