What is a midwife?
A midwife provides support during and after labor and delivery, and can also help monitor the health of mother and child throughout pregnancy. Midwives go back hundreds of years and it was common to have a midwife present during childbirth. Midwives handle normal deliveries but often call on obstetricians to help if complications arise during child birth. Midwives were very common many years ago, but in the rise of advanced medicine, diminished in popularity. Most recently, however, midwives have re-entered the childbirth realm as good option for pregnant women seeking a personal, knowledgeable advocate.
Are midwifes professionally regulated?
Yes, in most states midwives are professionally regulated. It is important, however, for you to check the qualifications and credentials of your midwife as you should with any health care professional.
Why do people choose midwives over obstetricians?
The reason midwives are chosen over obstetricians is a frequent subject of debate. Some believe midwives provide more consistent support during the early stages of the pregnancy than does a doctor. The midwife will often get to know the family and the mother much more intimately, which is helpful if where there are certain preferences for procedures or methods. Many religious groups utilize midwives so religious rights are respected.
How do midwives differ from doctors?
The level of safety should be thoroughly reviewed to compare the safety of the midwife to an obstetrician. Be prapered to receive various opinions on midwife safety, so it is important for you to research for yourself. Often the largest safety concerns with midwives occur when pregnancy complications arise, since midwife training is significantly shorter than the training of an obstetrician.
The above factors should be taken into account when selecting a midwife so you are fully aware of all potential risks. Midwives do not advocate the use of pain killers during child birth. Rather, they encourage natural methods of pain management. Midwives believe that their methods help decrease length of labor and the need for pain medication. These claims have not been proven, but haven't been disproven, either.
When choosing a midwife, you might as the following questions:
- How long have you been in practice?
- Where do you practice?
- Are you a certified midwife?
- What college did you receive your education?
- Do you have any other forms of educations?
- Do you attend and help during the labor/delivery process?
- Do you accept health insurance? If no, what are your charges?
- Do you work with extended families?
- What is your midwife philosophy?
- What are your procedures for high-risk or problem pregnancies?
- How far or how long would the response time be if a problem did arise?
Are there different types of midwives?
Yes, there are direct entry and nurse midwives.
Direct-entry midwives become midwives through community-based training and typically an apprenticeship. Direct-entry midwives also can receive education through another field than nursing school. Direct-entry midwives usually perform child births in their client's home. Obviously, midwives are not as common as they were 100 years ago, however, with the certification process of North American Registry of Midwives (http://www.narm.org/htb.htm) the popularity is once again increasing.
There are a few qualifications a midwife must perform to become certified:
- Graduate from a university that has an affiliated midwifery education program
- Earn a baccalaureate degree
- Successfully complete the national certification exam
Nurse midwives are registered nurses that have completed accredited midwife programs. They then can receive certification to be a midwife. In some cases, nurse midwives can actually write prescriptions. Nurses naturally are often able to communicate more effectively with doctors. This communication is especially helpful with high-risk or problem pregnancies. Some nurse midwives tend to work more with technology than do direct midwives although they usually only turn to technology when necessary. This makes C-sections less frequent than with obstetricians.
