Midwifery Facts

• The percentage of countries providing universal prenatal care that have lower infant mortality rates than the United States: 100%
• The percentage of US births attended principally by midwives: 5%
  The percentage of European births attended principally by midwives: 75%
• Number of midwives practicing in the US: 3,000-4,000 direct-entry midwives; 3,500 certified nurse-midwives.
• Number of midwives needed in the US to meet European levels: 120,000.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) states that the preferred location for most births is outside the hospital, either at home or in a birthing center, and that out-of-hospital birth should be implemented and maintained as the basic standard for all midwifery education and training programs.
• According to two recently published studies, direct-entry midwife-attended homne births were accomplished with safety comparable to that of conventional births. In fact, physician-attended hospital birth has never been shown to be safer than midwife-attended home birth for women with normal pregnancies. (American Journal of Public Health 1992; 82:450-453; Birth, 1994; 1:141-148)
• Most home births in the United States are attended by direct-entry midwives.
• Americans could save $13 billion to $20 billion annually in health care costs by developing a network of midwifery care providers, demedicalizing childbirth, and encouraging breastfeeding. (Frank A. Oski, M.D., professor and director, Department of Pediatrics, John Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore)