A certified nurse midwife provides care to women of all ages, focusing on pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum care. Certified midwives undergo advanced training and work with obstetricians, gynecologists, nurses, physical therapists, and other specialists. Whether you’re planning to start a family or are dealing with newborn illnesses, you may benefit from the skills and expertise of an experienced nurse midwife. Here are some of the services certified nurse midwives offer:
Prenatal Care
Nurse midwife services are available before, during, and after pregnancy. Prenatal care involves monitoring and managing your and your baby’s health during pregnancy. These services range from routine checkups to imaging tests, such as ultrasounds. Imaging tests help medical professionals identify issues early to manage potential complications. Prenatal care protects the safety of you and your baby and allows your care team to monitor developments that could affect your health.
Regular checkups allow nurse practitioners to ease your discomfort and address questions you might have. Checkups are required as soon as you discover you’re pregnant and are recommended when you and your partner want to start a family. If you have a high-risk pregnancy, yourcertified nurse midwife will schedule frequent checkups to prevent or manage complications. For normal pregnancies, prenatal visits are scheduled every couple of weeks and become more frequent as your delivery date approaches.
Labor and Childbirth
Your nurse midwife will assist with childbirth and can perform vaginal births and cesarean deliveries. They work in hospitals, birth centers, and home settings to provide care to mothers during labor and postpartum. Certified nurse midwives monitor your health and the baby’s condition by checking vital signs, contractions, and the heart rate of your child. These professionals may provide pain management services, including breathing techniques, hydrotherapy, position changes, and medical interventions.
Certified nurse midwives provide you with emotional support during labor in the form of professional advice, encouragement, and comfort. They can help you perform relaxation techniques while they handle the delivery. Nurse midwives are also trained to manage routine and complicated deliveries and provide medical interventions and episiotomies when needed. They will provide immediate newborn care to keep your baby healthy and facilitate breastfeeding. Other childbirth services include stopping excessive bleeding and giving guidance on postpartum infant care and recovery.
Postpartum and Gynecological Care
A nurse midwife provides physical and emotional support and other short-term and long-term post-birth healthcare services. They may offer breastfeeding guidance and advice for postpartum recovery. Certified nurse midwives also monitor your physical recovery and provide interventions to help your uterus recover. If you’ve had a C-section, your nurse midwife monitors the healing of the stitches and incisions. They also address postpartum bleeding, infections, pain, and depression.
Other postpartum services midwives offer include family planning and contraception options. You’ll get general newborn care guidance and gynecological care involving routine pelvic and breast exams, Pap smears, menstrual health care, and menopause management. Nurse midwives are trained in obstetrics and gynecology, which allows them to address various issues, from infections and PCOS to infertility, endometriosis, and fibroids. They also perform hysteroscopies and offer cord blood banking to preserve healing cells your baby might need for future life-saving treatments.
Speak to a Certified Nurse Midwife Today
Certified nurse midwives are primary healthcare providers for women in their teenage years to the later stages of their lives. They can diagnose and treat various sexual and reproductive health issues in collaboration with OB/GYNs to confirm the health of their patients. Contact a board-certified certified nurse midwife today to learn more about their services.