Courtney Stallworth’s Post

📊 Cost Analysis of Continuity of Care by a Primary Midwife   A study led by Dr. Emily J Callander and her colleagues evaluates the financial implications of caseload midwifery, a model offering continuity of care by a primary midwife. This approach provides numerous benefits, including lower caesarean section rates, reduced risks of preterm birth and stillbirth, and higher maternal satisfaction.  🔍 Key findings:  Cost-neutral for public hospitals: No significant difference in overall costs between caseload midwifery and standard care.  Cost-saving for public funders: Lower expenditures for women receiving caseload midwifery compared to standard care.  Budget impact: Estimated savings of $A625 million to the Australian health system over the next 5 years with expanded access to caseload midwifery.  This study dispels concerns about additional costs and has significant implications for countries with public health insurers and those implementing #UHC.  Read the full study to understand how caseload midwifery can be both cost-effective and beneficial for maternal and newborn health. 🌟  🔗 https://ow.ly/CpKU50SLRap

It is our premise at Grow Midwives that you can not piecemeal integration of midwifery with bandaid regulatory changes or experiments with payment reform. For meaningful change ALL BARRIERS must be addressed to provide midwifery-led care in childbearing populations. Most Americans in the US believe their healthcare is sub-optimal. Listening to Mothers survey's (since 2002) validates even more concern with their maternity care. In the 2018 CA study, "We asked women about their interest – should they give birth in the future – in using several types of care, and found considerable unmet needs. Proportions of women who said they would definitely want to have or would consider a midwife and also a doula far exceeded the proportions that used midwives and doulas for their recent births." Listening to Mothers IV (2025) is a nationwide survey of 3,500 individuals across the nation with 2023 births, launched in Spring 2024. Link for results when released. https://lnkd.in/gCN3wYZE Full practice authority does not solve the issues of autonomy, reimbursement parity, and fiscally sustainable practice. Perhaps we need to say this louder!!

Today is #InternationalDayOfTheMidwife, where we honor the incredible contributions of midwives in supporting birthing people all over the world. In the US, midwives have an important role in supporting maternal health, especially for pregnant people of color and Black birthing people. For more information on the history of midwifery in the US, and in particular on how the midwifery here has its roots in West African traditions brought to the country by enslaved people, check out this article: https://lnkd.in/dyG8q4Tk

📘Open Access Journal📘 "The Availability of Midwifery Care in Rural United States Communities" Access to pregnancy-related and childbirth-related health care for rural residents is limited by health workforce shortages in the United States. Although midwives are key pregnancy and childbirth care providers, the current landscape of the rural midwifery workforce is not well understood. The goal of this analysis was to describe the availability of local midwifery care in rural US communities. https://ow.ly/WCxM50SOyna University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center #ruralhealth #midwife

Step by step we can implement this at Government level. 👏🏻

This Monday June 10, don't miss Midwifery Access California's webinar: The State of Midwifery in California. This webinar series aims to educate policymakers, hospitals, professional organizations, physicians, legislative staff, and more. Can't make it on Monday? Check out the rest of webinar series coming later this year. Topics include midwife-led care in Medi-Cal, midwives as abortion providers, midwifery policy 101 for legislative staff, and the importance of culturally congruent care and midwifery to improve racism-based disparities. Register now: https://lnkd.in/g2ZhtCWH

Thank you for your leadership Governor Healey. According to the CDC, “Black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than White women. Multiple factors contribute to these disparities, such as variation in quality healthcare, underlying chronic conditions, structural racism, and implicit bias.” Here’s one of the many reasons why this act is so important: “By hiring a doula, families receive valuable support during childbirth, resulting in improved birth outcomes and cost-effectiveness, making it a safe and worthwhile investment. Doula services have been shown to positively impact the social determinants of health, support birth equity, and decrease existing health and racial disparities. Women with doula care have a 22% lower risk of preterm birth, according to a 2016 study from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.” Source: https://lnkd.in/eucq78JK.

Home births are being chosen 60% more than ever before! To say women and families are tired of the often mediocre maternal care being received in our country would be an understatement. While #midwiferycare is the norm in the majority of high-income countries, this care is treated only as a luxury in America -- often not covered by insurance and harder to access for the majority. SAFE BIRTH CARE SHOULD NOT BE A LUXURY! The lack of access to midwives directly contributes to America’s shocking number of maternal deaths. THIS is why #birthFUND exists and why we are advocating for better birthing resources and more accessible midwifery care! 

Need a guide for discussion for TMaH funding? Look no further than the National Council of State Legislators discussion on the maternity care workforce, released June 12. “Obstetrician/gynecologists, midwives and doulas can play different, and important, roles in reducing health disparities in maternal morbidity and mortality, and improve access to care. This report highlights these three maternal health professions and related policy options available to state leaders to support and strengthen the workforce and improve maternal health outcomes.” As much as I have become exhausted reading articles that discuss facts we have known for well — a very very long time — every day a national organization is releasing their opinions on what many of us have been advocating for far too long. In this comprehensive article, within a highly influential organization, we see advocacy to integrate midwives and doulas. (Unfortunately the article does not recognize the Certified Midwife pathway (CM), a midwife that holds a graduate degree and sits the same national board exam as a CNM.) WHAT is it going to take for each and every conversation to provide accurate facts in discussions that reflect the US midwifery workforce? ACNM Affiliates may find this article valuable in working with State Medicaid Associations on the TMaH priority’s and assist states still challenged by restrictive legislative barriers to midwifery practice. #GrowMidwives #scalingupandsustainingmidwifery #heretohelp https://lnkd.in/gWde5CJY

The Conveyor Belt of Childbirth As a midwife with decades of experience, I've seen childbirth evolve significantly. Recent US research shows epidurals can reduce maternal morbidity by 35%, potentially shaping healthcare practices. However, this raises concerns about increasing medical interventions during labour. Interventions are at an all-time high, causing many women to fear coerced inductions or unnecessary Caesarean sections, while feeling disconnected from natural birth processes. Midwives are losing confidence in supporting women wanting spontaneous labour due to eroding knowledge of physiological birth. Despite earlier initiatives like Maternity Care in Action and Changing Childbirth, we seem further than ever from embracing natural birth. Stifling regulations and administrative burdens compromise midwifery, turning childbirth into a conveyor belt prioritising efficiency over personalised care. This environment drives parents towards alternative birth options and discourages new midwives. I share the concerns about the future of maternity care and midwifery. It's disheartening to see aspiring midwives disillusioned by current practices. Without nurturing new talent, we risk losing the essence of midwifery, making birth a purely clinical process. Let's advocate for holistic, woman-centered care and support new midwives who can champion natural birth amidst evolving medical practices. Read my blog post to explore this issue in more depth - https://lnkd.in/e25fgRJv #Childbirth #MaternityCare #Midwifery