A Proposed Alliance of Midwives and Family Practitioners in the Care of Low-Risk Pregnant Women

ABSTRACT: Only 63.4 percent of family practitioners have hospital privileges for obstetrics, and this number is declining. Family practitioners who do not practice obstetrics also are less involved in child care and tend to treat only one member of the family. Teaming up with nurse-midwives and functioning as midwives may be a way for doctors to overcome the barriers to practicing maternity care, including the disruptive nature of obstetrics on their personal and professional lives, high mal-practice insurance rates, and lack of adequate reimbursement from insurers when care must be transferred to an obstetrician. Midwives and family practitioners often have common philosophies of maternity care that could be advantageous to both practitioners and families in their childbearing years.