Effective March 1, Ascension Providence Hospital's Alternative Birthing Center will be phasing out its use of midwives. Instead, the center will be staffed by obstetric physicians.
One hospital system across Michigan has begun the process of eliminating midwives from their birthing centers. It is a move being seen with alarm by professional nurse midwives in Washtenaw County. WEMU’s Cathy Shafran talks to Lee Roosevelt, the President of the Michigan affiliate of the American College of Nurse Midwives, about the impact on local birthing centers as the Ascension hospitals in Michigan begin eliminating their midwife staff.
Ascension Health says that as of March 1, midwives will no longer staff the Alternative Birthing Center at Providence Southfield Hospital. The move has outraged Michigan’s midwifery and birthing communities.