For an expectant mother, giving birth is not only a personal and family event but a medical event as well.

The Women's Health Alliance, which includes the Durham Women's Clinic and Chapel Hill Obstetrics and Gynecology, now provides midwife deliveries at Durham Regional Hospital's Birth Place.

Barrett Gunter, a physician at Durham Women's Clinic, has practiced in Durham since 1986 and says many people in low-risk pregnancies are looking for different options.

According to Midwifery Today, more than three in four women have normal pregnancies.

"Midwives provide a lot because they're more involved in day-to-day care," Gunter said, calling them "the best of both worlds."

While extremely qualified, midwives also know their limitations, he added.

In a high-risk situation such as diabetes or twins during pregnancy, physicians step in.

Durham Regional joins Duke and UNC Hospitalsin offering midwife deliveries with a physician available, if needed.

Duke's midwives work Monday through Friday during the day. They deliver about 600 babies a year and care for about 1,500 women overall, said Amy MacDonald, director of the Duke Midwifery Service.

The hospital has six midwives, with plans to add more.

At UNC Hospitals, six midwives work 24/7 said Juli Kidd, director of communications for the OB-GYN department.

They deliver about 580 babies a year.

One in nine births

According to N.C. American College of Nurse-Midwives, 10.7 percent of all babies born in the state in 2007 were delivered by a midwife.

The certified nurse-midwives with the alliance - eight independent obstetrics and gynecology practices across the Triangle - are registered-nurse graduates of a master's degree program accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education.

Mary Ellen Lowry, a midwife for 10 years, works with patients on a range of issues such as breastfeeding, to how women, husbands and children feel about the birth event.

"We listen to women and give them the birth that they envision and want, whether totally natural or a medicated one," she said.

Private insurance plans cover midwife hospital deliveries and the cost is comparable to a physician delivery, MacDonald and Kidd said.

Midwives can spend more time with expectant mothers, however, and emphasize education, empowerment and support.

Under the WHA's midwifery program, a midwife leads a small group of women through prenatal care and other child-care classes together.

Women have different ways of dealing with pregnancy, and the group environment helps them talk about difficulties such as issues with in-laws and depression that a one-on-one doctor's visit might not cover.

Cheryl Carroll has been a midwife with Durham Women's Clinic for 18 years.

She says midwives by nature are nurturers and since she started working as one the practice has exploded - mostly through word of mouth.

With Durham Regional offering midwife deliveries, more women who want that experience can receive it from people trained to provide it in a local setting.

"When you deliver at a community hospital there's a different atmosphere because of the direct connection to the people in the area," Carroll said. "When a woman comes to the community hospital that care continues and is there for her and the baby."