Survey: Nearly all Americans not aware midwives provide care beyond pregnancy, birth

The benefits of a certified nurse-midwife that most people don’t know

2025-12-04

(Press-News.org) EMBARGOED Until Thursday, December 4, 2025 12:00 am ET

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the United States is expected to face a significant shortage of OB-GYNs in the next five years. It’s vital for women to have access to highly trained health care providers for all stages of their lives, from the first menstrual cycle to menopause and beyond. Certified nurse-midwives offer this kind of care, but most Americans don’t realize it.

A new survey by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center reveals 93% of people think midwives only deliver babies and are surprised to learn they can be a trusted partner in all aspects of women’s health.

“We take care of women across the lifespan,” said Michaela Ward, APRN-CNM, a certified nurse-midwife at Ohio State Wexner Medical Center. “We are highly trained and we're highly skilled. We can take care of you even if there is something more complex about you or your health.”

Survey results
The Ohio State survey of 1,006 Americans shows only 1 in 5 are aware midwives can provide women’s annual gynecology exams. The survey found that while some services, such as pregnancy and birth support and water births were identified correctly as midwife services by over half of adults, other services, like medication management, menopause care and annual women’s health exams are known by far fewer.

Among those lesser-known services, there are no significant differences by gender, meaning both men and women are equally unaware of the full breadth of women’s health services provided by midwives.

Survey respondents’ knowledge of women’s health services provided by midwives:

Pregnancy and birth support (93%)

Water births (69%)

Medication management, including birth control (26%)

Menopause care (23%)

Annual women’s health exams including pap smears and STI testing (20%)

C-sections (13%)

Don’t know (1%)

Ohio State has 17 certified nurse-midwives on staff, the largest midwife program in central Ohio. Maternal fetal medicine and obstetrics and gynecology specialists are only a phone call away from midwives to provide support and care to patients with complex pregnancies.

“If I need to consult with one of our physicians at Ohio State, I can call them right away and discuss the patient’s case,” said Ward. “We all work together to provide the best care possible for our patients.”

Multimedia elements available for download: https://bit.ly/3LtvNtM

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