"So, do you go to the home to deliver babies?"

This is by far the most frequently asked question I receive.

I know that when many people hear the word midwife, they think of someone with long hair, long
skirts, and Birkenstock clogs, who delivers babies at home!  While that's true of some, it's only
par
tially true of me!
 
The practice of Nurse-Midwifery has evolved greatly over the past 75 years or so.  
To begin
with, nurse-midwives are highly educated practitioners. They are educated in both the
profession of nursing, and the art of midwifery.  Most states now require that a nurse-midwife
have a master's degree in nursing as well. Nurse-midwives do more than deliver babies, too!
We do well woman care, including PAP tests and breast exams; we can diagnose and treat
gynecological disorders; we can write prescriptions in all 50 states.  

Only about 4% of midwives deliver babies at home these days.  The other 96% of babies are
born in hospitals.  While I believe that planned home birth can be as safe as a hospital delivery, I
only attend births in the hospital (
St. Elizabeth Hospital and Northside Medical Center).  I am no
stranger to out-of-hospital birth, however. While I was in graduate school, I worked as an RN at
a birth center called Doughty View Midwifery Center, located in Millersburg, Ohio.


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