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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