Some expecting parents in Kentucky and the rest of the country hire a midwife to help care for the pregnant woman before the birth, during the birth and after the birth.

A midwife is professionally trained and generally provides a more holistic and natural approach during low-risk pregnancies and childbirth than obstetricians. On the other hand, obstetricians specialize in higher-risk pregnancies and surgeries.

A problem arises when midwives take on pregnancies and deliveries with complications that they are not trained to handle. Such is the case for a New Hampshire couple who say their daughter was severely injured during her birth in 2009 and now suffers from cerebral palsy.

The couple sued the midwife and the lawsuit was recently settled for $730,000. About $386,000 of the amount will be placed in a trust for the child, $40,000 will go to the parents of the girl, and the remainder will go to attorneys' fees and Medicaid for medical bills that accumulated after the child's birth, the Concord Monitor reported.

According to the lawsuit, the New Hampshire couple alleged that their daughter suffers from cerebral palsy and had to be hospitalized for 21 days after she was born in January 2009 all because of mistakes made by the midwife.

Specifically, the couple alleged that the mother's pregnancy presented several risk factors, but the midwife never referred the couple to a obstetrician. Additionally, the midwife failed to send the mother to the hospital when she could not find the baby's heartbeat during labor, court documents stated.

The midwife, who defended her actions during the birth of the child, forfeited her license last year and had a malpractice insurance policy limit of $1 million.

Many midwives, the Concord Monitor reported, do not carry malpractice insurance because their states do not require them to in order to be licensed.

Before hiring a midwife in Kentucky or elsewhere, check to see if he or she is covered by malpractice insurance, and remember that midwives are only trained to handle low-risk pregnancies.

Source: Concord Monitor, "Midwife settles suit for $730,000," Maddie Hanna, Aug. 23, 2011.