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- What are the rights of childbearing women?
While the decision to use a midwive is a very personal one, the profession of midwifery, like most other medical professions, offers the prospective client a set of rights, guidelines, services, and facts which should be taken into consideration upon making the decision.
How safe is midwifery?
Numerous studies have uniformly concluded that midwifery care has outcomes that are at least equal to that of physicians with the same type of patients. CNMs/CMs are particularly adept at providing care that helps women prevent complications. Various studies have shown the safety and favorable outcomes of women under midwifery care. For example, the statistics cited in the following table were published in the November 1996 issue of teh journal Obstetrics & Gynecology:
In the May 1998 issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, it was published that for similar populations, the rist of infant death was 19% lower for certified nurse midwife attended births than for physician attended births. In addition, the risk of neonatal mortality was 33% less and the risk of low birthweight infants was 31% for midwife attended births.
The following outcomes were reported in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, may 1993:
- Midwifery patients had a lower rate of cesarean section than did physician patients.
- Midwifery patients were 50% less likely to have fetal distress.
Midwifery patients were 25% less likely to have labor arrests.
Women with epidural anesthesia were more likely to deliver normally under midwifery care.
Women had less operative vaginal deliveries (forceps, vacuum) under midwifery care.
Midwife-attended births were less likely to have low Apgar scores, birth trauma, or neonatal admissions.
- Are midwives covered by insurance?
In New York State, you may obtain direct access to a midwife by law without needing a referral. All managed care companies must cover midwives for obstetrical care or must pay for midwifery out of network. In most manuals, midwives are usually found under OB/GYN or Specialty.
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