NEW YORK LAW TO BOOST RANKS OF MIDWIVES.(Life & Leisure)

Byline: MICHAEL LOPEZ Staff writer

Consumer demand and a critical shortage of obstetricians have contributed to midwifery's evolution, a growth being accelerated amid some debate in New York state.

Their numbers, however, have never been prolific.

First established in the 1920s to serve women in isolated areas of the Appalachians in eastern Kentucky, midwifery in the United States has never been the widespread practice it has been in Europe.

Because of expense and difficulty in recruiting instructors, there are only 36 nurse midwifery education programs in the nation, according to the American College of Nurse-Midwives. In New York, just two …