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Philosophy
SMS, its faculty, staff and community are dedicated to improving maternal and child health. We believe:
- Midwifery care represents an important resource for improving the health of mothers, babies and families. Midwives support and preserve the normalcy of childbearing by addressing the physical, emotional, social and cultural needs of the clients and their families. Midwifery promotes education and informed decision-making as it strives to avoid the unnecessary use of intervention.
- All childbearing women should have midwifery care available to them. Women whose pregnancies are complicated by medical problems should have access to physician care as well.
- Midwives, along with other health professionals, have the responsibility to improve the quality and accessibility of health services. Midwives should participate in efforts to create a better system of health care for all.
We are dedicated to the development and advancement of the profession of midwifery. We believe:
- To make midwifery care available to all women will require establishing midwifery as a viable health profession. Midwives must work together to create professional organizations, set standards of practice, ensure educational opportunities, and achieve legal recognition.
- We support the development of a unified midwifery profession in North America in which midwives come from a variety of educational backgrounds and practice settings. We recognize the challenge presented by this diversity but believe it can strengthen the profession’s ability to serve the needs of all women.
- Midwifery must have an autonomous professional identity while functioning equally and interdependently with other health disciplines.
- The best way to learn the art and science of midwifery is from experienced midwives. The practice of midwifery is best learned in a setting where midwives are the primary care providers and students participate in the care of essentially healthy women throughout the childbearing cycle. The principles of normal birth are best learned in non-institutionalized settings. Students should also work in institutional settings, with other professionals, and participate in the care of women with medical complications.