Philosophy of care. A pilot study comparing certified nurse-midwives and physicians.

Certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) and physicians (MDs) are thought to differ in philosophy of pregnancy care and childbirth. However, these differences have not been documented quantitatively. This article describes and compares the beliefs and care philosophies of CNMs and MDs toward aspects of antepartum and intrapartum care of low-risk women. The sample included seven CNMs and 10 obstetricians at a large tertiary-care hospital. Using stringent statistical criteria for testing differences between the two groups, significantly more teaching was done by the CNMs than by the MDs. Other differences were all in expected directions.