·
Beginning –
Midwives have been catching babies in the United States since before it
officially became the United States!
o Midwifery
was a respectable profession valued by colonists, settlers, Native Americans,
and African slaves.
o Many
midwives (as well as doctors) trained as apprentices, by watching and learning
from other midwives.
o Prior
to the late 1700’s birth was considered normal and was only attended by doctors
if there were complications. Often there were no doctors available even if
there were complications.
o No
licensure or specific training required until 1716 and even then only in a few
cities.
·
Changes
o In
the late 1800’s midwives were still attending the majority of births.
o Most
doctors were only delivering babies of wealthy white women in urban areas,
often using forceps and drugs such as opium and laudanum.
o By
the 1950’s hospital births became the norm with doctors delivering the majority
of babies in the U.S.
o Midwifery
practice was almost abolished, with medical leaders portraying childbirth as a
perilous condition and midwives as being incompetent.
·
Growth
o As
traditional midwifery practice decreased in the U.S. a new form of midwifery
began to emerge with nurses acquiring additional education and training to
become nurse-midwives.
o Nurse-midwifery
programs in the 1930’s, such as Frontier Nursing Service and midwifery programs
created by Indian Health Services, lead the way to the re-growth of midwifery
in the U.S.
o By
the 1960’s women became vocal about their discontent with the medicalization of
childbirth as nurse-midwives developed an organization to standardize their
profession.
o The
1970’s saw the opening of the first freestanding birth center in the U.S. with
midwives offering women a choice other than giving birth at home or in a
hospital.
o Certified
Nurse-Midwives have grown in numbers in the U.S. from 275 in 1963 to over 7,000
today and growing.
·
Current
o Internationally
§ The
majority of women in most industrialized nations choose midwifery care for
childbirth, including Austria, Sweden, the United Kingdom (UK), the
Netherlands, Australia, and New Zealand.
§ Midwives
are the primary childbirth attendants in most third world countries as well.
§ Midwives
attend 70% - 80% of births in Sweden, the UK, and New Zealand.
o Nationally
§ Midwives
attend 8% of all births in the U.S.
§ CNMs
attend over 11% of vaginal births in the U.S.
§ CNM’s
practice in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
§ CPMs/CMs/LMs
practice legally in 29 states.
o Locally *(This is where you will list information specific to your community and practice).
§ CNMs attend 5 out of every 100 births in Tennessee.
§ CNMs attend hospital and birth center births in Tennessee.
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