The Case for Midwifery

"The U.S. ranks 23^rd among industrialized nations in the world of infant mortality." Infant mortality refers to an infant who is born alive but dies before reaching its first birthday, according to an article published September 7, 2008, in the Pacific Sunday News, by Renee Veksler. (http://www.guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080907/LIFESTYLE/809070313/1024) This alarming statistic is completely unacceptable in a country that is supposed to be the world's richest and most powerful.

Kersten Peterson states, in an article published in Alive: Canadian Journal of Health and Nutrition in March of 2004, that Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland have significantly lower rates of infant mortality than any other European or Northern American country. Why? Because, "a full 70% of births in those countries have a midwife as the primary caregiver." (Peterson, 80) According to the March of Dimes (http://www.marchofdimes.com/), only 8% of U.S. births in 2003 had a midwife as the primary caregiver. That is a monumental difference.

Births attended by midwives have proven to be safer, and less traumatic than births attended by obstetricians because midwives are trained in the natural birth process. Ina May Gaskin, the nation's most famous midwife, founded The Farm Midwifery Center in Summertown Tennessee in the late 60's. She and her fellow midwives boast "impressive safety statistics," as stated in an article by Shari Roan, featured in Fit Pregnancy in October of 2003. A startling "96% of the midwives' 2028 births occurred without medical intervention, and 95% took place at home. Only 1.4% of women were transferred to a hospital for cesarean section and the rate of serious complications was less than 0.5%" (Roan, 70)

The American Medical Association (http://www.ama-assn.org/) and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (http://www.acog.org/), however, have stated in their position papers that they are in opposition to births attended by midwives, stating that they are "unsafe." They have taken legal action in many states to stop midwives from being licensed, and have even stated that a trained physician needs to oversee all births attended by midwives. I suggest that midwives should oversee births attended by physicians!

Obstetricians are trained surgeons. Some have never even witnessed a natural birth with no medical interventions, such as electronic fetal monitoring, induction of labor, the use of medication, episiotomy, and cesarean section. They should only be brought into the birth if the mother is at high risk, or complications arise.

Women have been giving birth for thousands of years without hospitals, doctors, IV's, and monitoring. Only in the last century have we moved birth out of the hands of the mother and put in into the hands of the medical profession, with unsatisfactory results. It is time we give birth back to mothers and the women who have devoted their lives to caring for them... the Midwives.

Peterson, Kerstin. "Midwifery." Alive: Canadian Journal of Health & Nutrition (Mar, 2004): 80-83.

Roan, Shari. "the new natural birth." Fit Pregnancy 10.4 (Oct, 2003): 70-71.