Midwives of Kentucky
Our Story
Midwives have played a significant role in Kentucky's history, particularly in rural and underserved areas with limited access to medical facilities.
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Today, midwives in Kentucky continue to play a crucial role in providing maternal and newborn care by offering a personalized, holistic approach to healthcare. Increasing the number of midwives practicing in Kentucky is urgently needed to improve maternal and infant health outcomes.
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Midwives are experts in normal birth and view pregnancy and birth as a normal life process. Most people know midwives as birth attendants but do not realize midwives provide a wide range of care throughout the lifespan, offering services to women of all ages and stages of life. Midwives emphasize the promotion and maintenance of health and the provision of safe healthcare, all while striving to empower women and families to make informed choices.
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Midwives function within a healthcare system that includes collaborative relationships with other healthcare professionals in a variety of professional cultures and settings. In Kentucky, there are primarily two types of midwives. Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs) and Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs)
The heat map above shows the different percentages of total midwife-attended births in each state in 2018. Percentages of midwife-attended births are lower in the middle and southern U.S., whereas higher percentages can be found in Alaska and the western and northeastern U.S. These data combine births attended by Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs) and “other midwives” (most of whom are certified professional midwives), therefore a map displaying percentages for one kind of midwife or the other may appear different.
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