Midwives are a cornerstone of maternity care worldwide. They are the guardians of normal birth everywhere. In every other developed country (besides the United States), midwives attend 70-80% of women giving birth, while high-risk obstetricians handle high-risk cases. In the Netherlands, 36% of births are planned home births with midwives. Interestingly, the Dutch have lower mortality rates than the United States (Wagner, 2006). Holland’s midwives are autonomous health care providers, reimbursed by health insurance. In less developed nations, they are critical to women who may be isolated in rural areas without access to technology of any kind.
May 5th, 2009 is the International Day of the Midwife. This video celebrates the midwife in a variety of settings.
International Day of the Midwife
Citizens for Midwifery (CfM) is a non-profit, grass-roots organization founded by several mothers in 1996. Their goal is to “…see that the Midwives Model of Care™ is available to all childbearing women and universally recognized as the best kind of care for pregnancy and birth. Citizens for Midwifery also endorses the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative™.” CfM is the only national consumer-based group promoting the Midwives Model of Care. On their website, they outline the Midwives Model of Care™ as follows:
The Midwives Model of Care is based on the fact that pregnancy and birth are normal life processes.
The Midwives Model of Care 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
The application of this woman-centered model of care has been proven to reduce the incidence of birth injury, trauma, and cesarean section. (CfM, 2007).
Please check out the resources on the TBN website for providers who practice the Midwives Model of Care.
You may also consider joining the North Carolina Friends of Midwives: www.NCFOM.org.