New York's Health + Hospitals (formerly referred to as HHC) is reducing the role of midwives in labor and birth for low income families across the 10 hospitals H+H operates. However, midwives are associated with excellent health outcomes for mothers and babies and higher patient satisfaction, as they give more hours of attention to each patient and family, and are more cost efficient than hiring additional doctors. [1]
Cutting midwives would hurt New York’s low income and immigrant families.
As midwives who have worked in this system, we understand that H+H may be facing real problems--but midwives are a part of the solution. At a moment when our health care and our lower income and immigrant communities are under attack on the federal level, New York City can and must be a leader in pursuing thoughtful policy alternatives. We can't afford thoughtless measures that would hurt our communities and our health care.
Source:
1.
http://www.thelancet.com/series/midwifery
