What is a Midwife?

For many people the word Midwife fits in with this group:

•        Fief
•        Midwife
•        Vassal
•        Apprentice
•        Knight
•        Abbess

Instead of this Group:

•      Registered Nurse
•      Nurse anesthetist
•      Medical Doctor
•      Midwife (Certified Nurse-Midwife, Certified Midwife,  Certified Professional Midwife)
•      Physician Assistant

Because Midwives have been around so long, considerably longer than Nurses or Doctors, our name sounds a little Medieval. But if we were to change our name, we would lose our historical identity as one of the OLDEST and might I add, WISEST professions still in existence.   Midwifery is a household word in many parts of the world but in the minds of Americans, Midwives are either a thing of the past or a choice for granola-eating, homebirthing hippies.

Despite Midwives’ relatively obscure existence in the United States, we have accumulated some pretty impressive statistics.

Women Cared For By Professional Midwives Have:

• FEWER hospital admissions during the antepartum period.
• A LOWER incidence of hypertension during pregnancy and labor.
• FEWER episodes of abnormal heart rate in labor.
• LESS need for pain medication in labor, including epidural analgesia.
• A LOWER incidence of shoulder dystocia, in comparison to similar women, cared for by physicians.
• A LOWER rate of instrumental deliveries (use of forceps or vacuum extractors).
• A LOWER incidence of retained placenta and fewer or equivalent postpartum hemorrhages.
• FEWER perineal injuries and fewer 3rd and 4th-degree lacerations.
• FEWER cesareans and more vaginal births after cesarean section (VBACs).

With Professional Midwifery Care, Babies Are:

• Less likely to be born preterm or with a low birth weight.
• Less likely to suffer from fetal distress (abnormal fetal heart tones) and birth trauma during labor and birth.
• Less likely to require newborn resuscitation or special care in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
• More likely to remain with their mothers throughout the hospital stay and be exclusively breastfed at two and four months.

Be sure to Remember to Make the Flip-Side Observation.

When Cared for by Obstetricians, 90% of All Pregnant Women Have:

• MORE hospital admissions during the antepartum period.
• A HIGHER incidence of hypertension during pregnancy and labor.
• MORE episodes of abnormal heart rate in labor.
• MORE need for pain medication in labor, including epidural analgesia.
• A HIGHER incidence of shoulder dystocia, in comparison to similar women, cared for by midwives.
• A HIGHER rate of instrumental deliveries (use of forceps or vacuum extractors).
• A HIGHER incidence of retained placenta and increased or equivalent postpartum hemorrhages.
• INCREASED perineal injuries and increased 3rd and 4th-degree lacerations.
• INCREASED cesareans and fewer vaginal births after cesarean section (VBACs).

With Routine Obstetrical Care, Babies Are:

• MORE likely to be born preterm or with a low birth weight.
• MORE likely to suffer from fetal distress (abnormal fetal heart tones) and birth trauma during labor and birth.
• MORE likely to require newborn resuscitation or special care in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
• LESS likely to remain with their mothers throughout the hospital stay and be exclusively breastfed at two and four months (Source).

The highly esteemed Medical Journal The Lancet published a series of articles in 2014 that in part said the following:

Midwifery is commonly misunderstood. The Series of four papers and five Comments we publish today sets out to correct that misunderstanding. One important conclusion is that application of the evidence presented in this Series could avert more than 80% of maternal and newborn deaths,¹ including stillbirths. Midwifery therefore has a pivotal, yet widely neglected, part to play in accelerating progress to end preventable mortality of women and children (Source).

So, What is a Midwife?

A Midwife is a highly educated, well-trained health professional whose presence in the Obstetric world is supported by medical studies and recommended by the World Health Organization. The word “MIDWIFE” means “with woman”, supporting not directing her clients, going through the process of being WITH a woman during labor rather than “saving” her from it. Midwives have a holistic Model of Care that includes:

• Monitoring the physical, psychological, and social well-being of the mother throughout the childbearing cycle.
• Providing the mother with individualized education, counseling, and prenatal care, continuous hands-on assistance during labor and delivery, and postpartum support.
• Minimizing technological interventions.
• Identifying and referring women who require obstetrical attention.

(Taken from The Citizens for Midwifery website)

We need to keep talking about MIDWIVES! Shout it from your rooftop, Midwives are the BEST!