To complete the birth process with a healthy delivery, the childbearing mother has an option to use either a medical doctor or a midwife. Today, physicians assist the majority of births around the globe, traditional midwifery practice is still active. Midwives take care of women before they become pregnant and during pregnancy, facilitate delivery, and play a pivotal role in assisting the young mother after the child is born. The groundbreaking transformation that healthcare is experiencing today gives a chance for midwifery practice to become an important provider of women’s healthcare.
Modern day nurse-midwifery in the United States started in 1925 by Mary Breckinridge (Walker, Lannen, & Rossie, 2014). She started an organization, that later become known as the Frontier Nursing Service (FNS), by bringing foreign-educated nurses to serve in rural areas of Kentucky
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Such consensus stems from evidence-based practice and controlled trials observed in many countries and various settings (Renfrew et al., 2014). To identify up-to-date evidence of effectiveness in maternal and newborn care, leading medical journal Lancet performed its own review of midwifery, which was published as a four part series in 2014. It is based on 453 reviews contributed by the Cochrane Pregnancy Childbirth group to the Cochrane Library and eight reviews by the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Care Health Review plus some additional material (Renfrew et al., 2014). This massive work was co-authored by 35 experts from several countries and covered low-income, middle-income and high-income settings (Renfrew et al., 2014). Some partial and generalized results of this review are presented
Contrary to having doctors deliver babies today, midwives were called upon to deliver babies during the eighteenth century. There were many more midwives than there were doctors during that time. In addition, Martha served as a midwife, nurse, physician, mortician, pharmacist, and attentive wife simultaneously (40). Aside from being able to deliver babies, midwives were also highly experienced in medical care—they tended to wounds, diagnosed illnesses, and made medicine. Midwives were more accessible and abundant when compared to doctors—they did not require any formal training or education. When the medical field was underdeveloped, the midwives were the leading resource when it was related to medical conflicts.
The Grand Midwives, a term we now wish to honor them with, are still among us. Some are with us in spirit, and a few are still with us today. Two midwives who told their stories before passing on were, Onnie Lee Logan in her book, Motherwit, An Alabama Midwife 's Story, and Why Not Me ? The story of Gladys Milton, Midwife by Wendy Bovard and Gladys Milton. One midwife of a few still living is Margaret Charles Smith from Alabama. You can read her story in her book titled Listen To Me Good: The Story of an Alabama Midwife. These three midwives have shared their story with us so that we can understand our history in Midwifery. Midwives can be found throughout the United States and across the sea. In many states Midwifery is still unlawful. Some states have managed to pass laws that have made midwifery a free state to practice in. Those who practice laid midwifery in restricted states do so because they believe that families ought to have the right to birth where they want and to be attended by whom they choose. They believe in freedom and exercise this belief as Harriet Tubman once did. Many midwives today believe they were called to serve the pregnant mother as the midwives of yesterday. They serve with pride and dignity, something that no man will ever take away. As long as there are mothers upon the stool, there will always be
"I had traveled much on the Kennebec, by water, by ice, and, during those treacherous seasons when the river was neither one nor the other, by faith" (e.g., A Midwife's Tale). Martha's diary is one of the few documents written by a woman that exist today and that describes the behavior, occupation, roles, and daily activities of a common society in the 18th century during and after the Revolution. Although she dedicates her whole life to help others and her family, the diary exposes a very different world with the very different community. Many other history documents lacked the problems of women and the lack of written documents by the female gender. Through this document, Martha gives the importance of women in the community and how they
Johnson, K. C., & Daviss, B. A. (2005). Outcomes of planned home births with certified professional midwives: large prospective study in North America. Bmj, 330(7505), 1416.
Two-thirds of infants die during the first month of life due to low birth weight (Lia-Hoagberg et al, 1990). One reason for this outcome is primarily due to difficulties in accessing prenatal care. Prenatal health care encompasses the health of women in both pre and post childbearing years and provides the support for a healthy lifestyle for the mother and fetus and/or infant. This form of care plays an important role in the prevention of poor birth outcomes, such as prematurity, low birth weight and infant mortality, where education, risk assessment, treatment of complications, and monitoring of fetus development are vital (McKenzie, Pinger,& Kotecki, 2012). Although every woman is recommended to receive prenatal health care, low-income and disadvantaged minority women do not seek care due to structural and individual barriers.
The modern nurse has much to be thankful for because of some of the early pioneers of nursing, such as Florence Nightingale and Jensey Snow. However, the scope and influence of professional nursing, as well as the individual nurse, has seen more exponential growth and change in North America since the establishment of the first professional organization for nursing, the Nurses Associated Alumnae of the United States and Canada, which in 1911 came to be known as the American Nurses Association.
