A cross-national analysis of midwifery politics: six lessons for midwives

Research based on interviews and analysis of documentary sources on the politics of midwifery in Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, the UK and the US, suggests six political lessons for midwives and the organisations that represent them. The lessons are: general health reforms represent both an opportunity and a threat to midwives' status, and midwives must learn to communicate in ways policy makers understand; research matters; coalition building is essential; the media cares (a little); it is much easier to defend the status quo than create new policy; it is essential to clarify who is to be considered a midwife. A constant grass roots awareness of and involvement in a country's political and policy making process is seen as a necessity if midwives are to prosper as a profession.