Men to become midwives

Men to become midwives

TOKYO (AFP): Japan's ruling party plans to revise a century- old law and allow men to become midwives, a report said Saturday.

A group of lawmakers in the Liberal Democratic Party has drawn up a bill on revising the 1899 midwifery law and permit licensing men as midwives, the Asahi Shimbun said.

The bill will be submitted to parliament during the current session ending in mid-June, the newspaper said.

Only women can be licensed as midwives under the current law. The Japanese Midwives Association, with some 7,000 members, had objected to letting men work as midwives, but it reversed the position last month, the Asahi said.