Midwives and Maternal and Child Health: Building Resource Capacity

Abstract

With dramatic changes in health, social services, and welfare systems and escalating pressure to increase clinical productivity, midwives need to enhance their capacity to work with federal, regional, and state partners to promote and protect comprehensive, culturally competent, and community-based quality health care for pregnant women and their families. Information about maternal and child health (MCH) regional and state resources is provided, and strategies for obtaining additional MCH resources are suggested, so that midwives and other women's health care providers can more effectively improve health care programs and systems that benefit women and their families. In addition, ways to work with MCH programs at the regional and state levels are described.

Women's Public Health Policy in the 21st Century

“…The unique expertise midwifery potentially offers women's health care systems development will be most useful if midwives become active in the shaping of women's health care systems. They can contribute to the development of future policy through involvement in state and local MCH and women's health agencies (3), ACNM activities such as the Providers Partnership activities (50), or women's health policy advocacy groups (13). In the process, midwives will become familiar with effective strategies for impacting health care systems development and advance the visibility and expertise of midwifery in women's health care policy.…”

“…The MCHB‐funded ACNM Maternal Child Health Providers Partnership project is an example of how CNMs/CMs can contribute to the implementation of maternal and child public health initiatives in the ongoing development of women's health care policy (3,50). The Providers Partnership was established as a cooperative agreement between two provider organizations (ACNM and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) and MCHB to improve the service systems for maternal and child health populations.…”

“…The Providers Partnership was established as a cooperative agreement between two provider organizations (ACNM and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) and MCHB to improve the service systems for maternal and child health populations. These programs are an opportunity to strengthen communication and cooperation between midwifery providers and the public health care system through grants for collaborative projects (3). The first ACNM agreement involved nine state teams comprised of at least one CNM and one state MCH agency official.…”

“…Midwives have historically been committed to ensuring the health of the nation's most vulnerable women and infants (1,2), a goal shared by federal and state maternal and child public health (MCH) agencies (3,4). Although perinatal health has traditionally been the primary focus of midwifery and MCH programs, today both disciplines are beginning to address comprehensive health care needs for women beyond those related to reproductive health.…”