HARRISBURG, Pa. - It was an uncommon sight in Harrisburg Friday: scores of Amish and Mennonites rallying on the steps of the Capitol rotunda in support of a Strasburg lay midwife.

About 300 people attended the rally, which followed a hearing where the midwife, Diane Goslin, appeared before an examiner of the state Board of Medicine for allegedly practicing medicine and midwifery without a state license. She faces $40,000 in fines.

The 15-minute hearing allowed Goslin’s attorney and the state to review and agree on the facts of the case. There was no testimony, and a decision is not expected for at least six months.

Goslin admits she holds no license and does not have credentials required by the state to get a midwife license, including a registered-nurse degree and a passing grade on an exam.

But the 49-year-old says she is certified to perform midwifery by North American Registry of Midwives, a certification organization which she said is recognized by 28 states, but not Pennsylvania. She also has 25 years’ experience in the ancient tradition of midwifery, most often serving women in local Plain communities.

She also disputes she helped deliver a child in 2005, an event from which the accusations against her stem, saying she was “present for the birth of the child, but did not ‘deliver’ the child.”

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During the rally, women breastfed babies on the rotunda steps as news cameras rolled and children played on the floor, some leaving a trail of Cheerios in their wake.

Some people called “Praise God” in response to the speakers. Parents hauled in children, diaper bags and homemade signs declaring “Punish Diane and punish us too,” “Get your doctors off my birthing,” “Pregnancy is not a disease” and “The midwives feared God and did not do as the king said.”

One speaker, Daniel King, an Amish father of eight from Lancaster County, said lay midwives offer those in Plain communities a less-costly option of homebirth — which Goslin said typically costs $800 to $2,000 — compared with a minimum cost of $6,000 for hospital births.

“(Lay midwives) can come to our homes any time of the day or night because we have no transportation,” King said. “There are high costs in hospitals, more disease in hospitals. My wife is more comfortable at home. We have no insurances.

“My wife and neighbors are afraid of what will happen to them if Diane Goslin gets shut down.”

Pennsylvania’s licensed midwives are permitted to assist in homebirths.

Rita Rhoads Martinez Reed, a licensed midwife from Quarryville, said Wednesday licensed midwives typically charge several hundred dollars more for their services than do lay midwives, in part because they are required to carry malpractice insurance, which costs about $25,000 a year. Lay midwives don’t carry medical malpractice insurance.

Other issues raised at Friday’s rally reached beyond Goslin’s situation. Many of the rally speakers talked passionately about preserving midwifery and a woman’s right to deliver babies at home, both of which, the speakers claimed, are threatened in Pennsylvania.

Rhoads Martinez Reed said she knows of several health care professionals who have complained to the Board of Medicine about Goslin’s practices over 15 years. She also said Goslin jeopardizes her patients’ welfare by not following a regional standard of care.

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Goslin thanked those who supported her at the rally, and donations were taken to offset her legal expenses.

“God has given me a calling in the time-honored tradition. I serve women by attending them in natural childbirth,” she said. “Part of being a midwife is that I care. It’s not just a job I do.”

Goslin’s husband, Julius, also spoke Friday. He called for the state to recognize lay midwives who are certified without requiring additional education or testing.

“This is an issue whose time has come,” he said. “… It’s time to stop this witch hunt. The State Department needs to back down and recognize homebirths by midwives who are certified.”


Susan Lindt’s e-mail address is slindt@....