Montrose County Court Judge John Mitchel sentenced a Delta woman, Theanna Sparrow, to two years supervised probation and 30 days in jail for the practice of midwifery without a license.District Attorney Myrl Serra said Sparrow had been warned twice before not to practice as a midwife and was present at a birth in December 2006 in Delta when the baby died. Colorado midwives are licensed by the state.According to court records, Sparrow was ordered during her sentencing last week not to act as a midwife or assist at any childbirth unless she is licensed by the state. She is also responsible for court costs.Accompanying Mitchel’s sentencing order were about 20 letters of support for Sparrow filed with the court.A letter from Kelly Yarnell of Montrose stated that Sparrow had delivered six of her 10 children and that she “cannot imagine her being negligent in any way.”Sparrow must report to the Montrose County work release center by Jan. 22.Bill Dwelley, a licensed Montrose-based midwife, said he and others, such as nurse-midwives, worked hard to get their training and Sparrow gives them a bad name.“She wasn’t really a midwife because she wasn’t registered or licensed or certified, just self-proclaimed without any formal training,” he said.The Colorado Midwife Association worked for about three years to get legislation passed in the mid-1990s requiring midwives in Colorado to be licensed, Dwelley said.

“It makes it kind of hard on people who do have the training and worked hard to have more than just the bottom line,” he said. Source