Midwifery?

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i am going to be entering into nursing school this fall and i have been thinking about a speciality. i would really like to work as a delivery/newborn nurse. we were discussing careers in class, not a nursing class, and i said i would like to go on to get my masters, after achieveing the bsn. i told my professor that i would like to eventually be a nurse practitioner or midwife and that i was leaning more towards midwife. he was like "midwife, don't you think that's a little old-fashioned. people don't really go to midwives anymore. i know i would take my wife to a doctor over a midwife...blah, blah, blah." i was shocked that he was so bluntly against my decision. i mean, it was rude. he asked, i shared, and he showed total disrespect (in front of the whole class). what do you all think about being a midwife? any opinions/advice/information? please?

Midwifery is a very much growing field. Midwives have better outcomes than obstetricians in low-risk pregnancies due to the fact that midwives cause fewer iatrogenic complications than OBs due (i.e. inductions, unneeded c-sections, unnecessary procedures, etc). Midwifery is woman-centered care while obstetrics is physician centered care. In short, your instructor does not know much about the field of midwifery or obstetrics so I wouldn't listen to him

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WOW!

I'm turning in my rough draft tonight for midwifery vs. obgyns.

For low-risk patients, midwives are completey acceptable!!

Tell him this.. "hospitals are for sick people, babies are not a disease!"

Pregnancy is a NORMAL healthy life process! The female body is structured different from a male body to ACCOMODATE another life inside of it!! It does not get much more NATURAL than that!!!

Physicians PRACTICE MEDICINE!!!!! Medicine = for sick people!!!

You don't go to the doc and pay $100+ for a visit just to wave and say HEY DOC! MISSYA!

NOOOO!!!!

You have sorethroat.. go to doc.. doc .. well nurse.. swabs throat.. ooo lookie there you gots some strep bacteria! Here's some antiobiotics.. be sure to finish them! =] ... insurance bill/copay out the yingyang followed.

(Couldn't resist..)

The doctor diagnosed & treated an illness. Anyone who regards pregnancy as an illness is in need of serious psychological counseling.

Midwives are trained to practice the Midwife Model of Care and to allow nature to take its course without using interventions like episiotomies, cesareans, forceps.. etc. Midwives are also trained to recognize & refer women who are in NEED of obstetrical care for high risk pregnancies... hiv+, twins, rh factor problems, what have you.

There are two little indentations on my upper forehead that mark the grasp of the forceps used to extract me out of my mother's uterus years ago because her labor was progessing TOO SLOW.

Midwifes, :up:

Thank you for reading.

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I would so ignore your professer. Sounds like a real winner saying that. I have been in school for CNM for 1.5 years now... and work in L&D. I had a doc to tell me that as a midwife, I would be "of no use to him" Oh well, at least I know where he stands and what he thinks of midwives. Let it roll of your back and go with your plans.

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I think midwifery is awesome. LOL 99% of the world is primarily midwife based care.. the US is the only country who thinks doctors are the best at delivering babies. (Odd seeing as the US has some of the higher maternal death rates and newborn deaths of any country among our rankings). Watch the "Buisness of being born" its great at talking about our health care system in reguards to Pregnancy and births.

I seen a midwife for my 2nd pregnancy, and he was a planned homebirth. He ended up being a hospital birth but not because of emergency. He was hospital birth because earlier in pregnancy I had PTL and had to transfer away from Midwife services...

ETA: Despite having my son in hospital my midwife (who wasn't legally allowed to practice there) was still with me the whole time... despite transfering off her services at 29 weeks. I love her to pieces, couldn't imagine how my DS birth would have gone without her.

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all he showed with that statement was his ignorance. Midwifery is alive and well in the US. Both of the Hospitals I have worked in have had midwives that delivered pts there as well as a birthing center in the town. Midwives are making a comeback as women are regaining their concept of preganancy as a normal healthy event and not a medical emergency. Midwives are a great option for healthy stable pregancies, and are covered by doctors for anything that is outside their scope of practice. That being said it is important to make a distinction between CNM's (certified nurse midwives) and lay midwives. CNM's have a master's degree in nursing. Lay midwives are women with minimal training (comparatively) who do not have a governing body to provide standards are care. I even go to CNM's for my annual and love the level of care I recieve.

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Specializes in Obstetrics, M/S, Family medicine.

I think the choice to go with a Midwife vs an MD is a personal one. What kind of experience do you want?

do you want pain relief, do you mind intervention, are you okay with induction, if necessary?

OR

Are you looking for a natural, spiritual experience with little to no intervention?

I feel as though there is a place for everyone mother-to-be. I read in a book recently, which has really struck with me. Drs look at labor as a series of potential complications, although they have the same intention as midwives (healthy baby and mom).

Before assuming something is a complication, give the body a chance to do its job.

Also, almost all midwives (maybe all) have a backup plan in place if an actual complication does occur.

I hope you do not let an uneducated opinion deter you from pursuing your passion.

Good luck.

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Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.
all he showed with that statement was his ignorance. Midwifery is alive and well in the US. Both of the Hospitals I have worked in have had midwives that delivered pts there as well as a birthing center in the town. Midwives are making a comeback as women are regaining their concept of preganancy as a normal healthy event and not a medical emergency. Midwives are a great option for healthy stable pregancies, and are covered by doctors for anything that is outside their scope of practice. That being said it is important to make a distinction between CNM's (certified nurse midwives) and lay midwives. CNM's have a master's degree in nursing. Lay midwives are women with minimal training (comparatively) who do not have a governing body to provide standards are care. I even go to CNM's for my annual and love the level of care I recieve.

My last pap etc. was done by a CNM and I too was really pleased. :w00t:

Just wanted to make one distinction here. In addition to CNMs and lay midwives are CPMs - certified professional midwives. They are trained, certified, and have a governing body. That is an important distinction to make. They are not legally allowed to practice in all 50 states, however.

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Midwives are usally strong women who promot strengh and belife in women, birth and nature- the majority of MDs just do not understand or want to take the time to understand in the majority of cases its not their fault they just do not have the ability to be open and trust in the ART of birth. They are the black and white type of people when midwifery followes bith in to the gray.

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Specializes in Emergency Department.
That being said it is important to make a distinction between CNM's (certified nurse midwives) and lay midwives. CNM's have a master's degree in nursing. Lay midwives are women with minimal training (comparatively) who do not have a governing body to provide standards are care.

Lay midwife is an extremely outdated term and among the non-CNM set (like me!) it is insulting to be defined in this way because it implies ignorance of practice. I am a Certified Professional Midwife, educated by an accredited midwifery school. I am credentialed by the North American Registry of Midwives but licensed and governed by the state, thus beholden to guidelines written by MDs with ACOG in mind. Many of us are nurses, public health workers, clinical social workers, counselors, and other health related titles. It's time we all increase our awareness of midwives beyond the early 20th Century "granny midwives".

I am hoping to get into a BSN program in the next year and end up a MSN, CNM because I want to increase my scope of practice and be available to a wider group of women than just low risk pregnancies planning home births. :nuke:

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