Midwifery as practiced by certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) and certified midwives (CMs) encompasses the independent provision of care during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period; sexual and reproductive health; gynecologic health; and family planning services, including preconception care. Midwives also provide primary care for individuals from adolescence throughout the lifespan as well as care for the healthy newborn during the first 28 days of life. Midwives provide care for all individuals who seek midwifery care, inclusive of all gender identities and sexual orientations. Midwives provide initial and ongoing comprehensive assessment, diagnosis, and treatment. They conduct physical examinations; independently prescribe medications including but not limited to controlled substances, treatment of substance use disorder, and expedited partner therapy; admit, manage, and discharge patients; order and interpret laboratory and diagnostic tests; and order medical devices, durable medical equipment, and home health services. Midwifery care includes health promotion, disease prevention, risk assessment and management, and individualized wellness education and counseling. These services are provided in partnership with individuals and families in diverse settings such as ambulatory care clinics, private offices, telehealth and other methods of remote care delivery, community and public health systems, homes, hospitals, and birth centers.

This information comes from the ACNM Standard Setting Document “Definition of Midwifery and Scope of Practice of Certified Nurse-Midwives and Certified Midwives” (2021). For more information please see https://www.midwife.org/About-the-Midwifery-Profession

Please note that Delaware considers CNMs independent practioners. CNMs in the state of Delaware do not need a colloborating physician in order to run, own or operate a midwifery practice. CNMs have the same legal access to ordering patient’s labs, ultrasounds, medications and MFM and other specialty consultations as a physician does in the state of Delaware.

I would have asked the same question prior to 2024. When I started Mindful Midwifery I was motivated to meet people where they were at with their health education needs. I learned firsthard while offering classes that there were many barriers to people attending classes. Some couldn’t financially afford the services, some couldn’t afford the time it took to do classes, some didn’t find out about the classes. There were so many variables to account for. I had tried youtube videos but those didn’t really jive with my personality and they were timely to edit. I had been on a couple of podcasts and I after I got over my fear of control on having someone else edit what I was saying, I realized I loved this type of media for education. You can be listening to a podcast while doing a million other things AT THE SAME TIME! Podcasts are easy to listen to for free and they still gain popularity in large part from word of mouth. This fit my vision for my business plan for Mindful Midwifery perfectly! So, even though I didn’t envision podcasting when I started Mindful Midwifery, I realize now that podcasting aligns with my business priorities from even the beginning more than anything I have done prior to this. So, yes, of course podcasting!