Women receiving prenatal, postnatal, and routine gynecologic care at Carolina OB/GYN in Wilmington, NC, were surprised last week to find that midwifery services were eliminated from the practice. Patients were told to reschedule their visits with an obstetrician instead. Due in part to restrictive state laws governing midwife-physician collaboration, this change leaves local women seeking midwifery services with little to no alternatives.
One woman is 7.5 weeks away from delivery, and a commenter on WECT- Channel 6 News’ website says she found out her midwife was no longer with the practice when returning for her postnatal checkup just two weeks after giving birth.
Carolina OB/GYN stated, “This decision was based solely on operational requirements, not financial or quality issues.” North Carolina women are asking, “Where’s my midwife?”
Image source: http://www.cafepress.com/wheresmymidwife
2 comments:
The same thing happend out here in Orange County California. The only hospital in the county that allowed privileges for midwives closed its maternity services for everyone. None of the other hospitals in the area would change their bylaws to incorporate midwives. The women of the community began a non-profit, Community Alliance for Birth Options (CABO) and part of the mission was to seek out options for women. As a result, I started a free standing birth center in January and we are flourishing. We cannot let midwifery care be squashed when the 'system' decides to discard us. We must be strong enough to stand on our own two feet and provide the service - there is LOTS of interest and willingness of the community to support our efforts. Just my two cents.
This is criminal. This has gone on too long. Women need to take back over birth in this country. The video about reducing infant mortality says a lot of that needs to be done -- now is the time for men to step up and support societal change and stop being cowards.
Phillip White
Orange, CA
co-author of Men at Birth
Post a Comment