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Are you planning to have a baby in the near future? If so, of course there will be many things that must be carefully prepared. The first step that you should take is usually to determine which health practitioner is competent to make your dreams come true. Whether it's a midwife or obstetrician. Who, yes, should be chosen?
Understand the difference between the two first
Many people think that midwife and obstetrician are two similar professions. Yes, both are experts in pregnancy and gynecology issues, often making midwives and obstetricians the same. In fact, both the midwife or obstetrician have many special differences that you may not understand.
Midwife
The most basic difference between a midwife and an obstetrician is their educational background. A midwife is someone who has taken a midwifery professional education program, which is usually available at the D3 and D4 midwifery education levels. The time it takes a person to officially become a midwife is approximately 3-4 years.
But it doesn't stop there. If you want to open your own practice, midwives must have a certificate of competence as proof that their abilities are sufficient to support their work.
Since the beginning of education, midwives have been immediately introduced to the world of health and gynecology. Armed with their expertise, midwives are trusted as health workers who are not only ready to help handle pregnancies. Age groups ranging from infants to adult women can have their health checked by midwives.
According to M. Christina Johnson, CNM, as director at the American College of Nurse-Midwifes (ACNM), United States, that midwives generally tend to be experts in dealing with complaints that are still normal during pregnancy. The equipment owned by midwives usually only deals with general pregnancy program measures, not those that are complex.
Obstetricians
Meanwhile, an obstetrician is a medical staff who has special abilities to provide and serve care for pregnancy, pregnancy and childbirth. At first glance it looks similar to a midwife. But again, both midwives and obstetricians have different educational backgrounds.
Before becoming a gynecologist, an obstetrician must first take 3.5-4 years of undergraduate medical education. After graduating, it takes about 2 years to undergo a co-assistant (KOA) which is then followed by conducting a doctor's competency exam as a stage before being appointed as a general practitioner.
If all the stages have been completed, the new general practitioner is allowed to take a gynecologist (obstetrics and gynecology / ob-gyn) which lasts for at least 4 years. That is why doctors usually have higher competence to handle complaints about pregnancy and childbirth, explained by Jennifer Niebyl, M.D., a lecturer in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Iowa in the United States.
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