Press Release: Study Finds for Healthy Women, Planned Homebirth with a Certified Professional Midwife as Safe as Birth in Hospital with a Doctor
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, June 17, 2005
Contact:
Jacque Shannon-McNulty
President
Chicago Community Midwives
jacque@chicagocommunitymidwives.org
Study Finds for Healthy Women, Planned Homebirth with a Certified Professional Midwife as Safe as Birth in Hospital with a Doctor
CHICAGO- The British Medical Journal publishes a study in the June 18th edition finding that women experiencing low-risk pregnancies who give birth at home under the care of a Certified Professional Midwife fare as well as low-risk women giving birth in the hospital under the care of a physician. “This study is the most current and most comprehensive North American study of Certified Professional Midwives and it clearly demonstrates that homebirth with a Certified Professional Midwife is safe,” states Jacque Shannon-McNulty, President of the nonprofit Chicago Community Midwives. “The Illinois State Medical Society has consistently opposed homebirth and Certified Professional Midwives as unsafe. Today’s study proves that the ISMS position is outdated and needs to be revised to reflect this peer-reviewed medical research. Chicago Community Midwives calls on physicians to examine the evidence and support Certified Professional Midwives and homebirth as safe, healthy birth options for the women who choose them.”
Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) differ from the more familiar Certified Nurse-Midwives (CNMs). CPMs and CNMs are two distinct professions, with this study examining the practice of Certified Professional Midwives. Certified Nurse-Midwives are trained primarily as nurses with advanced training in midwifery. Certified Nurse-Midwives, according the American College of Nurse-Midwives, can provide the Midwives Model of Care ™ in a variety of settings including hospitals, freestanding birth centers or at home. In the Chicago area, the vast majority of CNMs practice in hospitals with a few local CNMs providing homebirth services. Certified Professional Midwives are non-nurse midwives with expertise in out-of-hospital birth, especially homebirth. The CPM credential is the only healthcare credential validating experience and competency in out-of-hospital birth. Twenty-one other states license Certified Professional Midwives. In Illinois, CPM practice is outlawed by judicial interpretation. Efforts at CPM licensure in Illinois are ongoing.
The study finds “Planned home birth for low risk women in North America using Certified Professional Midwives was associated with lower rates of medical intervention but similar intrapartum and neonatal mortality to that of low risk hospital births in the United States.”
According to the BMJ article:
· Planned home births “had a low mortality rate during labor and delivery, similar to [rates] found in most studies of low risk hospital births in North America.”
· “Rates of medical intervention, such as epidural, forceps and caesarean section, were lower for planned home births than for low risk hospital births.”
· “A high degree of safety and maternal satisfaction were reported, and over 87% of mothers and babies did not require transfer to hospital” care.
· “At 6 weeks postpartum, 98.3% of babies were in good health, with no residual health problems. At six weeks post partum, 95.8% of these women were still breast feeding their babies, 89.7% exclusively.”
· The study found no maternal deaths of women studied giving birth at home with Certified Professional Midwives and at the 6 week postpartum check-up, “98.4% of mothers reported good health, with no residual health problems.”
“These findings are very compelling,“ notes Shannon-McNulty, “For the well-being of mothers and babies, Illinois needs to increase access to this evidence-based model of maternity care.”
Chicago Community Midwives is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving maternal-child health. CCM provides public and professional education about the Midwives Model of Care ™, out of hospital birth, and breastfeeding as evidence-based and health-giving modalities for improving maternal-child health.
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References:
Outcomes of planned home births with certified professional midwives: large prospective study in North America — Johnson and Daviss 330 (7505): 1416 – BMJ http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/330/7505/1416?ehomI
For information about the Midwives Model of Care ™ http://cfmidwifery.org/mmoc/define.aspx
For information about the CPM credential http://www.narm.org/
Chicago Community Midwives www.chicagocommunitymidwives.org
June 17th, 2005