A registered nurse and certified professional midwife, Richardson stopped delivering babies on the advice of her church leaders because Utah law effectively outlaws the ancient practice.

Midwives like Richardson and dozens of mothers with babies in arms crowded into a committee room at the state Capitol on Wednesday to ask lawmakers to make lay midwifery legal again. But they face strong opposition from nurses and doctors.

Utah law blocks midwives on home births from doing anything more than "catching" the babies. As a result, many lay midwives are breaking the law.

"If parents get to choose, they should have the ability to choose a legal provider," Richardson said. "We're safe. And we'd like to deliver those babies."

For the fifth year in a row, lay midwives are trying to persuade lawmakers to legalize and regulate a practice that was legal in the state until legislators revised Utah's Nurse Midwifery Act in 1993.

Certified nurse midwives and doctors will not attend home births. Still, about 600 Utah women give birth at home each year, watched over by lay midwives.

To make their practice legal, Salt Lake City Democratic Rep. Jackie Biskupski is sponsoring legislation that would establish criteria for licensing lay midwives and give them the authority to administer prescription drugs - everything from anti-hemmorhagic medicine and prenatal vitamins for the mother to Vitamin K and antibiotic eye ointment for the babies.

The Utah Medical Association's Chet Loftis says doctors support parents' right to choose home births but do not want the state to license and regulate lay midwives.

And Salt Lake City Democratic Sen. Paula Julander, a nurse, questioned how the midwives could ask lawmakers to make their practice legal when some are breaking current law by administering drugs or performing medical procedures outside the law. "That bothers me, that we're trying to right the wrong," Julander said.

Midwife Suzanne Smith pointed out that home births will continue, regardless of whether lawmakers approve BiskupÂski's bill.

"We realize that everyone may not agree. But the fact remains that parents are guaranteed this option and are continuing to choose it," Smith said. "That's why we're here. We want to be legal."