There is a lot going on in the world but has anyone noticed some hospitals shutting down their maternity units?
In our area of South Florida, we have seen many shutdowns and now we are noticing more. What? How? Why?
Apparently it's not just S. Florida, according to a CNN article "The Chartis report says that the states with the highest loss of access to obstetrical care are Minnesota, Texas, Iowa, Kansas and Wisconsin, with each losing more than 10 facilities"
As a Direct-Entry Midwife, I understand the importance of having a L&D unit with a good NICU level available.
However, I also believe that low-risk women should be seeing a Midwife for care. This lowers the burden on hospitals/OB's but also helps improve maternal-infant quality of care and outcomes.
This article highlights how Midwives stats show excellent outcomes for moms and babies. It's sad to see all these hospitals closing their maternity units for many reasons. One being the fact that this takes options away from families in the community and it makes it difficult for Midwives and mothers to have a reliable close option for possible emergencies. Hopefully this will open the path to more Midwifery care and improve maternal/infant outcomes by better access to full comprehensive care.
Getting extra nutritional support during early pregnancy can reduce problems in late pregnancy. Having a provider that is familiar with educating their clients with complete healthy lifestyles always shows better outcomes. Having personalized and individualized care for each client leads to better and more positive outcomes. It's only when risk factors present that the Midwife should refer to a specialist to evaluate and address.
