Midwifery:

According to The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, Contemporary midwives attend births in hospitals and birthing centers as well as at home. Most midwives are registered nurses who have completed additional training in accredited institutions. Certified nurse midwives (CNMs) can practice in all 50 states. Many are trained to deal with other gynecological issues, such as birth control and menopausal problems. Lay-midwives usually train by apprenticeship and are regulated by local statutes that limit what services they may perform.

Gynecology and Obstetrics:

Obstetrics are a branch of medicine that deals with pregnancy, pregnancy health, the mother's health, childbirth, labor and newborn care.

Gynecology is a branch of medicine that deals with health care for women, in particular the diagnosis and treatment of disorders that affect the female reproductive organs.

With gynecology and obstetrics working together, you could imagine how beneficial this would be to a woman trying to get pregnant, or who is pregnant.

Tips for Helping you Choose:

Interviewing Different Professionals.

Yes, you have the power to choose wisely! Interview your doctor (if you already have one), interview different midwives and others in your area.

Here are some recommended questions to ask from WebMD:

General questions:

• Are you board-certified?
• If you are part of a group practice, who will be delivering my baby?
• Where do you deliver babies?
• Do you have hospital privileges?
• Will I be separated from my partner at any time during labor or birth?
• Will you explain the benefits and risks of every procedure you recommend?
• How do you define "high-risk"? Do I fall into that category? How do you handle high-risk births?
• What types of prenatal tests do you routinely order? What happens if I choose to refuse a certain test?
• What if my baby is breech (buttocks first)? Do you automatically do a Caesarean section?
• Can my partner or family (including siblings) participate in the labor and birth?
• How soon after birth can I go home?
• Is there a lactation (breast-feeding) consultant on staff to teach me about breast-feeding?
• What are your fees? Does health insurance routinely cover your practice? Can we pay in installments?

Questions for an obstetrician:

• Do you have any specialties or special training?
• How many sonograms do you routinely recommend?
• Do you perform amniocentesis yourself?
• How many Caesarean sections do you perform annually?
• How many vaginal births do you perform annually?
• What procedures do you routinely administer during delivery? (for example: IVs, fetal monitoring, episiotomies)
• At what stage of labor do you administer drugs?
• When do you feel it's necessary to induce labor?
• How frequently have you used forceps or a vacuum extractor in the past year, and under what circumstances would you resort to such a method?
• Do you recommend any particular childbirth preparation method (Lamaze, Bradley, etc.)?
• Do you hand the baby directly to the mother?

Questions for a midwife (or the person who proposes midwifery services):

• Are you certified by the American College of Nurse-Midwives?
• Are you employed by a hospital or a physician's practice?
• How many babies have you delivered?
• What position do most of the women you work with adopt for the second stage of labor?
• Where do most of the births that you attend take place?
• What happens if complications occur during the course of pregnancy or labor?
• What procedures, such as episiotomies, are you certified to perform?
• What support systems do you have in place to administer others?
• Are you permitted by law to write prescriptions?

Questions for a family physician:

• How much of your practice is devoted to obstetrics?
• How many babies have you delivered in the past year?
• Were any births complicated? What support systems do you have in place?
• Were any of the pregnancies considered high-risk?
• Why, and when, would you refer me to a specialist?

Ask family and friends about their experiences with midwifery and other professionals. Getting their experience along with your interviews, you can make a planned and great decision for the best healthcare professional for you during this time and forget about midwifery problems.