{"id":291559,"date":"2023-05-27T15:42:43","date_gmt":"2023-05-27T20:42:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=291559"},"modified":"2023-06-02T10:49:30","modified_gmt":"2023-06-02T15:49:30","slug":"maternal-mortality-crisis-answer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/maternal-mortality-crisis-answer\/","title":{"rendered":"Could this be the answer to the maternal mortality crisis?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The pro-life movement has long grasped the necessity of caring for both mothers and<\/em> their babies, born or preborn. Maternal mortality deaths<\/a>, meaning pregnancy-related maternal deaths up to one year after birth, are massively preventable<\/a>, rob children of their mothers, and devastate families — and thus should concern every pro-lifer.<\/p>\n

Live Action News has repeatedly highlighted the ways that increased access to doula care<\/a> can help improve<\/a> outcomes for America\u2019s mothers and their babies via decreased rates of cesarean-sections, decreased use of pain medication, fewer preterm births, higher birth weights, increased rates of breastfeeding, and more. Culturally sensitive doula care<\/a> is especially impactful for Black and Indigenous women, who are at the highest risk of experiencing maternal mortality. And despite claims to the contrary, legalized abortion is no solution<\/a> to the maternal mortality crisis<\/a>, and may exacerbate it<\/a>. There\u2019s still another piece to the puzzle: midwifery care.<\/p>\n

What is a midwife?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In an article for Verily<\/a>, doula and certified lactation consultant Cassondra Moriarty summarized humorously, \u201cA midwife is not a witch doctor, does not have to be a hippie, doesn\u2019t necessarily carry crystals, and doesn\u2019t hate your OB-GYN.\u201d Moriarty interviewed retired doctor of midwifery Karen Jefferson, who explained, \u201cMidwives provide relationship-based health care in the context of the perinatal cycle. They are specialists in physiologic birth.\u201d Midwives are best known for caring for women during pregnancy, labor, birth, and postpartum. But they also provide well-woman care from a girl\u2019s first period through menopause.<\/p>\n

Moriarty clarified the three types of midwives practicing in the United States today: certified nurse midwives, certified midwives, and certified professional midwives. Certified Nurse Midwives (CNM) are licensed by the American Midwifery Certification Board (AMCB) and can practice in any state. Certified Midwives (CM) take the same licensing exam as CNMs, but are limited to practicing in just a few states. The North American Registry of Midwives (NARM) certifies Certified Professional Midwives (CPM), and licenses are issued by the state in which CPMs practice. However, CPMs undergo significantly less training<\/a> than CNMs and CMs, typically holding only a high school diploma.<\/p>\n

A midwife is not a doula. A doula is a trained support person who emotionally and\/or physically supports moms and their partners or families. Doulas do not have medical training, though, like midwives, they care for women from pregnancy through postpartum and are well-versed in normal, physiologic birth. Like midwives, they view pregnancy as a natural occurrence, not as an illness or a problem to be managed.<\/p>\n