PROVIDENCE — As maternity professionals in the United States grapple with rising cesarean section rates, workforce shortages and calls for more equitable, community-centered care, midwives in Rhode Island are quietly reshaping how women give birth as well as how the state thinks about maternal health.
From hospital labor wards to planned home birth, midwives provide a mix of primary prenatal care, labor support and postpartum services. Though Rhode Island is compact in geography, its is complex in maternal care. State health documents and stakeholders describe a mixed landscape. Many births take place in hospital settings; options for out-of-hospital births, such as birthing centers, are limited; and access to culturally concordant midwifery care is an active policy conversation. The Rhode Island Department of Health is prioritizing maternal-child health in recent legislative reporting and strategic planning, stating that workforce capacity and disparities are ongoing concerns.
Midwives are health professionals who provide care to people during pregnancy, labor, birth, and the postpartum, or after-birth, period. They focus on supporting normal physiological birth, offering personalized and often less-intervention-driven care. In the United States, midwives may practice in hospitals, birthing centers, clinics, or homes depending on licensure, credentialing, and state regulations. Midwives take extra time to listen to their clients while keeping in mind their feelings, emotions, values, and well-being while planning and encouraging their clients to participate in their care…