The case involving 54-year-old Jennifer Williams of Bloomington, Indiana ended in a plea bargain. She was charged for practing medicine and midwifery without a license in the state of Indiana, which along with "nine other states prohibit midwifery by people other than doctors and nurses." Her case was prompted by the death of a baby which she attempted to deliver in June, Oliver Meredith. Another woman from Indiana, Mary Helen Ayres, commited the same felony of midwifery. Ayres aided Angela Hendrix-Petry to give birth to her daughter at her home. The felony can be puishable for up to eight years in prison. Ayres, however, was not charged as Williams had been.

Midwifery has been practiced for ages, before the techonological advances in medicine. In fact, midwifery only began to die out as new advances were made, causing people to believe that the practice is unsafe and presents unacceptable medical risks for both the mother and child. "Midwives see it differently. They say the ability of women to choose to give birth at home is under assault from a medical establishment dominated by men who, for reasons of money and status, resent a centuries-old tradition that long ago anticipated the concerns of modern feminism."