By Today in Fort Smith staff writer
In recent years, Arkansas has seen a notable rise in the popularity of midwifery, as more expectant mothers are choosing midwives for their prenatal care and childbirth. This trend reflects a broader movement across the United States towards more personalized, holistic, and natural approaches to maternity care.
In Fort Smith and surrounding areas, midwives are increasingly becoming a preferred option for women seeking a more intimate and less medicalized birthing experience.
Midwifery is a practice that focuses on providing care to women during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. Unlike traditional obstetric care, which often involves a team of medical professionals in a hospital setting, midwifery emphasizes individualized care and support, often in more familiar and comfortable environments such as the home or a birth center.
Midwives are trained professionals who specialize in low-risk pregnancies and births. They provide comprehensive prenatal care, attend births, and offer postpartum support, focusing on the natural process of childbirth and empowering women to have control over their birthing experience.
While midwives are trained to handle many complications and emergencies, they typically collaborate with obstetricians and hospitals when more advanced medical intervention is necessary.
In Arkansas, the rise of midwifery is part of a national trend where more women are seeking alternatives to hospital births. According to the Arkansas Department of Health, the number of midwife-assisted births has steadily increased over the past decade.
This growth is particularly noticeable in Fort Smith and other parts of Northwest Arkansas, where a new generation of mothers is embracing the personalized approach that midwives provide.
A certified nurse midwife based in Fort Smith who prefers not to use her name in this story, has seen her practice grow significantly in recent years.
"Women are looking for a more natural and supportive birth experience," she says. "They want to be active participants in their birth, and they value the continuous, personalized care that midwives provide."
For many women, midwifery offers a way to avoid the high rates of medical interventions often associated with hospital births, such as induced labor, epidurals, and C-sections.
According to the CDC, Arkansas has one of the highest rates of C-sections in the country, a trend that midwifery advocates are working to reverse. By choosing midwives, some women hope to minimize unnecessary interventions and promote a more natural birthing process.
While the popularity of midwifery is growing, midwives in Arkansas face several challenges. The state has strict regulations governing who can practice as a midwife and under what conditions. In Arkansas, there are two types of licensed midwives: Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs) and Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs).
Certified Nurse Midwives are registered nurses with additional training in midwifery and can practice in hospitals, birth centers, and home settings. Certified Professional Midwives, on the other hand, are trained specifically for out-of-hospital settings and must meet rigorous certification requirements to practice legally.
Arkansas law requires midwives to work under a collaborative practice agreement with a physician, a regulation that some midwives and advocates argue is unnecessary and restrictive.
“The collaborative agreement can be a barrier, especially in rural areas where there are fewer doctors available to enter into such agreements,” says Rachel Adams, a CPM based in Little Rock. “We need more flexibility to provide care to women across the state.”
Despite these challenges, the growing interest in midwifery reflects a significant shift in how women in Arkansas and across the country view childbirth. With more women seeking alternatives to traditional hospital births, midwives are becoming an increasingly important part of the maternity care landscape.
For many women, the choice of a midwife is about more than just avoiding medical interventions—it’s about empowerment and finding a care provider who respects their choices and supports their vision for their birth experience.
As midwifery continues to grow in popularity, it’s clear that more and more women in Arkansas are seeking—and finding—new ways to bring their babies into the world with confidence, support, and care.
Stay tuned to Today in Fort Smith for more coverage on health and community trends.
