Would You Like to Become a Midwife?

Image Gallery ADAPTED FROM PHOTO BY LYN JONES

There's a growing need for compassionate, skilled women to attend natural childbirths.

Although the modern world is becoming increasingly oriented toward technology, one of the world's oldest—and most down-to-earth—professions is currently making a comeback . . . midwifery. Today's midwives are teaching childbirth classes, giving prenatal and postpartum care, and, best of all, delivering more and more babies in homes and hospitals.

If you've ever considered becoming a midwife, you may have wondered just where to begin—since it can be difficult to find information on the subject! In the same vein, many pregnant women wish to be attended by a midwife but cannot find one. In order to address both of those problems, this article will look at what it takes to become a midwife . . . what possibilities for work exist . . . and how you may be able to locate such a birth attendant.

Most women who become midwives feel they're answering a calling: They have a strong belief in the basic normalcy of childbirth and a feeling that there is a certain rightness in a woman attending another woman in labor. (EDITOR'S NOTE: We should point out, however, that there are practicing male midwives.) Furthermore, because this occupation is still struggling for acceptance in our coun try (see the sidebar "But Can You Become a Midwife?"), most midwives also have a streak of stubbornness in their characters.

Take the above qualities, add caring, empathy, scholastic ability, and being able to think clearly at 2 A.M., and you have a description of a "typical" midwife. And she certainly isn't in it for the money! Probably the most that a certified nurse-midwife could earn would be around $25,000 to $35,000 . . . while a lay midwife making $12,000 a year would be doing well indeed.

After consumer awareness about childbirth issues increased in the 1970s, two kinds of midwives emerged in America: lay midwives, who are mostly self-taught and involved in home births; and certified nurse-midwives (C.N.M.'s), who have been through credentialed nursing and birthing programs and usually work in hospitals or birth centers.

A certified nurse-midwife must have her R.N. degree (the majority have a bachelor of science in nursing) and have completed either a basic midwife certification program or the more elite two-year master's degree program. She can then work in a hospital or a birth center, or go into independent practice—although her choices may be limited by state law and by her ability (or inability) to get delivery privileges at a hospital.

A C.N.M. will usually have clearly defined medical privileges, such as the right to do an episiotomy (surgically enlarging the birth opening), suture, give analgesic drugs, and prescribe birth control. In some states, though, she may be required to practice directly under a physician's supervision, often to the point of having to have a physician present during each delivery.