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Being a midwife refers to a profession where the midwife would work in partnership with the women throughout her pregnancy, labour and the postpartum period. Not only is being a midwife women-centred, however, their role also includes ensuring the partner and family members are prepared and aware of the process. Within a women’s health, the midwife should focus on health, family planning, nutrition, domestic and other health issues as the main priority is the

Midwives identify high risked pregnancies and they make referrals to doctors and other medical specialists.

In America, midwives attend less than 8% of all births and less than 1% of those occur outside a hospital. At the same time, the US

(2016) Oxford University Press. Retrieved from: www.oxforduniversitypress.com 9)The History of Midwifery. (2016)

In the United States, midwives attend less than 8 percent of all births. In Europe and Japan, midwives attend over 70 percent (New Line Home Entertainment). People say that midwives are not needed in today’s world because of the abundance of nurses and doctors. This may be true, but the United States has the second worst infant mortality rate and one of the highest maternal mortality rate in the developed world. Hospitals and other health professional places are tricking women into thinking that they need an induced labor, an epidural, or even a cesarean section, but they really do not. The documentary The Business of Being Born dives into the history of birthing in the United States, the labor process at a hospital, as well as the role of

After reading the articles and the book and watching the videos I have change how I see a midwife. I never really knew what exactly they were able or prepare to do and now I feel like they are very prepare to help with the delivery of a baby. I always thought that doctors were more prepare that it was too risky to have a birth at home and with a midwife. But now I learn that that’s not always the case. Am the mother of two kids and my plan was always to have them in a hospital with the best doctors that I could find, I wanted my kids to be born in a safe environment and with people that knew what to do in case of an emergency. When I first was pregnant with my fist, I actually search the whole water birth with a midwife and I was surprise that people had an option to have kids in that environment, I though it was very interesting but I didn’t felt that it was for me.

Midwifery is a term that is not heard of much now because of the advances in medical technology. Midwifery is the practice of helping or assisting women during the pregnancy including during childbirth and the postpartum period. Midwifes are typically associated with home births, but can actually be used in a hospital setting. Midwifes are used all over the world and are usually the most experienced worker attending, but in many places in the United States ,such as Alabama, midwifery is illegal. Giving birth in hospitals are thought to be safer than using a midwife and birthing a child at home.With that being stated it is certainly a shock with midwifery being illegal in most states that the United States is only listed 21st in countries with the lowest infant mortality rate. Midwiferytoday.com is a website amd printed magazine that advocates for the practice of midwifery. Shea Richland, a now retired midwife and childbirth educator, has one article on midwiferytoday.com. The title of her article is Birth Rape: Another Midwife’s Story. The violent title is enough to make anyone shy away from reading it, but the title is a good reflection of the article. Shea Richland wrote the article to tell about her experiences in life, and also to explain what pushed her to becoming a midwife.

I am aware of the tasks ahead of becoming a midwife; it is a journey of many years with which one would be enhanced with impeccable skills and experience in many different situations and settings. Some of the responsibilities of being a midwife involves giving pregnant women advice on healthy eating, explaining the options of having the baby at the hospital or at home, natural childbirth or through operation, the different types of pain reliefs available and checking the health of both mother and baby during pregnancy. During labour it is the midwifes responsibility to monitor how labour is progressing, advising mothers on ways to manage the pain, deliver the baby and once the baby is born visit to the mothers home to check on her and the baby which is also very

In past centuries, only women attended to women during childbirth. Men were usually not involved, unless they were needed for their strength or other emergencies. However, with the medicalization of childbirth, the presence of male physicians emerged. By the 19th century, tensions between male physicians and midwives heightened as male physicians began to introduce new techniques and anatomical knowledge that interfered with the traditional social birthing process. Much of this tension rose from the gender roles that categorized the work and success of men and women within the work of childbirth. In A Midwife’s Tale, Laurel Ulrich explores Martha’s diary to present the challenges midwives faced during the late 18th century. Midwives, such as Martha Ballard, were challenged by male physicians and diverged from the style of their work because of the perception that omen were considered more emotional, nurturing, and social in their work while men were more knowledgeable of science, anatomy, and new tools.

The midwives role is not to deliver the baby. Their role is to be a

Today, “having a baby is the single largest reason for admission to [the] hospital” (Tyler). The British national health system strongly emphasizes user involvement in the totality of maternal service, pre-partum, partum, and post-partum. However, by in large midwives run the care of the mother and this can be due to many reasons. Historically, midwives have had a better public rapport than physicians. Physicians often cost more than midwives because they have more training and perform more interventions. Physicians often do not want to “appear [as] indifferent, inattentive, or useless” and thus they feel inclined to “intervene more and more” (Carter 91). However, sometimes more is not better as is depicted in the National

Great post, very informative. Midwifery was definitely was the primary route of child delivery. Midwifery was never trained medically, but was very knowledgeable and experienced about the procedures and medicine (Houlihan). It is true that new medicine and science has discovered advanced way to treat patients and relieve the pain while giving birth to child, but the personal care, and natural resources midwifery can never be compared. Martha Ballard is an altruistic woman who devoted her entire life helping others through midwifery, especially on child delivery. Ballard used to help in child delivery, prescribe medicine and even nurse the patients and physicians were called only at a time of medical emergency. I totally agree when your classmate

The original meaning of midwife is “being with woman,” (Midwifery around the World,” 2011). Midwifery education dates back to the 1600s and the role of care has been practiced throughout history. Many people in America do not completely understand the roles of midwives in women healthcare today. Midwives play a vital role in successful deliveries not only inside the hospital but also outside the hospital setting. In fact, certified-nurse midwives (CNMs) and certified midwives (CMs) can offer services beyond maternity care, including women’s and general health care services from the teenage years through adulthood and into the elder years (“Our Moment of Truth,”2014). The field of midwives offers a variety of roles including those listed

There are many health care options available during pregnancy, so why would a mother want to choose a midwife? Midwifery is a natural approach to labor and delivery that offers a less intrusive kind of birthing environment, more birthing options, and midwives are able to accommodate the specific needs and wants of the mother. “Midwives attend approximately 10% of births in the U.S. across all settings, including hospitals, birth centers, and home births. In every setting, midwife-led maternity care results in reduced infant and maternal mortality and morbidity, fewer medical interventions, decreased costs, increased savings, and improved client satisfaction” (MANA, About

MD Marden Wagner said, “In every country where I have seen real progress in maternity care, it was woman’s groups working together with midwives that made the difference.” The Marriam Webster dictionary defines midwifery as “The art or act of assisting at childbirth”. The definition is a spot-on explanation. Midwifery is not very broad; it’s pinpointed as a specific job with detailed instructions that only deal with pregnancies. Many will argue to say that midwives only work with women who are having “normal-pregnancies”.(Goer, 2002). Normal pregnancies include a healthy mother and fetus, with no complications. “Approximately 10% - 30% of pregnant women will experience Bacterial Vaginosis (BV) during their pregnancy. An ectopic pregnancy happens in 1 out of 60 pregnancies. About 1% of all pregnant women will experience placental abruption, and most can be successfully treated depending on what type of separation occurs.” (Pregnancy Complications). Everyone is different, they handle pain in different ways, they have diverse fingerprints, they all have their own unique genetic material; evidently all pregnant women will experience each pregnancy they have differently from themselves and from other women. Many people will argue about the authenticity of a Certified Nurse Midwife’s education however, in reality “Certified Nurse-Midwives (CNM) are registered nurses, with a minimum of a