What is a midwife?
A midwife is a trained professional with special expertise in supporting women to maintain a healthy pregnancy and birth. Midwives are recognized throughout the world as the most appropriate care providers for the vast majority of women. Midwifery care is uniquely nurturing, economical, and responsive to the needs of individual families.
The Midwives Model of Care recognizes pregnancy and birth as normal, healthy processes. Midwives provide full prenatal, birth, and postpartum care to low-risk women, recognize deviations from normal, and refer care if appropriate.
Types of midwives
Certified Nurse-Midwives (CNMs) are trained in two different professions: nursing and midwifery. CNMs receive training for, and practice almost exclusively in, hospital settings.
Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) are Direct-Entry Midwives, trained solely in midwifery. CPMs are trained experts in out-of-hospital birth, and the only nationally certified birth attendants whose education requires clinical experience and training in the skills necessary for safe out-of-hospital births.
What is the status of midwives in Iowa?
CNMs are licensed in all 50 states, but CPMs are not yet licensed in Iowa.
Why license Certified Professional Midwives in Iowa?
Out-of-hospital birth is a reality in Iowa. Families are having home births and will continue to do so. It is in the interest of public safety to regulate midwives who practice out of hospital through licensure, rather than attempting to stop their activities through litigation. Requiring licensure for midwives who can demonstrate that they have met the requirements for competent practice is the best way to ensure that those families who choose out-of-hospital birth will have access to the safest possible care.
Do Certified Professional Midwives provide safe care?
Yes! The largest ever prospective study of planned out-of-hospital births with Certified Professional Midwives was published in the British Medical Journal in 2005.* It included all planned out-of-hospital births attended by CPMs in the year 2000 -- more than 5,000 births. The study showed that outcomes were the same for newborns and complications were significantly lower for mothers, when compared to low-risk hospital births. The American Public Health Association and the World Health Organization support increased access to out-of-hospital maternity care.
What is the Big Push for Midwives?
The Big Push for Midwives is a nationally coordinated campaign to advocate for regulation and licensure of CPMs in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The goal of this movement is to fully integrate the Midwives Model of Care into the health care systems of our states, to highlight the importance of family healthcare choices, and to defend the ability of CPMs to provide legal and safe prenatal, birth and postpartum care to families in every state.
What can I do to help?
Join Friends of Iowa Midwives and get involved today! We are a participating state in the Big Push campaign’s coordinated efforts.
Friends of Iowa Midwives believes that Iowans deserve better access to
out-of-hospital maternity care.
*Johnson, K.C., Daviss, B.A, “Outcomes of Planned Home Births with Certified Professional Midwives: Large Prospective Study in North America,” British Medical Journal 2005; 330: 1416 (18 June).
