Questioning statistics. (Your Letters).(Letter to the Editor)

Publication: Mothering

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COPYRIGHT 2002 Mothering Magazine

"What the Numbers Say" by Tiffaney Isaacson (March-April 2002) presented powerful information supporting natural childbirth, midwives, and breastfeeding. A more complete picture would have included a discussion of homebirth and direct-entry midwives, even if "hard" national statistics are not yet available. As president of Citizens for Midwifery (CfM), a national consumer-based organization working to ensure that the Midwives Model of Care is available to everyone and in all settings, I would like to clarify a few points that have been brought up in letters in the May-June 2002 issue.

The Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) credential is relatively new; the first credential was awarded in 1994. A major statistics project (all births attended by all CPMs in 2000) is, in the analysis stage and will be published when complete. The statistics project of the Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA) is longer and open-ended, but is voluntary. It will have more value when the results can be compared to the CPM study. These studies have been carried out with small grants and donations, as it is very difficult to get funding for...

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