Midwives and Hospitals: Get the Best of Both

Angie Scarpa, CNM, ARNP, Certified Nurse Midwife and Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner, answers some of the most common questions about midwives.

Pregnant women often think that they must choose between giving birth naturally at home with the help of a midwife or in a hospital setting by a doctor. Fortunately, this is not the case.  A growing trend combines both a natural birth led by a calm, caring midwife who practices in collaboration with a supportive obstetrician in a hospital setting. You can get the best of both worlds by having the expertise of a midwife, while still being steps away from modern technology and emergency medical equipment.

What is a midwife?

A midwife combines physical care, emotional support, and personal preferences to best meet your needs. She provides expert individualized care through all stages of women's lives, including pregnancy, labor, delivery and following birth. Certified nurse midwives (CNM) are trained in both nursing and midwifery and are certified by the American College of Nurse Midwives. Whether you choose a CNM or an OB-GYN, you'll have a trained healthcare professional with you every step of the way.

What are the benefits of delivering with a midwife in a hospital setting?

• Access to modern technology.
• Obstetricians are steps away in case of emergencies.
• Personalized care and emotional support from a midwife, who generally treats birth as a natural process that shouldn't require a lot of medical intervention.
• Midwives who work in hospital settings have more amenities at their disposal than midwives delivering in home settings.
• Having midwives by their side during labor, women tend to need less medical intervention. They generally support the natural birthing process and women with low-risk pregnancies.
• Research has shown, deliveries that are supervised by a certified nurse midwife, undergo fewer inductions and are less likely to have cesarean sections, which in turn leads to a shorter recovery time.

Angie Scarpa, CNM, ARNP, specializes in pregnancy, delivery and all areas of gynecologic care.

Schedule your appointment online at Lakewoodranchmedicalgroup.com/appt , or call 941-348-1144.