Inspiring Policy From the Netherlands

This article from the St. Charles Journal is a few days old, but it’s still an interesting read. The subject: Tom-Jan Meeus, a journalist from the Netherlands who is traveling around the United States, and writing about politics and culture here. The article describes some stories Meeus has reported on recently, and one of them is the midwifery issue in Missouri. Meeus notes that midwifery has gained wider acceptance in the Netherlands:

“My two kids were born with the help of the midwives,” he says.

The author of the article seems more interested in Meeus’ predictions about Obama, and quickly moves on to discuss politics and the upcoming election. The comments to the article, though, pick up on the midwife issue. Here’s what “Natalie” has to say:

I love that he interviewed the woman and her midwife. Very cool. That is definitely a big issue right now, whether women here will have the freedoms women have in other states and countries, and the access to skilled and personal care during pregnancy and birth.

I rarely find myself arguing that Missouri should resemble Scandinavian countries, but on the question of freedom for midwives and expecting parents, I’ve got to agree. Oh, and we could use more parental choice in education, too.