When I started on this path, I was in my mid-twenties. None of my close friends had ever continued pregnancies or chosen to parent. This is partly why midwifery had never occurred to me as a career at that stage in my life — none of us were in that place in their lives. But now that we are approaching “AMA” or “advanced” maternal age, or the ripe old age of 35 (haha), many of my friends are now starting families (or trying to). Lucky for them, they now have a midwife friend! 

So, this is an open letter to all my baby-making (and aspiring baby making) friends and family. 

My basic advice/message is:

Choose a nurse midwife for your pregnancy care!*

Here are 5 reasons why many pregnant people should consider using a certified nurse midwife (CNM) as their prenatal care provider and birth attendant.

1. Client education and counseling

Nurse-midwives aim to spend time with our patients and get to know you. We want to know what is important to you and meet you there. If you want a provider to listen to you and to openly and without judgment respond to your concerns about pregnancy and birth, you have a pretty good chance of finding this in a nurse-midwife.

2. Supporting physiologic processes

This is a hallmark of midwifery care. Take initiation of labor, for instance. A midwife will take a holistic approach — to ensuring your due date is correct, to providing physiologic means of helping you go into labor on time, and choosing not to admit you to the labor and delivery unit until you are really in labor. All of these are part of an approach that supports the pregnant person’s ability to have a baby when it’s time. It may also mean helping you push your baby out to minimize trauma and tearing of the perineal muscles, and certainly avoiding cutting your muscle to make room for baby’s head or shoulders (episiotomy). 

3. Evidence-based practice (EBP)

From my first semester in nursing school, EPB was drilled into my brain. I can’t tell you how many papers I wrote about EPB…but I’m glad I did, because it instilled in me a drive to provide care that is based on rigorous review of current evidence and is patient-centered. What does this mean? A good provider (social worker/doctor/physical therapist, etc.) draws upon current research and literature reviews to determine how they practice. I am very proud that this is a centerpiece of nurse midwifery education and culture. Not that seeing a CNM is any guarantee of this, but it certainly something that most CNMs should be familiar with. The CNM professional organization put together this fabulous resource compiling data about how we use EBP – Midwifery: Evidence-Based Practice. Our practice is not (or at least should not be!) based on expert opinion, tradition, convenience, fear of malpractice lawsuits, or other provider-centered philosophies — but rooted in solid evidence and a patient-centered approach. 

 

4. Labor support!

The best midwives will support you while you’re in labor — not just leave you to labor on your own and then show up at the end to do the delivery. In some busy practices, that may not be possible, so I always encourage pregnant people to find out what their provider does. Midwives are trained in labor support, meaning they can help keep you active and can provide comfort measures that can help you out throughout the process. Unfortunately, many physicians do not (but should!) receive training in normal birth, and often do not know what to do to promote your comfort during labor other than offer drugs. Midwives understand that labor is hard work and can support moms through it. 

5. Greater chance of normal birth

According to a recent survey of research on midwifery, you are more likely to experience the following when getting care with a certified nurse midwife: 

• Lower rates of cesarean birth,
• Lower rates of labor induction and augmentation,
• Significant reduction in the incidence of third and fourth degree perineal tears,
• Lower use of regional anesthesia, and
• Higher rates of breastfeeding. (Newhouse, Stanik-Hutt, White, et al, 2011)

These are not reasons you should not use a nurse midwife

1. I want an epidural

If you choose to have your baby in a hospital, your nurse midwife can still order you an epidural, if that is the anesthesia/analgesia option of your choosing. 

2. I want to have my baby in hospital

No problem – the vast majority of midwife-attended births are in hospitals. You may not even realize it, but there may be midwives at your local hospital. 

3. Midwives don’t know enough stuff

So you may have heard that terrible slam Bill O’Reilly made about advanced practice clinicians (APCs, formerly known as mid-level providers, yech!) — worried that the increase in care by folks in these professions aren’t qualified be good healthcare providers. (Yeah, I know, my readers are big O’Reilly fans.) “Lenny from community college” couldn’t possibly be my provider, he said of physician assistants! (See the response from the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners here.) Even so! Many people don’t know what training we receive. O’Reilly’s ridiculous comments (among thousands he’s made over the years) aside, becoming a CNM is no joke. I’m proud to say that I have attended many community colleges throughout my education, but I also will report that CNMs are required to have a bachelor’s degree, be a registered nurse, hold a master’s degree, pass a rigorous certification exam, and become licensed through the state they live in as both a registered nurse and an advanced practice nurse. We are very well prepared to take care of people when it is within our scope of practice.

4. I want someone I can see always, not just when I’m pregnant

No problem! Loads of midwives work in settings where they can provide well woman, gynecologic, family planning, and even primary care. It depends on how the midwife’s practice setting works, but in many cases, you may be able to see your CNM across the reproductive lifespan. 

5. Doctors know best

Haha, I know no one reading this blog would think that. But I really ran out of reasons why you should not see a midwife. 

***

So…if you are low risk (not diabetic, chronically have high blood pressure, etc.) you may be a great candidate for working with a midwife! Get out there and FIND A MIDWIFE!!! And if there isn’t one in your area…well, shoot. Maybe you should get on the path to become a midwife, or tell someone you know who would make a great CNM to get on that path. We need more great women’s health providers. If you are feeling the call…better answer!

 

Reference:

Newhouse RP, Stanik-Hutt J, White KM, et al. Advanced practice nursing outcomes 1990-
2008: a systematic review. Nurs Econ. 2011;29(5):1-22

*Or your well person/family planning/gyne/primary care. More on “women” later…