Midwives Alliance of West Virginia

     The Midwives Alliance of West Virginia first met in 1978. A small group of midwives from around the Mountain State gathered to share birth stories and swap "tricks of the trade". Most had begun midwifery at the invitation of a friend or neighbor who had asked for assistance at a homebirth. The midwives came from diverse backgrounds - city girls and country girls, liberals and conservatives, some with science backgrounds, some with mothering experience.All had an appreciation for natural process. All had a gift for practical know-how.

     Over the course of the next two decades, the group developed into a formal organization. The Midwives Alliance of West Virginia - MAWV - became a not-for-profit organization in 1985. MAWV formulated a statement of philosophy, by-laws, risk factor guidelines, and protocols of practice.

     The group continues to meet three to four times a year. Made up principally of lay midwives who have exclusive homebirth practices, CPMs and CNMs are also represented among the membership. MAWV has maintained an average of 15 members since 1978.

THE MIDWIFERY MODEL OF CARE

I've heard much about this, but finally found the actual statement in a publication from CfM...(courtesy Martha White)

     The midwifery model of care is based on the fact that pregnancy and birth are normal life processes. The Midwifery Model of Care includes:

• monitoring the physical, psychological, and social well-being of the mother throughout the childbearing cycle;
• providing the mother with individualized education, counseling, and prenatal care;
• continuous hands-on assistance during labor and delivery; and
• postpartum support;
• minimizing technological interventions; and
• identifying and referring women who require obstetrical attention.

     The application of this woman-centered model of care has been proven to reduce the incidence of birth injury, trauma, and cesarean section.

--Midwives Alliance of North America, North American Registry of Midwives,Midwifery Education and Accreditation Council, and Citizens for Midwifery, May 1996.

Legal Status:

     The legal status of midwives in West Virginia is ambiguous at best. However,it is legal for women to birth in any setting with any attendant of choice,and, at present, no midwife has been prosecuted for practice in this state. MAWV actively pursued licensing through the West Virginia legislature in 1991 and 1992. Both years the licensing bill was defeated.

     Most MAWV members practice within a "midwife team", allowing for assistance and safer coverage of our mountainous an, isolated communities. Most midwife teams have arranged hospital/medical back-up. However, hospitals, physicians,and CNMs in West Virginia are not, overall, supportive of homebirth, and back-up fluctuates with the whims of the local medical establishments.

     MAWV is loosely affiliated with the Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA) and the North American Registry of Midwives (NARM). The organization is represented at most MANA conferences and keeps abreast of national and state politics.

     For information on how to become a Certified Professional Midwife, call 1-888-84birth. This is number of the North American Registry of Midwives.

For more information or to have a MAWV midwife contact you,
send a message to the following e-mail address;
danettecondon@yahoo.com

If you are looking for a midwife
Please give your physical location, county,
nearest city of size
or time and distance from a city.
Your Due Date and personal contact info.
[E-mail and phone if possible]

A note from the resident web wonk!:

We'll forward any requests for a midwife
to a midwife serving your area if possible.

We recently got DSL so I've posted this mirror site,
since we are not sure if we are going to continue paying for
our old dialup account at WVNET.
The original posting of this page was in the
web directory associated with our old dial-up account.

condon12@frontiernet.net is our DSL associated @ddress
and maybe a better @ddress to use.