{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/31974"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/31974","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"\"We Listen to Women\": Exploring Midwifery in Virginia from Certified Nurse-Midwives and Certified Professional Midwives","abstract":"The purposes of this study were to explore the work of midwives and their experiences with the medical community, and to examine their goals and hopes for the profession of midwifery in Virginia. To facilitate this purpose, the guiding research questions included: What do midwives believe the role of a midwife is? What are their experiences with the medical community? What are their hopes and goals for the future of midwifery in Virginia? Through interviews, focus groups and participating as a researcher-observer, I found that both certified nurse-midwives and certified professional midwives believe the role of midwife is one of support. Furthermore, midwives' experiences with the medical community are both restrictive and supportive, and both groups are pursuing the advancement of midwifery acceptance and practice through building relationships and advocating for midwifery. The dominance of medical authoritative knowledge of childbirth in the United States creates struggles for midwives. Consequently networking and consumer advocacy are cited as vehicles for the growth of midwifery.","abstract_html":"The purposes of this study were to explore the work of midwives and their experiences with the medical community, and to examine their goals and hopes for the profession of midwifery in Virginia. To facilitate this purpose, the guiding research questions included: What do midwives believe the role of a midwife is? What are their experiences with the medical community? What are their hopes and goals for the future of midwifery in Virginia? Through interviews, focus groups and participating as a researcher-observer, I found that both certified nurse-midwives and certified professional midwives believe the role of midwife is one of support. Furthermore, midwives&#x27; experiences with the medical community are both restrictive and supportive, and both groups are pursuing the advancement of midwifery acceptance and practice through building relationships and advocating for midwifery. The dominance of medical authoritative knowledge of childbirth in the United States creates struggles for midwives. Consequently networking and consumer advocacy are cited as vehicles for the growth of midwifery.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["MacDonald, Corey Meghan"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Sociology","degree_department":"Sociology","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Harrison, Anthony Kwame"],"committee_members":["Yuan, Anastasia Sue Vogt","Bailey, Carol A."],"year":2007,"date_issued":"2007-04-12","date_published":"2007-04-12","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:42Z","subjects":["Authoritative Knowledge","Virginia","Childbirth","Midwifery","Qualitative Methods"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-04272007-142756"],"render_values":[{"text":"etd-04272007-142756","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/31974","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Harrison, Anthony Kwame"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Yuan, Anastasia Sue Vogt","Bailey, Carol A."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Sociology"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["MacDonald, Corey Meghan"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-03-14T20:34:26Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-03-14T20:34:26Z","2007-07-20"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2007-04-12"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Sociology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Authoritative Knowledge","Virginia","Childbirth","Midwifery","Qualitative Methods"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-04272007-142756"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/31974"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The purposes of this study were to explore the work of midwives and their experiences with the medical community, and to examine their goals and hopes for the profession of midwifery in Virginia. To facilitate this purpose, the guiding research questions included: What do midwives believe the role of a midwife is? What are their experiences with the medical community? What are their hopes and goals for the future of midwifery in Virginia? Through interviews, focus groups and participating as a researcher-observer, I found that both certified nurse-midwives and certified professional midwives believe the role of midwife is one of support. Furthermore, midwives' experiences with the medical community are both restrictive and supportive, and both groups are pursuing the advancement of midwifery acceptance and practice through building relationships and advocating for midwifery. The dominance of medical authoritative knowledge of childbirth in the United States creates struggles for midwives. 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