Access to midwives is about choice and optimal health for all women

Hospital Midwives Convened to Move Midwifery Forward in Massachusetts West Boylston, MA - September 26, 2017 - 

The Midwife Solution held the first ever Massachusetts Midwives Summit on September 26, 2017 at Cyprian Keyes Golf Club in West Boylston, MA. Seventy nurse midwives were in attendance, from every region of Massachusetts, as well as CT, ME, NH and RI. Eighty percent of Massachusetts maternity hospitals offering midwifery care for childbirth were represented.

The Massachusetts Midwives Summit was a signature, spring-boarding event aimed at increasing access to midwives at Massachusetts maternity hospitals. Midwifery care has been identified as a vital solution to address the increasing number of American women experiencing severe birth complications, and even death. Research demostrates that some of  the many benefits of midwife led care is that women have fewer episiotomies, and instrumental deliveries, they are less likely to experience preterm birth and their chance of having a spontaneous vaginal birth is increased. (Sandall et al. 2016. Cochrane Review, Midwife led Continuity Models)

Mapping integration of midwives across the United States: Impact on access, equity, and outcomes.

Authors: Saraswathi Vedam, Kathrin Stoll, Marian McDorman, Eugene Declerq, Renee Cramer, Melissa Cheyney, Timothy Fisher, Emma Butt, Y Tony Yang and Holly Powell Kennedy.