by Geradine Simkins, CNM, MSN, Executive Director, Midwives Alliance of North America In today’s peer-reviewed Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health (JMWH), a landmark study** confirms that among low-risk women, planned home births result in low rates of interventions without an increase in adverse outcomes for mothers and babies. This study, which examines nearly 17,000 courses of midwife-led care, is the largest analysis of planned home birth in the U.S. ever published. The results of this study, and those of its companion article about the development of th ..read more

Though March is officially Women’s History Month, we would like to continue our reflections on the history of midwifery and maternal health care. Will you join us with your Throwback Thursday posts and pictures? In 1982, the Midwives Alliance of North America was established as a non-profit (501 c 6) professional organization for all midwives. MANA grew out of a grassroots coalition of diverse types of midwives including nurse-midwives, lay midwives, direct-entry midwives, and traditional midwives from across North America. Since 1982, the Midwives Alliance has taken leadership in advocating ..read more

More than 50,000 cases of midwifery-led care will now be available to researchers thanks to the validation of the MANA stats 4.0 dataset. This key achievement makes MANA Stats by far the largest available dataset on physiologic birth and midwife-led care in the United States. Of particular interest to researchers is that MANA stats is based on medical records, which are considered to be the “gold standard” of health care research. “Validity” is a statistical term that means, essentially, that the data are accurate. In this case, it means that the MANA Division of Research (DOR) selected a ran ..read more

As a part of our new “Update from the States” series, we asked Marijke van Roojen, president of the Wisconsin Guild of Midwives, to catch us up on the current activities of the midwifery community in this progressive midwestern state. Read on to learn about their current initiatives: Wisconsin Guild of Midwives Current Initiatives (WGOM) WGOM has once again had a busy year. Our vibrant membership of midwives and student midwives meet 5 times a year and in addition to sustaining private midwifery practices across the state, we are engaged in various public health efforts in collaboration w ..read more

California midwives are going to the legislature with three midwifery bills this session. California Association of Midwives (CAM) and California Nurse Midwives Association (CNMA) have each sponsored legislation that will increase access to midwifery care for the families of California. New California Legislation: Expanding Access To Midwifery Care Through Medi-Cal California Senate Bill 407 will, if passed, authorize California Department of Health Care Services to recognize licensed midwives as providers in the Comprehensive Perinatal Services Program (CPSP). This is a cr ..read more

Understanding Utah’s Out-of-Hospital Vital Statistics Report Last week, the Utah Department of Health released a report based on a data review of planned out-of-hospital (OOH) births for the period between 2010 and 2012. As outlined in the report, the out-of-hospital birth rate has doubled since 2007, but at 2.7%, remains a small fraction of the total number of births in Utah. Planned homebirths make up approximately 70% of the total number of OOH births, with the remainder occurring in birth centers around the state.The “average” mother choosing to birth at home or in a birth center ..read more

Elevate your social media know-how while supporting the healthy birth movement. Are you a birth junkie who uses social media to spread positive messages about childbirth options? Are you a midwife, doula, maternal health advocate or mother looking to take your social media skills to the next level? Would you like to support a national midwifery organization with a growing social media presence? Midwives Alliance of North America is seeking applicants for a one year volunteer position as an Online Community Manager (OCM). As a Midwives Alliance OCM, you will: Receive a 4-6 week training in th ..read more

“Women should be at the heart of planning maternity services.” — Mary Renfrew, on the findings of the upcoming Lancet Special Series on Midwifery Midwives know from lived experience the value midwifery care has for birthing families, their communities, and the world. Next week, the evidence base for the impact of midwifery care will be significantly expanded. At the recent International Confederation of Midwives meeting in Prague, upcoming publication of the Lancet Special Series on Midwifery was announced. What is this research about and why is this release so important? The Lancet, con ..read more

Celebrating Black History Month Fatima Muhammad, MPH, is the Director of the new Tanner Community Development Corporation’s Birthing Project, based in Phoenix, Arizona. The mission of the TCDC Birthing Project is: “To empower our families with quality education, skills, and support that promote conscious conception, positive birth experiences and outcomes, resulting in healthy and nurturing parenting practices.” Fatima began her journey in Maternal and Child Health as a doula in Tucson, AZ. A few months later she was offered a position at the Phoenix Birthing Project. While there, she worked ..read more

Elder Midwives in Practice And Advice from an Elder Midwife I have been attending births since 1981 at 21 years old. I began serving as a midwife in 1986 and still am today. So yep, that makes me almost a senior, depending on whose age scale you use. :) I have been blessed to share my journey with 40+ different ladies, students, apprentices, doulas, and childbirth workers in my time. I desire to leave all my lifetime learning and wisdom to the next generation, the same wisdom that my foremothers gained in their life’s journey of midwifery.  But unfortunately, I find this quote might be ..read more