Women’s Healthcare: Why Choose a Midwife?

Lindsay Breinholt, a certified nurse midwife and women’s health nurse practitioner with Mount Olympus Obstetrics & Gynecology, breaks down the myths of midwifery and explains why it might be right for you.


Myth #1- A Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) is not a recognized healthcare provider

– Medical practitioner who specializes in women’s   health care and childbirth.

– Receive an undergraduate degree in nursing and a   graduate degree in midwifery from an accredited   university.

– Function as respected, autonomous care providers   to all women during their reproductive cycles.

– Provide care to women from puberty through   menopause.

– Perceive labor and birth as a natural process   versus a medical condition.

Myth #2- I can only see a midwife if I am   pregnant

– Provide prenatal care, deliver the baby and   postpartum care

– CNMs provide medical care to women of all ages.

– ALL gynecological care including: annual exams,   minor infection treatment, birth control, IUD   insertions, pre-marital exams, pre-pregnancy   counseling and menopausal/hormonal management.

Myth #3- Women are treated in an unregulated   facility


– Women’s healthcare treatment is performed in a   regulated medical office, hospitals, medical clinics   and private offices.

Myth #4- Women seeing a nurse midwife have to deliver at home

– Hospitals, birth centers or at home.

– Most CNMs in Utah deliver at standard hospitals.

Myth #5- There is no benefit to seeing a midwife

– Spend more time answering questions and   educating patients in the office, at the bedside,   throughout labor and birth.

– Team rapport begins with annual visits.

– Longer visits and personal relationships.

– Increased time spent with the midwife equals cost   effective patient care.

– Low rates of infant and maternal mortality,   premature births, low-birth weight rates, cesarean   birth, episiotomy and use of epidural anesthesia.

– Half the national average C-section rate.

– Less induced or augmented labor.

Myth #6- Women have to deliver without medication if they see a midwife

– The patient’s choice of birth is respected   regardless if the patient delivers un-medicated,   with an epidural or by cesarean   section.

– Because midwifery patients deliver in a hospital,   anesthesiologists are readily available to place an   epidural or participate in a   c-section.

– Pain medication is administered at the patient’s   request.

Myth #7- There is no physician involvement

– Nurse-midwives are trained to recognize deviations   from normal before a problem becomes serious.

– CNMs follow protocols and consults with designated   physicians if a problem is anticipated or   occurs.

– If a situation is beyond a midwife’s scope of care, a   patient may be referred to an OB/GYN physician   who is a specialist in gynecological surgery and   illness related to pregnancy and reproductive   health.

– Often, women with high-risk pregnancies may   receive the benefits of midwifery care from a   nurse-midwife in collaboration with a   physician.

– Midwives and physicians each play an important   role in women’s health care.

– The two professions can be used together to   support women in the most effective way and are   complementary to each other.

Myth #8- Midwifery care is not regulated

– CNM take a national examination after completing   their education.

– Follow hospital guidelines and state standards for   safe practice.

– Hospital privileges.

– 24 hour back up OB/GYN physician for emergencies.

– Licensed by the state as advanced practice nurses,   midwives or nurse-midwives.

– Midwives serve a pertinent role to women in the   community, providing safe, effective and   educational care.

Myth #9- Nurse midwives cannot prescribe medication

– CNM’s prescribe in all 50 states, including both   conventional forms of medication and herbal   management.

Myth #10- Midwives are not covered by insurance

– In fact, almost all insurances cover midwifery care   including Medicaid.


For more information visit Mount Olympus Obstetrics and Gynecology at www.mtolympusobgyn.com

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