Mount Auburn Healthcare Connection

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The American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) estimates that soon one in ten babies in the United States will be delivered by certified nurse-midwives. Ten years ago, only three percent of births in the U.S. were attended by nurse-midwives.

Phyllis Gorman, CNM, MSN, certified nurse-midwife at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, says, “Many women are discovering that a nurse-midwife can help them have the kind of personalized pregnancy and childbirth experience they are seeking.”

On January 1, 1977, legislation enabling certified nurse-midwives to practice their profession became law in Massachusetts. That year, Mount Auburn Hospital became the first hospital in the Commonwealth to open its doors to certified nurse-midwives. Ever since, Mount Auburn Hospital has been committed to offering women and their families the highest quality of midwifery care. Today, the Midwives at Mount Auburn (MAMA) carry on this tradition of excellence.

Midwives who practice at Mount Auburn are certified nurse-midwives—women who are educated in the dual disciplines of midwifery and nursing. They are registered nurses who have additional education and have passed a certifying examination in midwifery. In addition, nurse-midwives at Mount Auburn Hospital also hold master’s degrees in nursing or other health-related disciplines.

Certified nurse-midwives manage the care of women throughout their life cycles—before, during, and after their childbearing years, and well into and beyond menopause. Still, a major focus of a midwife’s practice is helping women give birth. Midwife is a term that has been used for many hundreds of years to describe a woman who assists other women in giving birth. Translated from an older form of German, “midwife” literally means “with woman.” Today, the term “midwifery” describes a personalized approach to the care of women that involves offering a variety of options, encouraging women to be active participants in their own healthcare, and avoiding unnecessary medical interventions when possible.

Ms. Gorman says, “Midwives experience their profession as a calling. We believe it’s an honor and a privilege to be with women and their families at intimate and important times in their lives, such as when they are giving birth, and we feel a responsibility to help make their experiences as positive as possible. We are advocates for women and want to make sure that the care they receive is safe, fulfilling, and culturally sensitive.”

Ms. Gorman believes women choose midwives for a variety of reasons, but in many cases they are looking for someone who will be an advocate for them within the healthcare system and give them personal attention throughout the childbearing process. Ms. Gorman also points out that midwives are committed to helping a woman’s childbirth experience be as normal as possible. She says, “We look at childbirth as a healthy, normal event in a woman’s life and we do everything possible to maintain that normalcy and protect a woman’s right to give birth in the way that she feels is most comfortable and safe for her. Whether the woman wants to give birth with or without medications, we support her decision as long as it is a safe option for her.”

Midwives encourage partner and family involvement in the birthing process. Again, the focus is on encouraging whatever support the woman feels will make her experience more normal and comfortable.

Ms. Gorman also emphasizes that the midwives at Mount Auburn Hospital work as part of an integrated healthcare team that includes physicians and nurses. She says, “If complications should develop, nurse-midwives are quick to identify them and our clients always have access to physicians and other healthcare professionals. We have wonderful collegial relationships and mutual respect among all the professionals on our team.”

When a midwife is attending a woman in labor at Mount Auburn Hospital, physicians are always available in case they are needed. While a midwife does not perform caesarean sections, if surgery becomes necessary during the childbirth process, the midwife will stay with the woman as part of the team providing her care.

In addition to attending women in labor and at birth, midwives provide a range of services such as complete prenatal care, a postpartum support group, childbirth preparation classes (including Hypnobirthing™), routine gynecologic care, contraceptive management, breast health monitoring, a postpartum support group, preconception counseling and alternative insemination. Ms. Gorman says that the Midwives at Mount Auburn are part of a group practice with multiple clinical sites that serve women of all ethnicities, ages and cultural backgrounds. Once a week, the group sits down and discusses their patients so that all the midwives are aware of each patient’s special needs and birth preferences. About every six weeks, the practice holds a “meet the midwives” forum (in both English and Spanish) so that women have a chance to meet the midwives who may be present at their birth.

Ms. Gorman says, “Our goal as midwives is to be advocates for women as they have changing healthcare needs in their lives. If we are assisting them in childbirth, we want to help make that major life experience as normal, memorable and wonderful as possible.”

To make an appointment with the Midwives at Mount Auburn, please call us at 617-499-5151 (Cambridge), 781-646-1043 (Arlington) or 781-893-5550 (Waltham).