Midwifing the End of Life: Expanding the Scope of Modern Midwifery Practice to Reclaim Palliative Care.

Historically, midwives held an important role in society as cradle-to-grave practitioners who eased individuals, families, and communities through difficult transitions across the life span. In the United States, during the first half of the 20th century, physicians assumed care for people during birth and death, moving these elements of the human experience from homes into the hospital setting. These changes in practice resulted in a dehumanization of birth and death experiences and led to detachment from what it means to be human among members of society. There is a current movement across the United States to incorporate palliative care and hospice care into both the home setting and the inpatient setting. Through their education and training, certified nurse-midwives/certified midwives (CNMs/CMs) are well equipped to serve as hospice and palliative care clinicians. Current midwives, skilled in assisting women and families through the transition of pregnancy to motherhood, can use their education and skills to help individuals and their families through the transition from life to death. The similarities between these states of the human experience (pregnancy to birth and terminal illness to death) allow for a fluidity between these experiences from the midwife perspective. The many parallels between these 2 elements of the human condition include stress, anxiety, and pain. Training in holistic approaches to symptom management and supporting individuals through difficult experiences (eg, birth) gives midwives a unique perspective that is readily translatable to assist individuals and families through the passage between life and death.