NASHVILLE, TN / ACCESSWIRE / July 23, 2024 / Summer, it so happens, is baby season: more babies are born in July and August than any other month of the year. It takes a village to bring a mother and fetus from conception to birth, and practitioners such as nurses, obstetricians, and midwives are the heroes of the process; seamlessly caring for both mother and child throughout the pregnancy.
Midwives, a critical albeit underappreciated part of the birth team, are compassionate and skilled care providers for childbearing women, newborn infants, and families across the continuum of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum care.
Despite the integral role that midwifery care plays in the birth process, The Midwifery Workforce Study by ACNM exposed the stark truth of midwifery in the US: underutilized and underfunded. In fact, the US does not meet World Health Organization's standards of a minimum 6 midwives per 1,000 births. Discrimination against midwives has kept their practice at the margins of pregnancy care.
The new memoir and ode to midwifery advocacy, In Good Hands: A Doctor's Story of Breaking Barriers for Midwifery and Birth Rights follows the deeply moving story of healthcare and midwife advocate, Dr. Darrell Martin. With four decades of expertise in women's health, his dedication to patient care and choice propelled him to testify before Congress, championing the rights of Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs) and advocating for patients' freedom to select their healthcare providers.
In Good Hands, is a #1 new release in several categories including Pregnancy & Childbirth, Maternity, and Women's Health Nursing on Amazon. The book is also available for purchase at Barnes & Noble.
"Midwives fulfill a critical role in the birth process," explains Dr. Martin. "Historically, CNMs have faced challenges with ‘mainstream' healthcare, and any OBGYNs or other doctors who supported midwives, therefore, also experienced backlash."
Author of In Good Hands, doctor, and midwifery advocate, Dr. Darrell Martin.
Recognizing the important role that CNMs play in the birth process, Dr. Martin began advocating for greater collaboration between obstetricians and midwives. This decision, as explained in detail in In Good Hands, came with pushback and repercussions for Dr. Martin's successful career.
In 1980, Dr. Martin lost his malpractice insurance and had to leave Nashville because he supported the midwifery model as a parallel to a hospital procedure. Rather than giving up his advocacy work, Dr. Martin began to partner with more midwives and health care advocates to champion birthrights, patient centered care, and the midwifery model of practice. These advocacy principals have led to some of the most important legislation in midwifery and women's health care.
"The story of Dr. Darrell Martin's work alongside Vicki (Henderson) Burslem and Susan Sizemore has great significance in midwifery history," says Frances E. Likis, Editor-In-Chief Emeritus for the Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health, "The obstacles these nurse-midwives faced [to] address the U.S. maternity care crisis led them along a midwifery advocacy journey that included a Congressional subcommittee hearing, a Federal Trade Commission ruling, and antitrust litigation."
Ultimately, the efforts of these pioneering nurse-midwives provided federal regulatory support and judicial precedents that strengthened midwifery's professional standing in the United States and contributed to midwifery's growth across the country.
In Good Hands is a powerful narrative outlining the history of midwifery of care, bringing attention to key players in the movement, and exploring important healthcare themes such as birthrights, faith, patient care, and collaboration in health care.
In Good Hands is published by 10/10 Press, an award winning publishing house that incorporates a partnership publishing model that blends traditional publishing while allowing authors to maintain control of the process and royalties. Interested in learning more? Get in contact with 10/10 Press.
For Media Inquiries, please contact:
Paige Dungan
10/10 Press
Founder & Lead Publicist
pdungan@thefrontporchcollective.co
SOURCE: The Front Porch Collective
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