Parents protest outside Union Hospital

TERRE HAUTE, Ind (WTHI) - Wabash Valley mothers and fathers lined a Terre Haute city street on Tuesday afternoon fighting for a service they believe in.

They stood in the rain because Union Hospital decided not to renew their contract with the midwives.

Union Hospital’s decision has put mothers like Catherine Harris in a bind.

"I think, I cried when I found out they were getting fired," Harris said.

The contract ends right before her due date at the end of October.

"It's heart breaking because I have been through this whole pregnancy with the same midwife that delivered my other child and now it is like what do we do," Harris said.

So they stood there, sending a message to folks driving by that a valuable service once offered could be gone forever.

"There are people in this city that want midwives, at Union at Regional wherever we can get them," Harris said.

Union Hospital released the following statement:

"Ultimately only time will tell if the midwives decide to stay in the area. We hope the midwives stay in the community and continue to provide their services. Non-hospital employed Midwives are successful in many of our neighboring cities like Indianapolis and Bloomington, so we have no reason to believe they wouldn't be successful here too.”

The protestors will continue making their point outside Union Hospital from noon until 1 p.m. through the rest of the work week.

Local resources for a midwives:
https://sites.google.com/site/wmmterrehaute/links

Information on midwives:
http://cfmidwifery.org/midwifery/faq.aspx#1