More Women Are Turning to Nurse-Midwives for Care

By AI, Created 3:11 PM UTC, May 27, 2026, /AGP/ – Nurse-midwives are expanding women’s healthcare options in hospitals, birth centers and homes, with Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center training more providers to meet demand. The trend matters most in underserved areas, where more midwives can improve access, continuity and birth outcomes.

Why it matters: - Nurse-midwifery gives women more control over pregnancy, birth and broader reproductive healthcare. - More midwives can improve access in rural and underserved parts of Texas, where provider shortages limit options. - The model emphasizes education, prevention and continuity of care, which can shape outcomes for mothers and babies.

What happened: - Certified Nurse Midwife Silvia Garbalena-Esparza, who runs Beyond Birth Midwifery in Amarillo, Texas, described nurse-midwifery as care that can serve women from menstruation through the end of life. - Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center said Erin Sing, DNP, CNM, directs the Nurse-Midwifery Master’s Degree Program in the School of Nursing. - Texas has only two master’s degree programs in nurse-midwifery. - TTUHSC’s nurse-midwifery program was ranked 12th in the country by U.S. News & World Report. - The American College of Nurse-Midwives says 94% of midwife-attended births in the U.S. happen in hospitals.

The details: - Garbalena-Esparza said her care centers on education, advocacy and trust with clients. - She said her goal is to fully educate clients, support them and help them deliver in the safest place possible for mother and baby. - Her first two children were delivered by midwife-assisted hospital births while she served in the U.S. Navy. - Danika Gonzales said she learned after her first birth that she had more options than a medically assisted hospital delivery. - Gonzales chose a nurse-midwife and a birth center for her next two deliveries. - Gonzales said having a voice in her care made a difference and made the experience feel comfortable, intimate and like home. - Leticia Trowbridge said her youngest son was born at home in a nurse-midwife-assisted water birth. - Trowbridge said hour-long appointments left her feeling more educated and more at peace. - Garbalena-Esparza said appointments at her birthing center and clinic include labor-position education and guidance on the safety and limits of non-hospital births. - Garbalena-Esparza said midwives handle prenatal visits, blood work and ultrasounds and refer patients to maternal-fetal medicine or other specialists when needed. - Garbalena-Esparza said out-of-hospital birth candidates must be within 20 minutes of a hospital. - She said preparedness and proximity matter when emergencies happen. - Garbalena-Esparza said education and prevention help keep pregnancy healthy. - In 10 years, Garbalena-Esparza has assisted with more than 400 births.

Between the lines: - The story points to a broader shift toward care models that combine clinical oversight with more time, more education and more patient input. - TTUHSC’s hybrid distance-learning model is designed to let students stay in their communities while completing required clinical training with certified nurse-midwife preceptors. - Garbalena-Esparza, who graduated from one of TTUHSC’s first nurse-midwifery cohorts in 2015, now serves as one of those preceptors. - Sing said training midwives locally can help keep providers in rural areas longer. - More trained midwives would expand family access to this kind of care, Garbalena-Esparza said.

What’s next: - Sing said TTUHSC’s mission is to prepare more nurse-midwives to meet growing demand, especially in underserved parts of Texas. - The program’s community-based training model is aimed at increasing the number of providers who stay in their home regions. - More midwives entering the field could widen access to hospital, birth center and home-birth options across the state.

The bottom line: - Nurse-midwifery is growing because more women want care that is personal, evidence-based and centered on choice.