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Midwives:
Bringing in the Future What is a Midwife? -A Midwife is an expert in normal childbirth who assists women in giving birth naturally and safely. -Midwives are trained to educate, advise and support the birthing women, watching for and identifying potential or actual complications. -If necessary, they provide emergency treatment until medical assistance can be obtained.
-88% of Texas midwives provide prenatal care,
risk screening, care during labor and birth, and post-partum care.1
How many Texans do they serve? -Over 400 midwives currently practice in Texas. -In 1989 over 7,000 deliveries were attended by these midwives. -A midwife attended birth costs about 25% of
standard private care by a physician and hospital, thereby providing
services to those otherwise unable to receive it. What about their safety? -The infant mortality rate of these same midwives was less than half the state’s average.2 -"In a Hospital birth, odds of having a cesarean section are 1 in 5, and odds of having drugs are 19 in 20, even if the woman is fully prepared for natural childbirth. With a midwife, odds of [being transferred to the hospital for having a cesarean are 1 in 25, and of getting drugs, 1 in 18.]3" -The American Public Health Association
encourages as a preventive strategy: "expanded use of mid-wives
and non-hospital birth settings acceptable to state regulatory bodies
for appropriately screened childbearing families and the education of
the public thereof."4 1Texas Department of Health Survey, 1988 2 Bureau of Maternal and Child health, Texas Department of Health, 19893Statistics from Grace Hospital, 1982, and the Journal of Pediatrics Annual Summary of Natal Statistics using United Nations sources. 4Policy Statement 8904: of unnecessary cesarean section births. American Journal of Public Health BC.3 (1990) p.226
For links to more information on midwifery, click here. |
