Midwife
A Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) is able to provide an essentially healthy woman with obstetrical and gynecological care during the prenatal period, pregnancy, and postpartum. A midwife can diagnose and treat many common gynecological conditions that affect women. They are schooled and trained to manage women in all areas of their OB/GYN health, including annual exams, pap smears, birth control, hormone replacement, infertility, pregnancy, and delivery.
Midwives do not perform surgery and do not manage high-risk pregnancies. Often a midwife will work within a collegial relationship with a physician with whom she can consult or refer a patient. By law, a midwife must have a physician as a backup in the event of complications.
See also:
Doula
For further reading:
Spiritual Midwifery, by Ina May Gaskin. The Book Publishing Company.
www.acnm.org/index.cfm
www.mana.org