What Are the Advantages of Using a Certified Nurse-Midwife for Your Pregnancy and Delivery?

Women have gotten critical help from midwives before, during, and after their births for millennia. Today’s Certified Nurse Midwives are critical parts of care teams for pregnant women and new moms. Learn about the multifaceted care they provide.

According to the International Confederation of Midwives, the evidence of midwives helping women with their births dates as far back as 40,000 BC.

At Southdale ObGyn, our provider team embraces the significant services and unique gifts midwives provide our patients. Your Southdale midwife offers what we call low-tech, high-touch care that’s marked by a high level of personalization and expertise.

Midwives aren’t just for pregnant women. Certified nurse midwives (CNMs) treat women at every stage of life, from the teenage years through menopause and beyond.

How a nurse midwife helps with pregnancy and birth

Our CNMs can help you at any stage during your pregnancy, but many women choose to align themselves with a midwife even before they become pregnant because she can advise them about proper nutrition before and during pregnancy, the importance of taking prenatal vitamins, getting sufficient and safe exercise, and more.

Many women are also disenchanted with the medicalized birth model that’s prevalent today, and midwives are proponents of less medical intervention for mothers-to-be. We complement midwifery at Southdale ObGyn with our expert physician care and a hospital-assisted birth, thanks to our relationship with Fairview Southdale Hospital.

Additional important services your CNM can provide include:

Detailed education about pregnancy, birth, lactation, reproductive health, and more
Comprehensive prenatal care, including blood work and ultrasounds
Attending your birth and supporting you physically and emotionally
Providing postpartum care
Helping you with caring for your newborn

There’s also compelling evidence about safety and reduced medical intervention in births when midwives are involved. For example, women assisted by midwives during labor and delivery are less likely to have induced births, severe perineal tears, and preterm births.

Other benefits of working with a midwife include lower rates of regional anesthesia use and infant mortality and a better-supported, more positive start with breastfeeding.

Midwives offer a connective key to patients

In a sense, your midwife is a connector extraordinaire. She builds a relationship with you and your partner or family as she cares for you, works closely with physicians and hospital staff before and during your birth, and can help you bond with your newborn after birth.

During labor, she’s indispensable in terms of offering the ideal combination of medical expertise before, during, and after your birth, enlightened pain management, and sensitive guidance as she motivates and supports you during labor.

She’s also there to offer guidance after you meet your baby, such as when you come to Southdale ObGyn for postpartum checkups with your infant.

Your relationship with your midwife can enrich your pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum experience, and at Southdale ObGyn, our team reflects our belief in the power and positivity of CNMs’ services.

Call us at 952-920-7001 to schedule an appointment with a Certified Nurse Midwife or to learn more. We can see you at our Edina or Burnsville office, and you can also book an appointment with us conveniently online.