The way midwives are regulated has been changing in Arizona in recent years, and now the state health department has created a new way for midwives to report outcomes from their care. 

The required online portal is meant to be a user-friendly way for the state’s 74 midwives to connect with the department. It replaces a previous online system that started last year.

Carla Berg is with the Arizona Department of Health Services, which drafted new rules for midwives last summer. She said that information gleaned from this online system will be used in midwifery reports by the department, set to begin in 2015.

"And so ultimately, that will reach the community at a larger scale," Berg said. "So they can see that data and see how the tracking works, to get an idea of the midwifery services provided in the state."

Berg said midwives have been giving positive feedback to this new reporting system. But there has been tension between midwives and the department in recent years, with midwives asking for more rights, like the ability to administer certain drugs.

There are 74 midwives across Arizona, and collectively they attend about 1 percent of births in the state.