Pregnancy and childbirth are normal life events that require careful monitoring but not routine medical interventions. The midwifery model of care provides individualized and non-interventional approaches to care for pregnant women, resulting in numerous benefits for both mothers and babies.

Where Do Midwives Practice?
Midwives, including Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs), Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs), and Certified Midwives (CMs), provide care in hospitals, birth centers, or homes, depending on their training and licensing status. CPMs support home birth exclusively. Midwives prioritize women’s autonomy, emotional and psychological well-being, and cultural concerns while maximizing health outcomes using a minimum number of medical interventions.

What Are the Benefits of Midwifery Care?

The benefits of midwifery care are significant and include:

• Personalized care. Midwives focus on providing individualized and personalized care, taking into account the unique needs and preferences of each woman and her family.
• Emphasis on low-risk births. Midwives usually work with low-risk pregnancies and births, and prioritize non-interventional approaches to care. This can lead to a more satisfying birth experience for birthing people and their families.
• Continuity of care. Midwives often provide care throughout pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period, allowing for continuity and familiarity between the woman and her care provider.
• Support for natural birth. Midwives often support birthing people who desire a natural birth, including the use of non-pharmacological pain management techniques and alternative positions for labor and delivery.
• Focus on women’s autonomy. Midwives prioritize women’s autonomy and decision-making in their care, and aim to empower women to take an active role in their care and birth experience.
• Cost-effectiveness. Midwifery care is often less expensive than care provided by obstetricians, as it involves fewer medical interventions and procedures.
• Lower rates of interventions. Studies have shown that midwifery care is associated with lower rates of medical interventions during birth, such as cesarean section and induction of labor.
• Improved outcomes. Research has shown that midwifery care is associated with improved outcomes for women and their babies, including lower rates of preterm birth, perinatal death, and certain complications during birth.

Professional midwifery care reduces the incidence of hypertension during pregnancy and labor, the need for pain medication, shoulder dystocia, instrumental deliveries, retained placenta, and perineal injuries. It also results in fewer cesareans and more vaginal births after cesarean sections (VBACs).

What Are the Benefits of Midwifery Care for Babies?

With professional midwifery care, babies are:

• Less likely to be born preterm or with a low birth weight.
• Less likely to suffer from fetal distress (abnormal fetal heart tones) and birth trauma during labor and birth.
• Less likely to require newborn resuscitation or special care in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
• More likely to remain with their mothers throughout the hospital stay and be exclusively breastfed at two and four months.

Evidence Supports Midwifery Care for Most Pregnant People

The Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group recommends midwife-led models of care for most women and encourages them to ask for this option. However, with medical or obstetric complications, a higher level of medical care may be needed.

Overall, midwives provide personalized, non-interventional, and cost-effective care while reducing the need for medical interventions and improving outcomes for both mothers and babies.

Resources

Video. Debunking the Myth: Midwives are Uneducated.

Video. Midwives and the Care They Provide.

References

Coalition for Improving Maternity Services. Ten Steps of Motherfriendly Care.

Cochrane Library. Midwife-led continuity models of care compared with other models of care for women during pregnancy, birth and early parenting.

Lancet Series. Midwifery.