Errors About Midwives

Dear Sirs,
    There were errors regarding nurse midwives in your "Naked City" [News] column of July 18, 2008. Your report implied that there have not been midwives with delivery privileges in Austin-area hospitals since 2002. That is not correct. The UTMB-Austin Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology has had at least one certified nurse midwife on our faculty for several years. There have been midwife deliveries at University Medical Center at Brackenridge since 2004. Our UTMB-Austin faculty and the administration at UMCB support the practice of midwifery by CNMs. Lobbying hospital administration was not necessary to make this happen; policies to allow this were already in place. Please correct these errors in your report. Thank you.

   [Amy Smith responds: I apologize for stating midwives do not have delivery privileges at local hospitals, such as University Medical Center at Brackenridge. That was incorrect. I should have been more specific in noting that St. David's North Austin Medical Center has distinguished itself from other medical facilities with a groundbreaking new hospital-based midwifery program that follows the traditional Midwives Model of Care. No other hospital in Austin offers such a collaborative, empowering service to expectant mothers.]