What Is a Midwife Nurse?
When a woman finds out she is pregnant, one of the first decisions she needs to make is whether to use an obstetrician or a nurse midwife. Even though using a midwife is becoming more and more accepted by modern moms, misconceptions about this field are still abundant. Making an informed decision requires accurate information about both choices.
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Function
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A midwife nurse, technically called a certified nurse-midwife, is a health care professional who is licensed as both a nurse and a midwife. These professionals obtain certification through the American Midwifery Certification Board. They provide health care to women who are of childbearing age. They provide prenatal care, labor and delivery care for normal births, post-natal care, newborn care, contraceptive help, gynecological exams and help with menopausal symptoms. The American College of Nurse-Midwives estimates that midwife nurses attend 8 percent of births in the United States.
History
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In the earliest days of American history, women assisted each other in giving birth, much as a midwife does today. In 19th century Europe, midwifery was an established profession. The modern American midwifery profession officially began in the early 1920s, a time when infant and maternal mortality rates were extremely high. As a result of these high rates, Mary Breckenridge established Frontier Nursing Service, the first nurse-midwife program in America, using midwives from England. Soon after, the first nurse-midwifery school opened, and graduated its first class in 1933. Today, more than 7,000 certified nurse-midwives assist women in all 50 states.
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Midwife vs. Obstetrician
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Nurse midwives are trained to deal with normal deliveries and healthy women. The choice between a midwife and an obstetrician is a highly personal one for the expectant couple. According to the Midwives Alliance of North America, the training a midwife receives is more inline with natural birth practices, so women who want to give birth without intervention often turn to a midwife. However, women who are high risk or are experiencing complications cannot have a midwife attend their births, because these professionals are not trained to handle complications. These moms must use an obstetrician.
Benefits
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Women who choose to use midwives are benefited in two ways. First, they are more likely to have a natural birth without drugs or unnecessary medical intervention. According to a 1997 study done by the University of Washington, midwives used 12 percent fewer medical interventions than physicians when assisting with a birth. Second, women who are assisted by a midwife receive more emotional support. Midwives stay with a laboring woman throughout her labor, rather than just arriving to check progress and deliver the baby when the time comes as is common with a busy obstetrician.
Safety
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Some women wonder if using a midwife is safe. According to the American Pregnancy Association, as long as a midwife has a doctor that she works with if complications arise, using a midwife is a safe alternative to a traditional obstetrician for a woman experiencing a normal healthy pregnancy. They cite the doctoral research of Peter Schlenzka, who studied 800,000 births and found no increased risk to women who used a midwife when compared to women who used an obstetrician.
Misconceptions
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While midwifery has been an option for women for centuries, numerous misconceptions about the profession are circulated. One is that midwives are not medically trained. Certified nurse midwives must have at least a master's degree in midwifery, if not a doctoral degree, and must be licensed by the state in which they practice. Another misconception is that all midwives deliver babies in birthing centers or home birth situations. However, according to children's health advocacy group Nemours, 96 percent of midwife-assisted births occur in hospitals.
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- Photo Credit Benjamin Earwicker
