Friends of Wisconsin Midwives: Study Shows Benefits of Licensing Home Birth Midwives

A study published today in The British Medical Journal shows the benefits of licensing Certified Professional Midwives. The latest in a wide body of research on the safety of planned home birth, the study confirms that women who give birth in out-of-hospital settings with trained attendants experience outcomes equal to those of low-risk women giving birth in the hospital, but with much lower rates of surgical and technological intervention. Out-of-hospital births were also associated with a high degree of maternal satisfaction.

(PRWEB) June 21, 2005 -- “This study shows all the reasons why it’s time for Wisconsin to join the ranks of states that fully integrate Certified Professional Midwives into their healthcare system," said Meg Collins, President of the Friends of Wisconsin Midwives. “The authors of the study noted that many of the midwives who participated in the research work in states like Wisconsin, where the lack of licensing and regulation often compromises their ability to establish collaborative relationships with other healthcare providers."

“Yet unlicensed midwives still manage to provide outstanding care,” said Collins. “We believe that licensing Certified Professional Midwives will only enhance the options and level of care offered to Wisconsin families seeking alternatives to hospital birth. Giving birth at home and in free-standing birth centers are safe choices for women who want to minimize their risks of experiencing costly and often unnecessary interventions such as cesarean section, forceps and vacuum extraction, episiotomy, labor induction and augmentation, and epidurals.”

Certified Professional Midwives, who are specially trained to attend out-of-hospital births, undergo a rigorous educational program and are credentialed through the North American Registry of Midwives. According to the Friends of Wisconsin Midwives, there are currently over a dozen CPMs who provide services to a diverse population of families across the state.

“The clients we typically see have educated themselves about the benefits of midwifery care, but that’s where the similarity ends. The families we work with run the gamut in terms of their political, cultural and religious values,” said Edie Wells, a Beloit-based CPM. “We work in both rural and urban areas with people from all economic backgrounds, including a large immigrant population and uninsured families who can’t afford the high cost of hospital birth, but want a safe alternative to giving birth unassisted.”

Expanding access to CPMs, say representatives of the Friends of Wisconsin Midwives, will result in increased savings to the state and will help meet the growing demand for a maternity care service that more families are seeking each year.

Twenty-two states have statutory provisions that provide full legal recognition to CPMs, according to Katherine Prown, Ph.D., legislative chair of the Wisconsin Guild of Midwives. “Licensing offers a number of benefits," said Prown. “It assures the public that the midwives they hire have the appropriate training and skills and it provides for accountability. Right now, anyone can hang out a shingle and call themselves a midwife. We think families who choose to give birth outside of the hospital deserve better protection than that. This latest study reinforces what we’ve known all along­home birth with a trained attendant is a safe and reasonable option for the families of Wisconsin.”

Reference:

Outcomes of planned home births with certified professional midwives: large prospective study in North America

Johnson and Daviss 330 (7505): 1416 -- BMJ

http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/330/7505/1416?ehom

Resources:

Friends of Wisconsin Midwives

http://friendsofwimidwives.org/

National Association of Certified Professional Midwives

http://nacpm.net/

Mary Lawlor, President - (802) 387-4678

North American Registry of Midwives

http://narm.org/

Wisconsin Guild of Midwives

http://wisconsinguildofmidwives.org/

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