Throughout history mankind has come up with some wonderful inventions and innovations, but out of all the creations by far the most beautiful and precious is human birth. I first developed an interest in nursing and in particular midwifery years ago. I believe it is a great service within the health profession because of the privileged position to assist in human childbirth. The word midwife means with woman. Centuries before obstetricians delivered babies, midwifes assisted women in having at home births. But it was only formally established as a profession in the early 1900’s. A nurse-midwife is a registered nurse that specializes in midwifery. The job of midwife is to assist in family planning and birth control advice, provide general gynecological services (such as pap smears and breast exams), aid women in childbirth, and help women by providing prenatal and postpartum care. Nurse-midwives are required to have a Master’s of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree and pass the American College of Nurse Midwifery (ACNM) board examination to obtain certification.
Sorensen, J., & Abbott, E. (2004). The Maternity and Infancy Revolution. Maternal & Child Health Jounal, 8(3), 107-110. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=14089739&site=ehost-live
Holder, V. L. (2003). From hand maiden to right hand-- The birth of nursing in America “.ARON journal, 20. Retrieved from Academic OneFile. Web. 16 Apr. 2011
...o find a balance between interventional and non-interventional birth. With this being said, I also understand that there are strict policies and protocols set in place, which I must abide to as a healthcare provider, in any birth setting. Unfortunately, these guidelines can be abused. Christiane Northrup, MD, a well recognized and respected obstetrician-gynecologist has gone as far as to tell her own daughters that they should not give birth in a hospital setting, with the safest place being home (Block, 2007, p. xxiii). Although I am not entirely against hospital births, I am a firm believe that normal, healthy pregnancies should be fully permissible to all midwives. However, high-risk pregnancies and births must remain the responsibility of skilled obstetricians. My heart’s desire is to do what is ultimately in the best interest of the mother, and her unborn child.
Registered Nursing dates back to the medieval times. Although the modern ideas of nursing didn’t come about till the nineteenth century. Florence Nightingale had a strong impact on the nursing world, she dedicated her life to begin army hospital during the Crimean War. These ideas weren’t put into practice though until the Civil War. During this time the nurses were not licensed but were concerned individuals who volunteered rather than being hired. The first school of nursing was in Boston, Massachusetts in 1873. It wasn’t until 1938 that New York passed the law that practical nurses had to be licensed. There have been many changes since registered nursing had taken place. Today’s nurses are highly educated and are licensed health ca...
Pairman,S., Tracy, S., Thorogood, C., & Pincombe, J. (2013). Theoretical frameworks for midwifery practice. Midwifery: Preparation for practice.(2nd ed, pp. 313-336). Chatswood, N.S.W. : Elsevier Australia
Chances are that terms such as “midwife” and “home birth” conjure up for you old-fashioned images of childbirth. These words may bring to mind scenes from old movies, but you’re not likely to associate them with the modern image of childbirth. Do you know anyone who has had a midwife-assisted birth or a home birth? Would you consider one?
Worldwide, the rate of cesarean section is increasing. According to the CDC, in 2012 the rate of cesarean sections comprised 32.8% of all births in the United States (CDC, 2013). Between 1996-2009 the cesarean section rate has risen 60% in the U.S (CDC, 2013). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 50% of the 137 countries studies had cesarean section rates higher than 15% (WHO, 2010). The current goal of U.S. 2020 Healthy People is to reduce the rate of cesarean section to a target of 23.9%, which is almost 10% lower than the current rate (Healthy People 2020, 2013). According to a study conducted by Gonzales, Tapia, Fort, and Betran (2013), the appropriate percentage of performed cesarean sections is unclear, and is dependent on the circumstances of each individual birth (p. 643). Though often a life-saving procedure when necessary, the risks and complications associated with cesarean delivery are a cause for alarm due to the documented rate increase of this procedure across the globe. Many studies have revealed that cesarean deliveries increase the incidence of maternal hemorrhage and mortality and neonatal respiratory distress when compared to vaginal deliveries. As a result, current research suggests that efforts to reduce the rate of non-medically indicated cesarean sections should be made, and that comprehensive patient education should be provided when considering an elective cesarean delivery over a planned vaginal delivery.
The most important indicators of a community’s overall health are maternal, infant, and child health. It deals with the health of women of childbearing age from pre-pregnancy, labor, delivery and the postpartum period and the health of the child prior to birth through the adolescence (McKenzie & Pinger, 2015, p.192). Health data that is collected towards maternal, infant and child health are used to see the effectiveness of disease prevention and health promotion services in a community. Prenatal health care is one of the fundamentals of a safe pregnancy. An infant’s health depends on the mother.