National Midwifery Week

Midwifery is a practice that has been around since ancient times, where an experienced person is called upon to assist and lead when a woman is giving birth.

Having evolved over the years, midwives are now extremely skilled and go through rigorous training to give compassionate and competent care to women and their babies.

Focusing on making pregnancy and childbirth and healthy, empowering event, midwives may work in a range of settings from assisting in hospital births to guding at birthing centers to facilitating home births.

National Midwifery Week is here to show honor and appreciation for these people who work tirelessly to care for parents and babies as they provide the best possible start for them to enter the world!

History of National Midwifery Week

Originally referred to as National Nurse Midwifery Week, the first event of its kind was celebrated in April of 1982 when it was passed by Congress that year.

This important observance continued to be celebrated in the springtime, until 1986 when it was moved to November. Finally, in 1988, the event found its way to October where it has remained ever since. The name has also changed over the years, now referred to as simply National Midwifery Week.

This event was founded through the advocacy efforts of those at the American College of Nurse Midwives (ACNM), to promote midwifery as a profession and recognize midwives and the care they provide.

How to Celebrate National Midwifery Week

Get excited about bringing new life into the world and celebrate National Midwifery Week with some of these ideas:

Thank a Midwife or Nurse Midwife

In honor of National Midwifery Week, one of the best things that can be done is to show some appreciation and thanks to those in this profession.

Those who work in the medical world, such as doctors and nurses, can show appreciation to their midwife colleagues and let them know how much their work matters.

Patients, whether current or those who have been helped by midwives in the past, can send a text or email, mail a thank you card, or pass on their thanks in person in celebration of this event.

Watch (or Read) Call the Midwife

Those who aren’t sure what kind of work a midwife does might be interested in taking a step back in time through the BBC series Call the Midwife, which is based on a biographical book of the same name.

Depicting a group of midwives who work in the rough areas of East London, this show offers a peek into the beauty – and heartbreak – that midwives face regularly.

Plan to Become a Midwife

Those who have considered the profession of midwifery might find that National Midwifery Week is just the right time to learn more about it and take the plunge to get trained.

Those who want to become a Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) need up to eight years of training including a bachelor’s degree, becoming an RN, completing a midwifery graduate program and passing the midwifery certification exam.