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Susan Sherry Hodges, MS, Citizens for Midwifery, PO Box 82227, Athens, GA 30608-2227, 888-236-4880, shodgesmwy@earthlink.net
Research consistently demonstrates that midwifery care is health promoting and cost-effective for mothers and babies, leading to more full term and full weight babies and less maternal morbidity, compared to standard obstetric care. Midwifery care is supported by APHA resolutions and recommended by WHO. With the Midwives Model of Care interventions are avoided, because evidence shows that most routinely used obstetric interventions and practices are ineffective and/or harmful. However, midwives are being fired and birth centers are being closed -- economic reasons usually are cited. Meanwhile, the U.S. has the highest rates ever for cesarean sections, inductions and other interventions – rates that are medically unjustified and have not improved outcomes for mothers or babies. Clearly, maternity care treatment decisions are being made for non-medical reasons. Hospitals seek to reduce costs while increasing income, and obstetricians, facing escalating malpractice premiums and decreasing Medicaid reimbursements, must see more patients in less time, which can be accomplished with more inductions and planned cesareans. Government data show unusual distributions of births according to days of the week, type of insurance, and type of hospital used. In this context, midwives are seen as inefficient and unprofitable, and out-of-hospital births mean lost income. The problem: maternity care treatment decisions are being made for non-medical reasons. Economic and other factors function to limit maternity care options and increase unnecessary interventions, at great cost to individuals and the society at large. Women and babies are poorly served by such a system.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Maternal Care, Evidence Based Practice
Related Web page: www.cfmidwifery.org
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.