Views About Midwives
“In every country where I have seen real progress in maternity care, it was women’s groups working together with midwives that made the difference.”
Marsden Wagner, MD, MSPH
Pediatrician, neonatologist and perinatal epidemiologist
Former director of Women and Children’s Welfare for the World Health Organization, and author of many books including “Born in the USA: How a Broken Maternity System must be fixed to put Women and Children First.
“Unfortunately, the role of obstetrics has never been to help women give birth. There is a big difference between the medical discipline we call “obstetrics’ and something completely different, the art of midwifery. If we want to find safe alternatives to obstetrics, we must rediscover midwifery. To rediscover midwifery is the same as giving back childbirth to women. And imagine the future if surgical teams were at the service of the midwives and the women instead of controlling them”
Michel Odent, MD
French obstetrician, author of many books including “The Cesarean” and “The Farmer and the Obstetrician”
“$13 to $20 billion a year could be saved in health care costs by demedicalizing childbirth, developing midwifery, and encouraging breastfeeding.”
Frank Oski, MD
Professor and Director, Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
“Report after report has shown that nurse-midwives produce better patient compliance and higher levels of maternal satisfaction when compared to obstetrician based care.”
Thomas Strong, Jr., MD
Author of “Expecting Trouble: the myth of prenatal care in America”
“The midwife appears to be the most appropriate and cost effective type of healthcare provider to be assigned to the care of normal pregnancy and normal birth”.
The World Health Organization
The directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system.
