Midwife less common?

[ohhhyeaaa]

Are midwives becoming less common in today's society or are they just not as widely known? I remember when they were spoken of regularly but I don't hear much about them anymore.

[Starla]

I don't know much about them but from what I have saw on TV there are still a good amount of them lingering around. People needing csections and special care tend to pull their care away from the midwife option too.

[mamabear]

I think the OBs and the nurses who specialize in Obstetrics and infant care have taken over their roles. It seems like an evolving profession now.

[silviana]

Here in the UK there is a shortage of midwives. So much so that one hospital has been prosecuted because babies died as a result of the shortage. It seems that people just aren't going into the profession any more.

[Charlie]

It just depends where you are. I have two cousins who are midwives-its not a dead trade. The problem is that in the USA there is a litigation culture, and midwives got priced out of insurance because of it. Its easier to control the outcome of a hospitalized birth where the mother is tied to a bed and drugged up-insurance companies see that as safer despite the poorer outcomes.

[crammer]

I had thought long and hard about this twice in life, once before a car wreck and once after. I opted for no midwife only due to the injuries I had gotten from the wreck otherwise I would have went for it. The Epidural just sounded too good to be true (and it was, once the hangover from it kicked in).