Today, the fifth of May, is both the International Day of the Midwife, and Cindo de Mayo. (“Who do you think was in charge of that scheduling, do you think?” I asked my husband. “Probably our midwives,” he said. “They’re hoping we’ll bring them fish tacos to celebrate.” Hmmm…)
I’ve mentioned before that I think midwives are pretty neat. They provide well-woman care, including family planning assistance, to non-pregnant women. They provide prenatal care, and are skilled birth attendants. Their postpartum care is comprehensive and personal. Midwives are also trained in providing care for newborns, including performing a newborn exam at birth. And they do all that with less intervention, fewer complications, and fewer adverse outcomes than other types of health care providers. Nice.
And yet less than 10% of women in the US get to experience midwife-led care at all, and only about 1% of women giving birth in the US are attended by a midwife in an out-of-hospital setting.
The 11th annual Save the Children Mothers’ Index was released this week. The USA places 28th on the list, based in part on our abysmal maternal death rate (a woman in the US is ten times more likely to die of childbirth-related causes than a woman in Ireland, for example). Maternal mortality is actually on the increase in the US.
In the LA Times, Jennifer Block suggests that midwives might be the key to reversing that trend, as well as to bringing down birth-related health care costs. They’re good for women, good for babies, good for our health, and good for our bottom line. Increasing access to midwives for healthy women just makes sense.
Midwives. Not just for fish-taco-wielding bloggers anymore.
(Not that I could even be in the same room with a fish taco at this point. Blech.)
Would you consider midwife-led care for a pregnancy or well-woman visits? Any other thoughts on midwifery you’d like to share?
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To learn more about midwives, check out Mothers Naturally, a site run by the Midwives Alliance of North America. They’ve got an FAQ page that covers labor pain, the safety of home birth, and “what if something goes wrong?”
The American College of Nurse-Midwives also has a quiz to help you determine what kind of health care provider would best match your needs and your birth philosophy.
For even more about midwives and birth, visit my birth resources page.
