The Practice of Nurse-Midwifery in the Era of Managed Care: Reports from the Field

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this paper is to describe the reports of certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) about how changes in the financing and organization of health care in the late 1990s influenced their ability to serve vulnerable populations and provide a woman-centered, prevention-oriented midwifery model of care. Methods: A 13-page survey was mailed to all CNMs ever certified by the American College of Nurse-Midwives (N = 6365) in July 1998. The survey included closed- and open-ended questions. A total of 2405 CNMs responded; of these, 2089 were in clinical practice during the study period (1997–98) and 82% of the 2089 (N = 1704) wrote responses to the open-ended questions and were included in the qualitative database. We present responses to the closed-ended questions about seven domains of practice and elaborate on three major themes identified through content analysis of the qualitative data. Results: The majority (57%) reported that the changes in the larger health care environment had influenced their practices during 1997–98. The effects most frequently reported were 1) increased client loads (31%); 2) altered style of practice (30%); 3) inability to serve the same populations; (20%); 4) decreased client loads (20%); and 5) increased administrative duties (17%). Three major themes were identified and elaborated upon in the qualitative data: 1) challenges to the style of midwifery practice related to the managed care environment; 2) the loss of socially and economically at-risk women from CNMs' client base; and 3) barriers to high quality and comprehensive services for women. Conclusions: During the late 1990s as managed care was expanding and health systems were merging, a significant number of CNMs in the field described threats to their ability to sustain economically viable practices and a style of care consistent with the woman-centered, prevention-oriented midwifery model.